Syllabus: OCR - GCSE Business
Module: 1. Business Activity
Lesson: 1.6 Business Growth

Introduction

This lesson supports OCR’s GCSE Business specification, specifically Topic 1.6 within Unit 1: Business activity. The topic focuses on how and why businesses grow, what that growth looks like, and the implications for stakeholders and the economy. For students, it’s a chance to move beyond the basics of setting up a business and start thinking about strategy, scale, and structure.

This topic also serves as a natural bridge to more complex themes like organisational structure, competitive advantage, and globalisation covered later in the course.

Key Concepts

According to the OCR GCSE Business syllabus, students should be able to:

• Explain methods of business growth, including internal (organic) and external growth (mergers and takeovers).

• Analyse reasons for business growth, such as increased market share, economies of scale, risk spreading, and brand recognition.

• Understand the implications of growth, including benefits (e.g. increased revenue) and drawbacks (e.g. diseconomies of scale).

• Differentiate between horizontal, vertical (forward/backward), and conglomerate integration.

• Evaluate how business growth affects stakeholders, including customers, employees, owners, suppliers, and the local community.

These concepts underpin more advanced decision-making skills and introduce students to key strategic terminology.

Real-World Relevance

Business growth is constantly in the news — from supermarket takeovers to tech start-ups scaling rapidly. For example:

• Greggs’ expansion from high street baker to nationwide convenience food chain is a classic case of internal growth through outlet expansion.

• Meta’s acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp are textbook examples of external growth through horizontal integration — consolidating user base and controlling market segments.

• Amazon’s vertical integration, owning both the marketplace and its delivery infrastructure, shows how businesses grow to control more of the supply chain.

By using up-to-date examples, students can link classroom theory to the world they live in, boosting engagement and understanding.

How It’s Assessed

OCR’s assessment approach requires students to apply, analyse, and evaluate business decisions. Common command words include:

• Explain: Define and apply to a context.

• Analyse: Use logical reasoning and cause-effect language.

• Evaluate: Present arguments on both sides and reach a supported judgement.

Students can expect:

• Case study questions asking them to recommend a method of growth.

• Data response questions evaluating the impact of a merger or takeover.

• Short-answer questions testing understanding of key terms (e.g. economies of scale).

Encourage students to structure answers using point–explain–example–link (PEEL), especially when analysing impacts on different stakeholders.

Enterprise Skills Integration

This topic is ideal for developing transferable enterprise skills, especially:

• Decision-making: Choosing between growth strategies and justifying their impact.

• Problem-solving: Considering the challenges of rapid expansion (e.g. managing staff, maintaining quality).

• Risk analysis: Weighing the pros and cons of mergers or overexpansion.

• Teamwork and collaboration: When used in activities like business simulations, students can explore how businesses grow collaboratively under pressure.

Enterprise Skills’ Business Simulations are a powerful tool here. Students can role-play leadership teams, make strategic growth decisions, and see the consequences unfold — all in a risk-free, engaging format.

Careers Links

Understanding business growth links directly to roles in:

• Business development and strategy consulting

• Entrepreneurship

• Marketing and sales

• Finance and investment banking

• Project and operations management

This content also aligns with Gatsby Benchmark 4 (linking curriculum to careers) and Benchmark 5 (encounters with employers). Use case studies or invite local business leaders to discuss how their businesses have scaled and what it meant for staff and customers.

Teaching Notes

Tips for delivery:

• Use local or well-known business examples to personalise learning.

• Encourage debate: Should a local business expand nationally?

• Use diagrams to show vertical vs. horizontal integration and revisit them later in structure or strategy topics.

Common pitfalls:

• Students often confuse horizontal and vertical integration — use industry examples to clarify.

• They may overstate the benefits of growth without considering downsides like complexity or reduced flexibility.

Extension activities:

• Use Enterprise Skills simulations for a plug-and-play extension to this unit, where students can test growth strategies in practice.

• Ask students to research a recent business merger and present on the strategic reasoning and stakeholder effects.