Syllabus: Pearson Edexcel GCSE Business
Module: Making Human Resource Decisions
Lesson: 2.5.1 Organisational Structures
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Introduction
This article is built around the Pearson Edexcel GCSE Business syllabus, specifically Unit 2.5.1: Organisational Structures, under the topic of Making Human Resource Decisions. The focus here is not just understanding structures on paper, but giving students practical tools to make sense of how organisations actually operate, scale, and make decisions. This content is assessed in Paper 2: Building a Business, and directly links to understanding how businesses manage their workforce effectively.
It’s ideal for Year 10 or 11 learners working towards assessment objectives AO1–AO3. The goal: bring this topic to life through real-world case studies, assessment insights, and practical tools that reduce planning time while boosting student engagement.
Key Concepts
Per the Edexcel GCSE Business specification, students need to understand:
Purpose of Organisational Structures: How businesses divide work and delegate responsibility.
Types of Structures: Tall vs flat structures, centralised vs decentralised decision-making.
Chain of Command and Span of Control: How hierarchy and management levels impact communication and control.
Delayering: Reasons why businesses may remove levels from their structure.
Impact of Structure: On communication, motivation, and decision-making within a business.
Students are also expected to apply this knowledge to different business contexts—ranging from small start-ups to large multinationals—and understand how structure adapts as a business grows.
Real-World Relevance
The recent restructuring of high-street retailers like Marks & Spencer and John Lewis offers perfect live case material. Both have flattened their structures in response to market changes, enabling quicker decision-making and cost savings.
For start-ups, platforms like Monzo have grown rapidly by shifting from a flat to more departmentalised structure—mirroring the real-world implications of organisational growth.
In the public sector, the NHS’ layered structure remains essential for managing complexity—but its challenges with communication and decentralised authority have been a frequent topic in news and policy discussion.
Bringing these examples into the classroom makes the theory real, showing how structure affects strategy, speed, and staff morale.
How It’s Assessed
This topic appears in Paper 2: Building a Business, where students may face:
Multiple choice and short-answer questions: Focusing on definitions, types of structure, or pros and cons of a given structure.
Data response questions: Based on a business scenario—e.g., a case study showing a business considering delayering.
Extended answer questions (6 or 9 marks): Requiring students to apply, analyse, and evaluate organisational structures in a context.
Command words include: explain, analyse, assess, and evaluate. Clear, structured responses with contextual application are crucial—students should avoid generic answers.
Tip: Use mini case studies as scaffolds to practise “Point, Evidence, Explain, Evaluate” structures.
Enterprise Skills Integration
This topic is a springboard for core enterprise skills:
Decision-making: Students assess structural changes based on business growth, cost pressures, or communication challenges.
Problem-solving: Explore what happens when a business’s structure fails—think bottlenecks, demotivation, poor delegation.
Teamworking: Link structure to communication flow and accountability—who reports to whom, and why it matters.
Leadership awareness: Explore how different structures suit different leadership styles or growth stages.
Tools like MarketScope AI can be used here to simulate decision-making in changing business environments—perfect for students to test “what-if” scenarios about centralisation or delayering.
Careers Links
Organisational structure underpins roles across HR, operations, project management, and leadership pathways. Use this topic to:
Highlight careers in Human Resources, Operations Management, and Business Consulting.
Link to Gatsby Benchmark 4 & 5 by showing how internal decisions affect workplace roles and environments.
Invite guest speakers from local employers to explain how their departments are structured—and how that’s changed over time.
You could also prompt students to research a job role in a flat vs tall structure and compare their daily responsibilities.
Teaching Notes
Common Pitfalls:
Students often confuse tall with centralised—be sure to separate the ideas clearly.
Span of control diagrams can trip up visual learners—keep examples consistent and annotate them.
Evaluation can be generic: use structured practice to push contextualised responses.
Extension Ideas:
Task students with re-structuring a fictional business: assign roles, justify changes, and present pros and cons.
Link to Unit 2.4 (Managing Staff) to explore how structure affects training, motivation, and performance management.
Time-Saving Tip: Use our Plug-and-Play Structure Debate activity—students are assigned roles in a business and debate the pros and cons of changing structure after a growth spurt.
