Understanding Stakeholders

Curriculum Context

Subject: BTEC Tech Award in Enterprise (Pearson, 2022 Spec)
Year Group: Year 11 (Ages 15–16)
Lesson Duration: 60 minutes
Component: Component 1 – Exploring Enterprises
Learning Aim A: Understand how and why enterprises and stakeholders are successful

---

Learning Objectives:

By the end of the lesson, students will be able to:

1. Identify different stakeholder groups: owners, managers, employees, lenders, government, customers, and suppliers.
2. Explain the interests and influence of each stakeholder group in a small or medium-sized enterprise (SME).
3. Apply stakeholder theory to a real-world case study enterprise.

---

Resources Needed:

• Whiteboard and markers
• A3 paper and coloured pens
• Printed stakeholder scenario cards (7 types)
• Case study handout (e.g. Greggs PLC or a fictional local business)
• Post-it notes
• Digital timer or stopwatch
• Printed exit tickets

---

Key Vocabulary:

• Stakeholder
• Interest
• Influence
• Internal stakeholder
• External stakeholder

---

Big Question:

"Can a business keep every stakeholder happy?"

---

Starter Activity – 10 mins

Activity: Stakeholder Snap!

• Students are handed a random “Stakeholder Card” on entry, each card representing: owner, manager, employee, lender, government, customer or supplier.
• On the board, display a series of business actions, e.g. “The business raises prices”, “The business delays staff wages”.
• As each action is read aloud, students with stakeholder cards that would be affected must stand up and shout “Snap!”.

Purpose: Create immediate engagement and connect students emotionally with the topic.

Key Questions & Answers:

• Q: Why did you shout ‘Snap’ for that action?
  A: Because that change would affect my stakeholder role (e.g., as a customer, I'd have to pay more).

---

Guided Teaching – 15 mins

Topic: Introduction to Stakeholders

Using slides or a whiteboard, explain:

• Definition: A stakeholder is anyone with an interest in or influence over a business.
• Grouping: Internal (owners, managers, employees) vs External (lenders, government, customers, suppliers).
• For each, explain:
  • What they want from the business (INTEREST)
  • How they can impact the business (INFLUENCE)

Example:

• Customers: want good quality and fair prices (Interest); can leave bad reviews or stop buying (Influence)

Real-World Link: Mention Greggs increasing its vegan options to respond to customer demand.

Key Questions & Answers:

• Q: Is the government really a stakeholder?
  A: Yes, because they collect taxes and set laws that the business must follow.

• Q: Who do you think is the most powerful stakeholder?
  A: It depends on the situation. Owners control the business, but customers can boycott it.

---

Activity – 20 mins

Title: Stakeholder Web Challenge

Instructions:

1. Students work in groups of 4–5.
2. Each group draws a large web (spider diagram) with a fictional or real SME in the centre.
3. Around the web, they place each stakeholder and connect them using arrows to show:
   • What they want from the business
   • How they might be in conflict with another stakeholder

💡 Encourage conflict discussion: e.g. “Employees want higher wages” might conflict with “Owner wants higher profits”.

Stretch & Challenge:

• Can you show how a single business decision affects at least three stakeholders?
• Rank stakeholder importance and justify.

Teacher Role:

• Circulate and ask probing questions:
  • What happens if stakeholder A is ignored?
  • Which stakeholder might be most loyal in a crisis?

---

Mini-Plenary – 5 mins

"Stakeholder Switcheroo"

• Teacher calls out a stakeholder (e.g. "Supplier").
• Students must shout back:
  • Their Interest (e.g. “To be paid on time”)
  • Their Influence (e.g. “Refusing to deliver materials”)

Purpose: Reinforce speed of recall and understanding.

---

Application – 7 mins

Case in Focus: Local Business Case Study

Hand out a simple scenario of a fictional local enterprise (e.g. “Jade’s Cakes”, a small bakery).

• Students are to answer on mini-whiteboards:
  • “Which stakeholder is most likely to support Jade if she opens a second shop?”
  • “Which stakeholder might be worried?”
• Discuss answers as a class.

---

Exit Ticket – 3 mins

Hand students an exit ticket with the prompt:

“One stakeholder we looked at today is ____. They are important to a business because _____.”

Teacher collects or students stick to the ‘exit wall’ on the way out.

---

Assessment for Learning:

✔ Observation during activities
✔ Group work contributions
✔ Responses in Stakeholder Switcheroo
✔ Quality of case study responses
✔ Completed exit tickets

---

Homework / Extension:

Choose one of the stakeholders: Write a short paragraph from their point of view outlining what they expect from a business and how they’d react if they were disappointed.

---

Possible Misconceptions:

• That customers are always the most important stakeholder
• That stakeholders never disagree
• That external stakeholders don't impact daily decisions

Clarify with examples, e.g. a bank withdrawing a loan can shut down a business.

---

Support and Differentiation:

For SEND / Lower Literacy:

• Use pictorial stakeholder cards
• Sentence starters for exit ticket
• Pair students for activities

For High Achievers:

• Additional challenge cards with ethical dilemmas:

  “What if paying employees more means charging customers more?”

---

SMSC and British Values Link:

• Mutual respect and tolerance – considering different stakeholder views.
• Democracy – stakeholders like customers affect market choice.
• Rule of law – the government’s role in regulating business activity.

---

Reflection for Teacher (Post-Lesson Prompt):

• Were students able to identify and explain stakeholders confidently?
• Which stakeholder links did they find most challenging?
• Did the group work bring out the dynamic between interests and influence?

---

Wow Factor Reminder:

• Stakeholder Snap gets them moving and engaged right away
• Rich visual mapping activity strengthens understanding
• Real-world application through case studies
• Exit ticket provides instant feedback on learning

This active, student-centred lesson makes a vital theory in business relatable and thought-provoking for Year 11 learners!