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The company I worked for in Japan has closed all its schools and filed for court protection from its creditors. The company, apparently confusing itself with the Roman Empire, is blaming overexpansion, but the simple fact of the matter is that the company was managed incredibly inefficiently, which led to problems for employees as well as for the bottom line.  A fairly mild example of this was the assignment of teachers to schools in the first area where I lived: teachers were often sent to branches far from their (company-procured) apartments and would cross paths with other during their commutes.  In fact, at one point, there was a woman named Beth who lived in Okazaki and worked in Toyohashi and another woman named Beth who did the reverse.  This was not advantageous for Nova, as the company paid for our rail passes.  The company set unrealistic sales goals for each school’s Japanese staff, forcing them to focus on recruiting new students rather than on providing services such as counseling that would encourage students to renew sales packages.  Part of their ability to meet sales goals was dependent on teachers “leveling up” enough students (who then had to buy new ridiculously expensive textbooks).  Two teachers had to sign off on “level-up slips”– but the company couldn’t be bothered to ensure that there were enough teachers at every branch who could do so (probationary teachers could not).  Instead, when too few students were wasting their money on shiny new books, the teachers at the branch would be counseled as a group about it.  Actually, come to think of it, lead poisoning would explain a lot about Nova.

I do feel for the teachers who are suddenly out of work, though.  They don’t really need to be worried about their visas unless they’re up for renewal, but they’re going to be out a fair amount of money considering that Nova pays on a monthly basis.  Moreover, most employees live in company-provided housing, so that has to be a concern for those who would like to go out and look for a position with another company.

Still, I don’t expect Nova itself to disappear completely.  The name itself is simply so well-known in Japan that I’m sure that, at the very least, another company will buy the rights to use it.

Related posts:

1. The Plight of Rural Communities in Japan
2. Lessons of Cheese Sandwiches
3. All Americans Do What???
4. Disappointments in Teaching
5. Christianity in the Henan Province
6. I’m Home?
7. Happy Tanabata
8. 24-Hour Read-a-Thon: Teaching Culture by Patrick R. Moran
9. Another Reason Not To Fly Southwest
10. 24-Hour Read-a-Thon: Mini-Challenge 1

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