Frank, what you have described in your post will open the eyes of many foreign teachers in or coming to China and especially the ones that think of applying at the EF English First. I myself have worked at a couple of EF school on mainland and I have served as a Teacher, Senior Teacher and Director of Studies. I actually began when the DoS was called Academic Coordinator and when the EF placement testing was less friendly to the local cultrue. Then, I stayed through the franchisors soap opera with the local subscribers over their, at that time, new academic product called "Blended Learning" that was so terribly brought in by the (then) unqualified, inexperienced and so unskillful AOM Mark R. The guy couldn't give a workshop, demo class, or a simple demo placement test.

A few years passed, and some changes surely happened. However, and as you have described, the same corrupt locals get to subscribe to the so called western product. In my case, it was a gangster that was into car smuggling prior to sbuscribing into EF and it was a husband and a wife just like in your case. My "EF husband and a wife employer" was a case of an inherited business passed from parents of the business woman. Note that the parents served in Hunan government prior to moving to another province and purchasing an EF franchised operation.

As for corruption, it is not only wide spread on mainland China but just about everywhere in the world. Sadly enough, the developed countries, that preach one thing when practice another, are a great part of it. EF has got offices in the US, Canada, UK and branches in many places around the world. Its founder was Swedish and the organization's principles were, and are, much different than their practices. Doesn't their marketing strategy demonstrate their highly unethical and at times even illegal practices?

Let's blame the globalization for all the nuisance that it has caused us, the regular people. Any attempts to internationalize one's company and to compete globally, the individual or group have to decentralize in nowadays world. That means, whatever the company stands for, may and often does go in the air in order to expand into other countries.

On the end, the trend will most likely bring a new meaning to the MONEY. Globalizing will probably change the way international business is conducted and the world will see the currently developed countries not so influencial any more. Moreover, the ethical codes will change through out the time, which will bring some dangerous grounds to international relations in near future. We are living in dangerous times, aren't we? In any case, the EF English First is one great example of the corruption that does not have borders and that the globalization has not been such a good idea after all.