what has politics got to do with business?
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Leeds Metropolitan University, School of Social Sciences, Civic Quarter D1005a, Calverley Street, Leeds LS1 3HE, UK E-mail: [email protected] b Leeds Metropolitan University, Faculty of Business and Law, Cavendish Hall, Headingley Campus, Beckett Park, Leeds LS6 3QS, UK E-mail: [email protected] doi:10.1057/palgrave.eps.2210042
Abstract This article examines the relationship between ‘business’ and ‘politics’ and sets out some arguments to show the relevance of politics to business studies. It then reports some research findings on the nature of business studies curricula and the perceptions of academics and students on the relevance of politics at undergraduate and postgraduate levels from a survey of UK universities.
Keywords
business; politics; business studies
WHAT HAS POLITICS GOT TO DO WITH BUSINESS?
M
ore precisely, for the purpose of this article, the question is: what has politics got to do with business in terms of teaching and learning in higher education? What is the relevance of political studies to business studies? How does, or should, political studies figure in the business-studies curriculum? Of course, the question can equally be asked the other way around: what has business got to do with politics?1 At the most basic level the answer to the question, either way around, is that the world of ‘business’ is not separate from the world of ‘politics’. To the extent that business studies and political studies are analytical subjects, attempting to de-
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scribe and explain the world, their relevance to each other is simply the real relevance of the set of institutions and practices analysed under the heading ‘politics’ to those analysed under the heading ‘business’. Because there is a relationship between business and politics, or business and ‘government’, the study of business requires the study, in some part, of politics (and vice-versa). It is an obvious point, recognised in all business and management courses, that government and politics constitute an important element of the changing external context in which business organisations operate. Equally, it is recognised in all politics courses that business is an influence on government, either in the form of businesses as actors in the political process or the operation of the
european political science: 4 2005 (358 – 370) & 2005 European Consortium for Political Research. 1680-4333/05 $30 www.palgrave-journals.com/eps
market as a structural constraint on government. However, to say that politics has obviously got some relevance for business studies does not really get us very far. That is because agreement on this obvious point conceals widely differing views on whether this relevance is only minor or more substantial, and on what aspects of politics are included. Politics has to argue its case for a (greater) role in the business curriculum. Second, it would be helpful to have a clear picture of the state of play in terms of what that role currently is within higher education. However, this area of teaching and learning
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