Active learning ideas
Stakeholders are any individuals or groups with an interest in the actions and success of a business. This topic identifies internal stakeholders (employees, managers, owners) and external ones (customers, suppliers, the local community, and the government). Students explore how these groups often have conflicting objectives, for example, shareholders wanting higher dividends while employees seek higher wages.
Activity 01
A fictional company proposes building a new factory in a local village. Students are assigned roles (CEO, local resident, environmental activist, unemployed worker). They must present their conflicting views and try to reach a compromise that satisfies the most powerful groups.
Who are a business's key stakeholders?
Activity 02
Groups are given a list of stakeholders for a major UK project like HS2. They must place each stakeholder on a large Mendelow's Matrix on the wall, justifying their placement based on the group's power to influence the project and their level of interest.
How do stakeholder objectives conflict?
Activity 03
Present a scenario where a company has a £1 million surplus. Individually, students decide how to split it between shareholders, employees, and local environmental projects. They then pair up to negotiate a final split, explaining which stakeholder they prioritised and why.
How can businesses effectively manage stakeholder relationships?
A few notes on teaching this unit
Watch Out for These Misconceptions
Shareholders and stakeholders are the same thing.
Shareholders are a *type* of stakeholder (owners), but stakeholders include everyone affected by the business. A simple sorting activity where students categorise 'Internal', 'External', and 'Owners' helps clarify this hierarchy.
The most important stakeholder is always the customer.
While customers are vital, a business cannot operate without employees or the legal permission of the government. Using Mendelow's Matrix helps students see that 'importance' changes depending on the specific situation or decision being made.
Methods used in this brief
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