Business education in a new Chinese reality show
See “Chinese-style ‘Apprentice’ reality show” (business, page 4)By Jon Fernquest
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A new Chinese imitation of this TV program strives to educate and provide an example for entrepreneurs as well as entertain. For many, “edutainment” means “entertainment” with little, if any, educational value, but education is at the very core of Confucian societies like China, Korea, and Japan which have emphasized the importance of education for thousands of years. According to Confucian tradition, a perfect man, “combines the qualities of saint, scholar, and gentleman” (See Wikipedia:Confucianism). In Korea, many educated adults choose to devote their evening hours after work to further informal education at “Hogwans” [institutes] where they study everything from cooking to languages to photography.
While you read this article, underline the ways this new Chinese television show provides more education than entertainment by getting viewers involved with real business ideas (See my list in the answer key at the end).
Recently, business plan competitions have become popular among business students in Asian universities. The most realistic business idea, most likely to make money, wins the competition. The Sasin Business School at Chulalongkorn University hosts the annual “Bangkok Business Challenge” for business students throughout Asia. This article suggests a way that you can make these competitions even more interesting by getting an audience involved. The Thai tradition of “len share” where people who work together in an office, pool their money together and lend it to someone who needs funding for a business, seems like a good place to start for this kind of competition. Such a competition also might be a good idea if you have an English club at work. A competition might be more acceptable to large businesses if they focused on the ideas that employees normally put in a company's suggestion box, ideas to improve the business in small but important ways.
Vocabulary (in discussion above)
to trump someone – to beat someone by doing something better than thema celebrity – a famous person who is often in the media
getting fired - when your boss tells you that you no longer have a job
edutainment – education that is also meant to be entertaining
a scholar - a learned person, someone who by long study has mastered a subject (Source: wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn)
a business plan - an entrepreneur's plan for a new business that identifys markets, customers and projects the likely expenses and finances required, venture capitalists and banks base their financing decisions for the business on this plan (See Wikipedia:Business_plan)
pool - put together, combine
a suggestion box - a box where employees put suggestions to improve the company
Vocabulary (in article)
an apprentice – a person who learns skills from someone by working for themThe Apprentice - a reality television show in the United States starring Donald Trump (See Wikipedia:The_Apprentice).
improvise – to perform or act without planning beforehand (to invent the words or music as you go along) (See Wikipedia:Improvisation)
a reality show – a popular kind of television show that has ordinary people, not actors, in strange situations improvising without scripts (See Wikipedia:Reality_Television)
an entrepreneur – a business person who starts small, risky, and innovative businesses
entrepreneurial – having the qualities needed to be an entrepreneur
given a chance – given an opportunity
Donald Trump – A famous American businessman and celebrity who owns a lot of well-known New York real estate as well as hotels and casinos (See Wikipedia:Donald_Trump)
the climax – the most important and exciting point in a story (usually just before the end)
runners up – competitors in competition who win 2nd, 3rd, 4th,…places
CCTV – China Central Television, the main Chinese government television station (See Wikipedia:China_Central_Television)
start-up capital – the money used to start a business
symbolizes – represents, is a symbol of
embrace – accept, believe in, and start using
eligible for – have the necessary qualifications to be chosen to do something
state planning – in a socialist economy the government plans everything instead of allowing markets to work freely (See Wikipedia:Planned_Economy)
status – position in society, high or low
reserved for – kept especially for
proletarian – low level workers (usually in industrial factories) (See Wikipedia:Proletariat)
catchphrase – a phrase or sentence which someone uses frequently so that it is well-known (See Wikipedia:Catchphrase)
rigorous – doing something in a very careful, strict, and thorough way
tenacity – endurance, stubbornness, does not give up
to withstand hardship – survive difficult events in life or business
catching on – becoming more popular
tuned in – turn to a television or radio channel
showdown – a final conflict that will settle a long-lasting dispute
takes a page from – imitates, follows and is similar to
tamer – not as forceful or shocking
vice-like grip – strong control over
edgy – out of control (goes beyond acceptable standards)
politically sensitive – can create arguments or problems between people because people with different political beliefs disagree about it strongly and might fight about it
airwaves – on television or radio
Answer key:
1. “…will reward one person with their own company with start-up capital of 10 million yuan ($1.15 million), while four runners up will get lesser amounts”2. “Entrepreneurs are now eligible for ‘model and advanced worker’ status, an honour once reserved for proletarian employees of the communist state sector.”
3. “Viewers would vote for the winner…”
4. “…some [viewers] would even become shareholders in the new company.”
5. In Donald Trump’s show “competitors fight to get a job with Trump and avoid him using his catchword ‘You’re fired!’.”
6. “’Chinese participants will also endure rigorous business tasks that test their tenacity to withstand hardship.’”
