Syllabus: AQA - AS and A Level Business
Module: 3.10 Managing Strategic Change (A-level only)
Lesson: 3.10.4 Problems with Strategy and Why Strategies Fail

Introduction

This article supports the AQA A-level Business syllabus, specifically section 3.10.2: Managing Organisational Culture, part of the broader 3.10 Managing Strategic Change module. This content is A-level only and aligns with the AQA specification’s strategic decision-making strand.

Organisational culture plays a critical role in shaping a business’s ability to manage change effectively. It influences behaviours, decision-making, and performance outcomes. Understanding and teaching this topic prepares students for real-world business contexts, particularly when it comes to navigating change within dynamic organisational structures.

Key Concepts

As outlined in the AQA specification, students should understand the following:

• The Importance of Organisational Culture: How a shared set of values, beliefs, and norms can affect strategic decision-making and day-to-day operations.

• Handy’s Cultural Model:

  • Power Culture: Centralised control, often found in entrepreneurial firms.

  • Role Culture: Clear roles and hierarchies, typical in large bureaucratic organisations.

  • Task Culture: Team-based and project-focused, common in matrix structures.

  • Person Culture: Centred on individual expertise, usually in professional environments like law firms.

• Influences on Organisational Culture:

  • Leadership style

  • Company history

  • Industry norms

  • Size and structure of the organisation

  • Employee demographics and external pressures

• Challenges in Changing Organisational Culture:

  • Deeply embedded values and norms

  • Employee resistance

  • Leadership misalignment

  • Conflicting sub-cultures

These concepts are foundational to strategic change and directly link to broader business themes such as motivation, leadership, organisational structure, and implementation strategy.

Real-World Relevance

Recent high-profile organisational shifts bring this topic to life for students:

• Microsoft under Satya Nadella: A clear move from a power/role culture to a more inclusive task culture focused on collaboration and innovation. Nadella championed a “growth mindset,” transforming how teams operated and engaged with customers.

• Post-pandemic hybrid work models: Organisations such as PwC and Google have been reassessing their internal cultures to balance flexibility, productivity, and engagement — a relevant discussion on culture as a strategic asset, not a soft factor.

• Toxic cultures at companies like Uber (pre-2017): These provide cautionary examples of what happens when culture is neglected or misaligned with values. Organisational culture can shape public perception and regulatory outcomes.

Embedding these examples into lessons helps students apply abstract cultural theories to real strategic outcomes.

How It’s Assessed

In the AQA A-level Business exams, this topic can appear across all three papers:

• Short-Answer and Data Response Questions: These may test knowledge of Handy’s model or ask students to apply cultural concepts to a business scenario.

• 20-mark Essay Questions: These often require evaluation of how culture impacts strategy or the success of organisational change.

Common Command Words:

• Analyse – Expectation to break down how different types of culture affect strategic decisions.

• Evaluate – Students must form a judgement on whether culture supports or hinders change.

• Assess – A balanced argument supported by examples, possibly comparing cultural models or exploring resistance to change.

For example:

“Assess the importance of organisational culture when managing strategic change in a large multinational company.”

Exam success depends on clear application of theory, real-world examples, and balanced evaluation.

Enterprise Skills Integration

This topic offers rich opportunities to develop decision-making and problem-solving skills — two key pillars in the Enterprise Skills framework:

• Strategic Decision-Making: Students must analyse cultural fit when considering strategic change, mirroring how leaders think in practice.

• Risk Management: Changing culture introduces risks that must be assessed and mitigated — ideal for classroom simulation or case study debates.

• Commercial Awareness: Understanding how internal culture drives or blocks profitability, innovation, and staff retention links this directly to employability.

Activities like stakeholder role-play or culture-change planning allow students to practise professional communication, negotiation, and team dynamics.

Careers Links

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

• Benchmark 4 (Linking Curriculum to Careers): Culture is a critical topic in HR, operations, leadership, and consultancy roles.

• Benchmark 5 (Employer Encounters): Use employer videos or case studies to explore real cultural challenges.

• Benchmark 6 (Workplace Experiences): Business simulations (like those from Enterprise Skills) expose students to cultural dynamics in team environments.

Relevant Career Roles:

• Human Resource Manager

• Change Management Consultant

• Organisational Development Advisor

• Business Analyst

• Project Manager

Use of platforms like Skills Hub Futures or live business simulations allows students to explore these pathways while building the competencies employers demand.

Teaching Notes

Tips for Delivery:

• Begin with Handy’s Model and compare it to the culture in your own school or a well-known business.

• Use real case studies such as Netflix, Tesla, or the NHS to contrast cultures in different sectors.

• Role-play exercises where students act as consultants advising a company on how to align culture with a new strategic direction.

• Pair with 3.10.1 (Managing Change) to deepen understanding of how culture can be a barrier or enabler.

Common Pitfalls:

• Over-simplifying culture as just “values” — students should explore structures, leadership, and behaviours.

• Relying solely on textbook examples — include current events or students’ own part-time job experiences to ground learning.

Extension Activities:

• Simulation Challenge: Run a strategic change scenario where students must advise on managing resistance to cultural change.

• Linked Curriculum: Pair with psychology (organisational behaviour) or sociology (group dynamics) for cross-curricular insights.

• Careers-Focused Homework: Ask students to research culture at a company they’d like to work for and reflect on alignment with personal values.