Syllabus: AQA - GCSE Businesss
Module: 3.1 Business in the Real World
Lesson: 3.1.4 Stakeholders

Introduction

This article explores AQA GCSE Business – 3.1.4 Stakeholders, a key part of the 3.1 “Business in the Real World” unit. The topic is designed to help students understand how various stakeholders — such as owners, employees, customers, suppliers, and the local community — influence and are affected by business decisions.

For teachers, SLT and careers leads, this section provides an excellent opportunity to bridge classroom content with real-world business behaviour, strategic thinking, and career-related learning. The specification outlines the importance of recognising stakeholder interests, conflicts, and influence, aligning perfectly with Ofsted’s emphasis on “real-world relevance” and Gatsby Benchmark 4 (Linking curriculum learning to careers).

This is a topic where the classroom can come alive with roleplay, scenario-based thinking, and decision-making exercises — and there’s no need for complicated resources or weeks of planning. Let’s get into it.

Key Concepts

According to the AQA GCSE Business specification, students must understand:

• Who stakeholders are: Including owners, employees, customers, suppliers, local community, government, and pressure groups.

• Stakeholder objectives: For example, employees want job security and fair pay; customers want value and quality; shareholders want returns.

• How stakeholders are affected by business activity: For example, redundancies during restructuring, or price increases passed onto customers.

• How stakeholders influence business decisions: E.g. trade union action, media pressure, or shareholder voting.

• Potential conflicts between stakeholder groups: Such as employee pay demands vs. shareholder profits, or environmental concerns vs. business expansion.

• How and why stakeholder priorities might change as a business evolves (e.g. from a start-up to a large company).

These concepts are best explored through practical examples and active learning, as they offer fertile ground for discussion, debate, and critical thinking — all vital skills for both assessment and the world beyond school.

Real-World Relevance

The impact of stakeholders is visible in nearly every business headline. Consider:

• BrewDog, once hailed as a start-up success, has faced backlash from former employees over workplace culture, highlighting how employee voices can shape brand perception and trigger change.

• Deliveroo’s IPO was undermined by concerns about workers’ rights, demonstrating how investor decisions are influenced by stakeholder treatment.

• Starbucks’ local community programmes in economically deprived UK towns show how businesses adapt their strategies to win over local stakeholders — and protect their brand image.

Small-scale examples work too. A local hair salon raising prices might lose regular customers. A family-run café switching suppliers could spark complaints from staff about product quality. These examples help bring stakeholder theory to life.

How It’s Assessed

This topic is typically assessed via:

• Multiple-choice or short-answer questions testing understanding of stakeholder groups and their objectives.

• “Explain” and “analyse” questions requiring students to explore the impact of business decisions on stakeholders.

• Extended response questions (9 markers) where students evaluate the most significant stakeholder impacts or justify a decision from a stakeholder perspective.

Students need to be comfortable using command words like explain, analyse, and justify. Diagrams such as stakeholder maps or influence-interest grids can support structure in longer responses, especially for middle-to-lower attainers.

Encourage students to link ideas in logical chains, e.g.:
A price increase → may upset customers → leading to reduced sales → which could affect profits and ultimately shareholder returns.

Enterprise Skills Integration

This topic is a natural fit for developing real-world enterprise skills, particularly:

• Problem-solving: Students assess how to balance competing stakeholder needs.

• Decision-making: Choosing which stakeholder to prioritise in a scenario.

• Communication and negotiation: Roleplay activities where students act as stakeholders discussing business strategy.

• Empathy and critical thinking: Seeing issues from another person’s point of view.

Enterprise Skills’ Business Simulations plug directly into this topic. Students run a fictional business, make decisions (e.g. pricing, staff hiring, ethical sourcing), and immediately see how different stakeholder groups respond. It’s an immersive way to explore how real-world businesses navigate conflicting interests.

Careers Links

Understanding stakeholders directly supports:

• Gatsby Benchmark 4: Linking curriculum to careers through real business behaviour.

• Gatsby Benchmark 5: If simulations are delivered in partnership with business volunteers or via facilitated sessions.

• Workplace roles that require stakeholder management:

  • Human Resources Officers

  • Account Managers

  • Public Relations Officers

  • Project Managers

  • Entrepreneurs

Students also gain insight into the soft skills valued by employers: conflict resolution, collaboration, commercial awareness, and ethical decision-making.

Careers leads can extend the topic with:

• Guest talks from local entrepreneurs or business managers

• Follow-up sessions exploring roles where stakeholder influence is key

Teaching Notes

What works well:

• Roleplay scenarios: Assign stakeholder roles and debate a key decision (e.g. Should the business outsource manufacturing?).

• Stakeholder impact grid: A visual tool to map who’s most affected and how.

• Local case studies: Use businesses students know — it increases engagement.

Common pitfalls:

• Oversimplifying stakeholder views (“Shareholders always want profit”).

• Ignoring internal conflicts (e.g. between senior management and employees).

• Not teaching the conflict and compromise angle in enough depth.

Extension ideas:

• Introduce CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) and ethical business practices.

• Compare stakeholder influence in sole traders vs. PLCs.

• Use Enterprise Skills’ simulations to let students experience the consequences of real-time decisions on multiple stakeholders.

Saves planning time: If you’re using the Skills Hub platform, you’ll find a ready-made Stakeholder Scenarios worksheet and exam-style questions — all plug-and-play and mapped to this exact unit.