Syllabus: Pearson Edexcel GCSE Business
Module: Understanding External Influences on Business
Lesson: 1.5.1 Business Stakeholders

Introduction

The Pearson Edexcel GCSE Business specification (1BS0) identifies “1.5.1 Business stakeholders” as part of Theme 1: Investigating Small Business. This topic sits within the broader unit on external influences, giving learners the foundation to understand how businesses operate within and respond to their environment. Understanding stakeholders is key not just for exams, but for appreciating real-world business dynamics – how decisions affect, and are affected by, various groups including employees, customers, suppliers, and the wider community.

This topic supports the development of commercial awareness and responsible business thinking, with relevance that stretches well beyond the classroom. It’s also a prime opportunity to link enterprise skills with economic understanding, aligning with both Gatsby Benchmarks and curriculum goals.

Key Concepts

Aligned with the Edexcel GCSE Business specification, students should be able to:

• Define who stakeholders are in a business context.

• Identify internal and external stakeholders: owners (shareholders), employees, customers, suppliers, local community, pressure groups, the government.

• Understand stakeholder objectives and what different stakeholder groups want from a business.

• Recognise potential conflicts and compromises between stakeholders (e.g. between profit-driven shareholders and employees seeking better conditions).

• Analyse how different types of stakeholders may influence business decisions (e.g. through media, legal action, industrial action, or consumer behaviour).

• Understand how a business’s response to stakeholder needs can impact its reputation and long-term success.

This topic often links with earlier content on business aims and objectives, and with later themes on ethics and sustainability.

Real-World Relevance

Consider recent high-profile cases such as:

• Amazon warehouse strikes in the UK: Employees raising concerns over pay and working conditions clashed with Amazon’s aim to keep operational costs low, highlighting stakeholder conflict in action.

• Boohoo’s supplier scandal: Media scrutiny and pressure from consumers and ethical watchdogs led to a business-wide stakeholder response—including changes to supply chain policies and a public commitment to transparency.

• Greggs’ vegan sausage roll launch: A clear example of a business adapting to shifting consumer preferences and ethical considerations – balancing the needs of traditional customers, new markets, and investor expectations.

These examples offer real hooks for student engagement and help anchor abstract stakeholder theory in visible, tangible outcomes.

How It’s Assessed

Edexcel typically assesses this topic through:

• Multiple-choice and short-answer questions testing definitions and stakeholder identification.

• Data response questions requiring analysis of stakeholder impact on business decisions.

• Extended writing (6- or 9-mark questions) asking students to evaluate the effects of stakeholder conflicts or how a business should respond to competing stakeholder needs.

Key command words include:

• Identify – simple recall (e.g. two internal stakeholders).

• Explain – add depth using context (e.g. how customers might influence decisions).

• Analyse – explore causes, effects, or trade-offs.

• Evaluate – present balanced arguments with justified conclusions, ideal for stakeholder conflict scenarios.

Enterprise Skills Integration

This topic is ripe for integrating skills such as:

• Problem-solving – exploring how a business might handle a supplier boycott or community opposition.

• Communication – debating stakeholder priorities and writing persuasive arguments.

• Teamwork – running stakeholder role-play simulations where students negotiate business decisions.

• Decision-making – evaluating conflicting interests and selecting balanced business responses.

Use Enterprise Skills tools like our Stakeholder Simulation Packs or Conflict Resolution Frameworks to run in-class activities that deepen student understanding while practising soft skills valued by employers.

Careers Links

Stakeholder analysis underpins many careers, linking directly to:

• Marketing and communications – understanding audience needs.

• Human resources – negotiating employee-employer interests.

• Public relations – managing reputation and stakeholder expectations.

• Corporate social responsibility – balancing ethical and commercial goals.

• Local government and public policy – managing community and business interests.

Mapped to Gatsby Benchmark 4 (Linking curriculum learning to careers), this topic helps students see the value of business concepts in real job roles.

Teaching Notes

Tips for delivery:

• Start with a stakeholder mind map activity using a business familiar to students (e.g. Tesco or a local enterprise).

• Use role-play to simulate a board meeting with conflicting stakeholder agendas.

• Integrate news stories or documentaries (e.g. Dispatches, Panorama) to unpack stakeholder pressures.

Common pitfalls:

• Students often confuse shareholders with stakeholders.

• They may overlook that stakeholders can have multiple and sometimes conflicting interests.

• There can be a tendency to oversimplify conflicts without evaluating both sides.

Extension activities:

• Ask students to conduct a mini-investigation into a local business’s stakeholders and how they influence decisions.

• Run a mock stakeholder consultation process for a proposed business expansion or product launch.