Syllabus: AQA - AS and A Level Business
Module: 3.10 Managing Strategic Change (A-level only)
Lesson: 3.10.1 Managing Change

Introduction

This article is aligned with the AQA A-level Business specification, specifically section 3.10.1 Managing Change. It supports teachers, SLT, and careers leads in delivering not only curriculum content but also commercial awareness and workplace readiness. Strategic change is a crucial capstone topic, asking students to link leadership, structure, culture, and change management together. Understanding how and why businesses evolve, and the barriers they face, is key for preparing students for both exams and future employment.

Key Concepts

According to AQA’s syllabus, students are expected to understand:

• Causes of Change: Internal (e.g. leadership, culture) and external (e.g. market conditions, legislation).

• Types of Change: Incremental vs disruptive, planned vs unplanned.

• Lewin’s Force Field Analysis: Identifying and balancing driving and restraining forces for change.

• Flexible Organisations: Restructuring, delayering, flexible contracts, mechanistic vs organic structures.

• Barriers to Change: Kotter and Schlesinger’s four reasons for resistance (self-interest, misunderstanding, low tolerance, different assessments).

• Overcoming Resistance: Kotter and Schlesinger’s six strategies (education, participation, facilitation, negotiation, manipulation, coercion).

• Knowledge Management: Importance of capturing, managing and sharing knowledge during change processes.

These topics require students to interpret business context and apply theoretical models to justify and evaluate strategic decisions.

Real-World Relevance

Change management is vital in every sector. Recent examples include:

• John Lewis Partnership: Undertook major restructuring post-COVID, shifting from physical retail to online and reducing headcount to improve sustainability. Force Field Analysis was used internally to balance resistance from long-term employees with the drive to remain competitive.

• Marks & Spencer (M&S): Their shift towards a digital-first retail strategy involved delayering and leadership restructuring, helping them reverse a long-term decline in market share.

• TikTok and ByteDance: As scrutiny from regulators increased globally, ByteDance had to decentralise and localise operations, exemplifying external pressure as a driver of disruptive change.

These cases allow students to engage with strategic decisions in live contexts—valuable for 20-mark questions where evaluation is key.

How It’s Assessed

This topic is assessed across Paper 1 (multiple-choice and essays) and Paper 3 (case study-based questions). Key exam features include:

• Command Words: “Analyse”, “Evaluate”, “Assess”, “Justify”.

• Assessment Objectives:

  • AO1: Knowledge and understanding of business concepts

  • AO2: Application to business contexts

  • AO3: Analysis of business information

  • AO4: Evaluation and justified conclusions

• Common Question Styles:

  • “Use Lewin’s Force Field Analysis to assess whether the business should…”

  • “Evaluate strategies the business could use to overcome resistance…”

  • “To what extent is restructuring the best way to manage change?”

Mark schemes reward context-specific examples, balanced arguments, and logical justification. Students who memorise models but cannot apply them in real-world scenarios are penalised.

Enterprise Skills Integration

Strategic change demands students to demonstrate a blend of enterprise-relevant skills:

• Decision-Making & Problem-Solving: Evaluating options for change using models like Force Field Analysis.

• Commercial Awareness: Understanding how internal decisions (like delayering) and external pressures (e.g. government policy) influence strategy.

• Workplace Readiness: Analysing how leadership style, organisational structure and communication strategies affect staff morale during change.

• Evidence-Based Thinking: Using Kotter and Schlesinger’s frameworks to evaluate strategies, reinforcing the analytical mindset needed in both exams and employment.

Business simulations on change management offered through Enterprise Skills can reinforce these skills by placing students in role-based scenarios where they must lead organisational transformation under pressure.

Careers Links

This module strongly aligns with Gatsby Benchmarks 4, 5, and 6:

• Benchmark 4: Curriculum linked to careers – strategy, change management, and leadership are key elements in roles like HR manager, operations director, or business consultant.

• Benchmark 5: Encounters with employers – use simulations or invite leaders who have led change programmes to discuss real challenges.

• Benchmark 6: Workplace experience – simulated experiences where students act as change consultants help them understand organisational dynamics.

Relevant pathways include:

• Change Manager

• Business Analyst

• Management Consultant

• HR Business Partner

The topic develops commercial literacy essential for careers in both public and private sectors.

Teaching Notes

Tips for Delivery:

• Use mini case studies like M&S or Tesco’s digital transformation.

• Incorporate video clips of CEOs discussing transformation challenges.

• Apply Lewin’s and Kotter’s models to the school’s own changes (e.g. new timetable or leadership structure).

Common Pitfalls:

• Students often confuse types of change with strategies to manage change.

• Overuse of theory without contextual application weakens evaluation marks.

• Some students struggle to balance multiple stakeholder perspectives—consider using stakeholder mapping exercises.

Extension Activities:

• Run a strategic change simulation where students act as consultants.

• Ask students to re-design a school department using Force Field Analysis.

• Debate: “Should businesses force change or wait for internal support?”

Resources:

• Skills Hub Business: Tools like the Force Field Simulator and Strategy Evaluator.

• Skills Hub Futures: Pre-built careers sessions on Strategic Thinking and Organisational Structures.