Teaching guide: Influences on business
With a focus on unfamiliar topics, we’ve created this teaching guide to support you in planning your lessons.
Ethical and environmental considerations
Sustainability
Students need to be aware of the issue of business’ use of scarce resources. They need to understand how businesses can act responsibly by maintaining resources to protect the future of generations to come.
Classroom activities
Students could consider the costs involved in making operational changes such as:
- changing from plastic packaging to a biodegradable option
- changing from using imported resources to using local produced resources
- employing local people rather than recruiting nationally/internationally.
These opportunities for calculations will also serve to illustrate the financial impact of making such changes.
The economic climate on businesses
Economic theory
The relationship between unemployment, income and consumer spending will help students to make the link with the impact of the level of unemployment on business.
Classroom activities
- Knowledge of the concept of disposable income will help students to understand the impact of changes in consumers’ income and therefore how businesses are affected by changes in levels of employment. Students could research the effects of unemployment, see the Money Advice Servicewebsite
- Watch the video from BBC Working Lunch explaining the impact of falls in interest rates on consumers, costs and the pound from the perspective of a high-street shop.
- Read this Telegraph article on how businesses can manage lower interest rates.
Globalisation
Competing internationally
Understanding how British businesses can make their products appeal to overseas customers.
Classroom activities
- Students could examine the appeal of a range of British products that are sold overseas, considering the design, range, quality and prices.
- This topic leads into the study of the impact of exchange rates on the profit and sales of businesses that import and/or export. While students will not be expected to undertake exchange rate conversions in the exam, there are gains to be had from some experience of manipulating the figures to illustrate how rate changes would affect profits.
Legislation
Health and Safety at work Act (1974)
The need for training, equipment and modifications to premises are obvious impacts of meeting the terms of the act; yet the business benefits from investing time and funds. Students need also to know about the consequence of not doing so, including court cases possibly leading to imprisonment or fines and the associated negative publicity.
Classroom activities
To enhance their understanding of the importance of avoiding breaches of health and safety, students could research some recent cases to heighten their understanding of the seriousness of breaching the terms of the act. See the Health and Safety Executive website for a register of convictions.