TV an idiot’s Box – Not really!

We often have been told “TV is an idiot’s box”. True, if one were to indulge in watching mind numbing daily soaps it can truly be an idiot’s box. A lot of people feel guilty when they spend an entire night/ weekend binge watching TV shows insteadof reading a stimulating book.

The great thing about modern television is that it can be entertaining and educational especially when it comes to learning about the nuances of business. I have picked six educational, entertaining, enlightening and popular American TV shows. Many of these are available on youTube.com – the Visual library of the world!

These six television series would make you a better business management student and will help you learn more about effective leadership, integrating work life balance and being an effective performer in the business world.

Undercover Boss, USA: Is a television franchise series that airs in many countries. It originated in 2009 on the British Channel 4. The show features the experiences of a boss (Usually a CEO) working in a disguise (undercover) in his/her own companies to investigate how his/hercompany works and to identify areas where performance can be improved, and to reward hard working employees.

The high-ranking boss goes undercover as an entry-level employee. He/she alters his/her appearance and assumes a fake name and fictional back ground story.

The boss spends approximately one to two weeks undercover working in various areas of his/her company's operations, and in most cases at different location each day. He/she is faced with different sorts of working problems, and spend time getting to know the people who work in the company.

At the end of their undercover operations, the boss return to his/her true identity and requests the employees with whom he/shehas worked to travel to the corporate headquarters. The bosses reveal their identity, and reward hard-working employees through promotion, or financial rewards; while other employees who were not up to expectations are given training, better working conditions and in extreme cases even terminated.

Undercover Boss has been criticized as a reality show for presenting scenarios and situations which rarely happen to employees in real workplaces. Yet Undercover Boss is a great public relations exercise to paint the boss in humane colors and win hearts and sympathy. The format makes Undercover boss very compelling to watch and it is very amusing and entertaining too! So far in seven (7) Seasons, 101 episodes have been aired.

The Apprentice, USA: Is areality game show that judges the business skills of a group of contestants. It is associated with the real estate Moghul, politician, businessman, and television personality and Republican party’s presidential candidate Donald Trump.

Termed as "The Ultimate Job Interview", The Apprentice has sixteen to eighteen business contestants who compete with each other over a season, with usually one contestant eliminated per episode like in the popular TV series ‘The Survivor’. The prize for the winner is a one-year, $250,000 (1.67 crore rupees) starting salary to run one of Trump's companies. Each episode typically ends with Trump eliminating one of the contestants with the famous words, "You're fired".

After six seasons of The Apprentice, a new format was introduced ‘The Celebrity Apprentice’. The celebrity series follows the same format as the original, but with celebrities as contestants participating to win money for their chosen charities. There have been seven seasons of The Celebrity Apprentice.

The New Celebrity Apprentice, will premiere on January 2, 2017 and Trumpwould no longer be part of the show as he is concentrating on his 2016 presidential campaign. Donald Trump will be replaced by the actor, politician, and businessman Arnold Schwarzenegger.So far in fourteen (14) Seasons, 189 episodes have been aired.

Ultimate Factories, USA: Also known as Megafactories is an American documentary television series that was premiered in 2006 on the National Geographic Channel. The program explores the inner workings of factories worldwide.

Each episode profiles the machinery and manpower behind each factory's main product, featuring close-ups, breakdowns, interviews, and side stories to show the sequence of events to produce the product in the factory. This series is very useful for understanding concepts of Assembly line production, production and Operations Management and Supply Chain Management. So far in six (6) Seasons, 71 episodes have been aired.

Tanked, USA: Is a reality TV series which is telecast on the Animal Planet. It follows the operations ofa Las Vegas based Acrylic Tank Manufacturing (ATM) company. ATM bills itself as the world's largest manufacturer of customised aquarium installation.

The 37,000 square foot facilityof Acrylic Tank Manufacturing produces some of the most outrageous, larger-than-life and one-of-a-kind tanks for its clients worldwide. No job is too big nor too farfor the company that strives to make fish enthusiast's dreams of having their own little piece of the ocean a reality. The Company has created tanks to look like pyramids, spheres, phone booths, cars and many others shapes.

The company’s work is customized to fit intricate and interesting locations that include restaurants, casinos, banks, hotels, churches, corporate offices, mansions, museums and zoos. Working with opinionated and highly strung, emotional family and staff, the show reveals the stress, success, and the pressure that comes with accepting highly unusual designs and meeting tight deadlines.

Tanked brings the secrets of the underwater world to the surface with a twist, leaving viewers amazed and enthralled with each project detailed from right from conception stage to the final reveal to the customer. It is a great show for project management and for entrepreneurship. So far in nine (9) Seasons, 85 episodes have been aired.

How it’s made, USA: Is a documentary television series that was premiered in 2001 on the Discovery Channel. It shows how common, everyday items including clothing and accessories like handbags, foodstuffs like bubble gum, industrial products such as engines, musical instruments such as guitars, and sporting goods such as snowboards are manufactured.

How it’s madelooks behind the scenes at how everyday things are manufactured. Typically each episode features three to four products. Each show usually has three or four main segments, with each product getting a demonstration of approximately five minutes.

Exceptions are allowed in the allotted time for more complex products. Usually, every show has at least one product with a historic background note preceding it that shows how and where the product originated, and what people used as a substitute before the present product was became popular.So far in twenty eight (28) Seasons, 355 episodes have been aired.

Shark Tank, USA: Shark Tank is an American reality show that was premiered in 2009. It features a panel of potential investors, called "sharks," who consider offers from aspiring entrepreneurs seeking investments for their business or product.

The sharks are paid for their participation in the show, but the money they invest is their own.The entrepreneur can make a deal or get an offer for an investment on the show itself, if a panel member or a shark is interested. However, if all of the panel members opt out or show no interest, the entrepreneur has to leaves with emptyhands.The show portrays the drama of the meetings and the interaction between the entrepreneurs and the investors.

The sharks find weaknesses and faults in an entrepreneur's concept, product, or business model.Some of the sharks try to soften the impact of rejection, while others can be brutal and show no patience even for tales of hardship. Shark Tank can be a very useful addition for a class of Entrepreneurship and also for aspiring entrepreneurs who are looking to hone their presentation skills. So far in seven seasons (7) Seasons, 151 episodes have been aired.