The armchair entrepreneur
Issued: Tue, 08 May 2012 14:32:00 BST
Research at the University of Glasgow looks at what lies behind the popularity of programmes such as The Apprentice and Dragons' Den.
Professor Raymond Boyle and Dr Lisa Kelly of the Centre for Cultural Policy Research led a two-year study into why there is such a proliferation of business-focused television programmes, what they have to say about being in business and how audiences engage with them.
Professor Boyle explains: "We found that what people brought to the programmes was very important in determining what they got from the programmes. People were watching the same programmes but interpreting them differently. For example, established business people by and large don't like The Apprentice. They think it's a caricature to some extent; it doesn't display the real issues around business. However, viewers who aren't business people, or who perhaps have aspirations to develop a business, actually look at it quite differently. Most of them see it as a useful way to learn 'soft' skills: how to present, knowing your numbers, and having a clear idea of what you want your business to be. There is a kind of lexicon of business language which people get more comfortable with. These programmes have put the notion of entrepreneurship more centrally into a public discourse."
Professor Boyle points out that "certainly for policymakers, their mission is to make Britain more entrepreneurial. Are business programmes like this a way we could do this? The fact of the matter is that there is little statistical evidence to suggest that we are becoming more entrepreneurial, but these programmes do reflect a cultural change in attitudes towards business." Year-on-year viewing figures for The Apprentice have gone up, he points out.
Professor Boyle and Dr Kelly have been working to disseminate their research findings, through the publication of The Television Entrepreneurs (Ashgate, 2012) and a symposium attended by people working in the independent television industry and staff from the government's Department of Business, Innovation and Skills.
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