Key term
Edexcel A-Level Business 9BS0
Meeting Customer Needs
Marketing Mix and Strategy
Managing People
Entrepreneurs and Leaders
Financial Planning
Managing Finance
Resource Management
External Influences
Business Objectives and Strategy
Decision-Making Techniques
Influences on Business Decisions
Assessing Competitiveness
Globalisation
Global Markets and Business Expansion
Global Marketing
Global Industries and Companies
Influences on Business Decisions
- 4 subtopics
- 17 things to know
- Paper 2 and Paper 3
What Influences on Business Decisions covers
Influences on business decisions is the fourth section of Theme 3. It covers the pressures inside a business that shape what it decides: how far ahead it looks, the culture it has grown, whose interests it serves, and where profit and ethics pull in different directions.
Where it is assessed
Paper 2 and Paper 3
Theme 3, examined on Business activities, decisions and strategy, then the pre-released synoptic paper.
Check the Pearson Edexcel specification ↗The 4 subtopics
Each one has its own page.
- Corporate influencesShort-termism against long-termism and why ownership affects the choice, evidence-based against subjective decision making, and the factors that decide the balance between data and judgement.Open →
- Corporate cultureStrong and weak cultures, Handy's power, role, task and person cultures, how culture forms, and the difficulty of changing it.Open →
- Shareholders versus stakeholdersInternal and external stakeholders, what each wants from a business, and the conflicts that arise between the shareholder and stakeholder approaches.Open →
- Business ethicsTrade-offs between profit and ethics, Corporate Social Responsibility, and the effect of ethical decisions in the short term against the long term.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Your recallNot started
Key term
Why are listed companies more prone to short-termism than private ones, and what can suffer underinvestment as a result?
Evaluation
What is subjective decision making, and what does it offer?
Evaluation
Which type of decision typically benefits more from evidence-based approaches?
Key term
What distinguishes a strong corporate culture from a weak one?
Evaluation
Compare task culture with role culture.
Process
Where is person culture found, and how does culture form?
Key term
What role do symbols, rituals and stories play in corporate culture?
Key term
Why are strong existing cultures particularly difficult to change?
Key term
Distinguish internal from external stakeholders.
Key term
Which groups are external stakeholders, and why?
Process
What does the shareholder approach expect, and what does government want?
Key term
Explain how reducing product quality to cut costs creates conflict between shareholders and customers.
Numbers
Why might relocating production overseas cause conflict between shareholders and local communities?
Evaluation
What are business ethics, and what do they cost a business?
Evaluation
What is Corporate Social Responsibility, and what does it cover?
Key term
According to stakeholder theory, to whom does a business have ethical obligations?
Take Influences on Business Decisions further
The same content, four other ways.
Commonly confused
Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.
Shareholder vs Stakeholder
Shareholder: an owner holding equity in a company. Stakeholder: a person or group affected by business activity.
Questions from this topic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
What is short-termism in a business context?
Model answer
A business approach that prioritises immediate results and quick returns, typically focusing on quarterly or annual performance metrics.
- 2
Define long-termism as a business approach.
Model answer
A business approach that prioritises sustainable growth and strategic objectives over extended periods, often spanning several years or decades.
- 3
How might short-termism damage a business's long-term competitiveness?
Model answer
It may lead to decisions that boost immediate profits but harm future performance, such as cutting research and development spending or reducing staff training.
- 4
Give an example of a decision a short-termist business might make that could harm its future position.
Model answer
Cutting research and development spending or reducing investment in staff training to boost immediate profits.
- 5
How does long-termism enable sustainable competitive advantage?
Model answer
It enables investment in innovation, brand building, and employee development that may reduce short-term profits but creates lasting competitive strengths.
- 6
What types of investment might a long-termist business prioritise despite reduced short-term profits?
Model answer
Investment in innovation, brand building, and employee development.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
Influences on Business Decisions revision questions
- What does Influences on Business Decisions cover in Edexcel A-Level Business?
- 4 subtopics: corporate influences, corporate culture, shareholders versus stakeholders and business ethics. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
- How is Influences on Business Decisions organised?
- By the Edexcel 9BS0 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.
Every question in Influences on Business Decisions, on a schedule.
Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.
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