Shifting Business Strategy

Overview

This is lesson 6 of 20 in Strategic Business Responses. Students build on prior learning about external factors by analysing how social, cultural and technological change influences business-wide strategy, functions, people, management and stakeholder relationships.

Learning intentions

• WALT explain how social, cultural and technological change shapes business strategy.
• WALT connect an external change to effects on a business and its stakeholders.
• WALT compare responses from local, Māori, Pasifika and global businesses.
• WALT consider cultural, ethical and privacy consequences when businesses respond to change.

Success criteria

• I can explain the external factor using relevant business knowledge.
• I can show how the factor affects a business’s strategy and operations.
• I can use a business example to support my explanation.
• I can consider stakeholder, cultural or ethical consequences, including tikanga Māori where relevant.

Curriculum links

• Strategic response to external factors by a business operating in a global context: explaining and evaluating business-wide responses to social, cultural and technological change.
• Business knowledge in a global context: functions, people, management, stakeholders, innovation, data use and social responsibility.
• New Zealand Curriculum Refresh: learning that is connected to local contexts, identity, culture and the wider world.
• Key competencies: thinking; using language, symbols and texts; managing self; relating to others; participating and contributing.

Lesson structure (45 minutes)

1. 0–5 min · Hook and retrieval. Open with the hook and retrieval slides showing a split image of a traditional shopfront beside an AI-enabled online store, and ask: “When society changes, which part of a business must change first?” Students individually name one external factor from previous lessons, then pair it with a possible business effect. Take three responses and clarify that businesses cannot control these factors but can choose strategic responses.

2. 5–12 min · Direct teaching. Use the concept and example slides to briefly teach:

• social change: changing lifestyles, consumer values, demographics and expectations;
• cultural change: identity, language, tikanga, inclusion and culturally responsive practice;
• technological change: digital platforms, automation, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and data collection.

Model one chain: “Growing demand for sustainable products → product redesign and ethical sourcing → changed costs, marketing and supplier relationships → possible gain in reputation but risk of greenwashing.” Emphasise that a strategic response is business-wide and may operate across different timeframes.

3. 12–17 min · Guided comparison. Distribute the change-to-strategy comparison sheet. In pairs, students select one of four case cards on the worksheet: a local New Zealand retailer responding to changing consumer values; a Māori-owned enterprise considering tikanga and whenua; a Pasifika-owned business responding to community and demographic change; or a global platform introducing automation and data-driven personalisation. Students identify the factor, affected stakeholders and likely strategic response. Provide a visual example on the board.

4. 17–30 min · Case study investigation. Students work in three groups of three, retaining their selected case or choosing another. Each group completes the worksheet’s response map: external change, evidence from the case, business-wide effects, strategic response, benefits, risks and cultural or stakeholder consequences. Assign rotating roles: facilitator, evidence finder and reporter. Circulate and question: “What changed?”, “Which business functions or people are affected?”, “Who benefits or carries the risk?”, and “How might manaakitanga, whanaungatanga or kaitiakitanga influence the response?” Scribe key ideas for students who need writing support.

5. 30–39 min · Structured discussion. Use the comparison and discussion slides to run three-minute reports from each group. After each report, one audience member asks a clarification question and another offers a consequence the group may have missed. Students then discuss: “Is this response strategic, or is it only a short-term promotional reaction?” Prompt comparison between local and global scale, and between efficiency-focused technology responses and culturally responsive responses. Record strong cause-and-effect language on the board: because, therefore, leads to, however, consequently.

6. 39–45 min · Individual application and exit ticket. Students complete the final worksheet prompt independently: “Explain how one social, cultural or technological change could shape the strategy of a business operating in a global context.” They must include the factor, one business effect, one strategic response, one stakeholder or cultural consequence, and a judgement about whether the response is appropriate. Finish with the plenary and exit-ticket slide and collect responses for next-lesson grouping.

Resources

• the complete Week 2 teaching deck
• the change-to-strategy comparison sheet
• Projector or interactive display
• Whiteboard and coloured pens
• Printed or digital case-study information
• Highlighters
• Headphones or audio versions of case information
• Captioned visuals and reduced-text summaries

Assessment

• Listen to pair explanations and use questioning to check whether students distinguish an external factor from a business response.
• Review group response maps for accurate cause-and-effect links, business-wide thinking, relevant examples and consideration of stakeholders or cultural consequences.
• Use the individual final response as an exit check. Look for explanation rather than a list; note students ready for evaluation and those needing further modelling.

Differentiation

• Offer choice of case study and allow students to work from visual case cards, an audio/podcast version, captions or a reduced-text summary. Use a clear sans-serif font, generous spacing and avoid requiring students to copy large amounts of text.
• Provide the sentence frame: “The change is ___, which affects ___ because ___. The business could respond by ___. This may benefit ___, but it could disadvantage ___.”
• Use structured roles, paired rehearsal and teacher scribing for students who need support with processing, writing or oral participation. Permit typed, spoken or diagram-based planning before the final written response.
• Extend confident students by requiring evaluation of whether technology creates more opportunity than risk, supported by short- and long-term effects, competing stakeholder perspectives and a justified recommendation.

Extension

• Evaluate whether automation or data-driven personalisation creates more opportunity than risk for the selected business.
• Compare a culturally responsive response with a purely efficiency-focused response and justify which is more sustainable.