The huge success of BTS in the past 3 years has made Harvard Professors include the Big Hit boys in the curriculum.
Recently, BTS fans all over the world are extremely proud when Big Hit boys are officially featured in the curriculum of Harvard – one of the most prestigious universities in the world. Specifically, with their global success throughout the years, Professor Anita Elberse of Harvard Business School has prepared a 22-page research specifically on the case of BTS, Big Hit Entertainment and the influence of the group to the global popularity of Kpop.
Professor Anita Elberse was born in 1973, she graduated from London Business School and is currently a Professor of Business Administration of Harvard Business. She mainly studies the impact of media, entertainment and sports on the economy. Recently, she has compiled a short analysis on the success of BTS worldwide and officially included it in the curriculum for students in the upcoming days as a “case study”.
On her Twitter account, she shared this information with the first page of the case study, “Big Hit Entertainment and Blockbuster Band BTS: K-Pop Goes Global.” The tweet quickly caught the attention of BTS fans all over the world, all of whom expressed their pride when the idol group became a research subject at a prestigious university like Harvard.
In response to the excitement of BTS fans, she thanked and intended to set up an online class for this curriculum for BTS fans: “I see you Armys, and I’m impressed! Thank you for the overwhelmingly positive response to the case study on Big Hit and BTS! I wish I could but I can’t possibly give you all a free case study… I’ll see if we can set up a virtual class session for all of you where I suspect you will be the teachers and I’ll be the student.”
The study confirmed that BTS is a “true world star with millions of fans around the world”, and “a band of seven men in their twenties that have received unprecedented success worldwide including the U.S. market.” This 22-page report mainly analyzes Big Hit Entertainment’s role in creating the formula for creating a Kpop star. The research also touches on the story of Big Hit and BTS from the difficult beginning until now and highlights Big Hit’s training system and bold decision-making process.
The case study also includes quotes from interviews with Big Hit’s chairman Bang Shi Hyuk. “Big Hit’s training program is much like a college class in that we discuss with each trainee to negotiate the best schedule. The program also includes a music appreciation course to allow the trainees to find out what type of music that they like and how to make that kind of music.” It also emphasizes the admiration that BTS and Kpop receive from fans is very different from artists from other genres.
This study was conducted in August 2019 when Professor Anita Elberse had a working trip to Seoul, Korea and will be taught in the upcoming semester. It can be seen that the global success of BTS has not only amazed the whole world, but also made senior scholars conduct research to address their popularity and influence.
Sources: k14
