Every business affects people beyond its owners. Stakeholders are the groups with an interest in what a business does, and exam answers improve when you show how their interests collide.
Are stakeholders the same as shareholders, and why do examiners keep asking about both?
Stakeholders are individuals or groups affected by, or able to affect, a business. Internal ones are employees and owners. External ones include customers, suppliers, other creditors, the community and government. Their interests often conflict, so good answers weigh whose interest matters most in the case study and why.
Year 12 (7137/7138): This is AS content in 3.1.2, so it can appear in AS Paper 1 from 2027. It also supports A-level Paper 1 from 2028. Learn the groups, their interests and how conflict is judged.
Year 13 (7132, June 2027): Stakeholders are taught in your first unit and reused in later strategy answers. Treat this page as revision of the core idea. The 7138 wording on ethical responsibilities and stakeholder mapping is newer, so use it only as extra depth for judgement.
A stakeholder is any individual or group with an interest in a business, or that is affected by what it does. Spec 3.1.2 asks you to know who they are, how business activity affects them and what ethical responsibilities the business has to them.[0]
Stakeholders differ from shareholders. Every shareholder is a stakeholder, but most stakeholders hold no shares.
Almost every decision has winners and losers. You should trace the effect on each group, then link it to the case study.
| Business decision | Likely gain | Likely loss |
|---|---|---|
| Cut staff to reduce costs | Owners (higher profit) | Employees (job loss), community (local unemployment) |
| Pay suppliers later | Business (better cash flow) | Suppliers (their cash flow falls) |
| Open a new site | Employees, owners, community (jobs) | Community (traffic, noise), existing local firms |
| Raise prices | Owners (margin) | Customers (higher cost) |
Illustrative figures: a café chain makes £2m profit after tax. Dividends are paid out of profit after tax, so it could pay £1.5m as dividends or spend £1.5m on higher wages. Shareholders gain from the first and employees from the second, so one pot cannot satisfy both fully.
Analysis chains work best with 'because' and 'so'. Late payment cuts a supplier's cash, so the supplier may raise prices or stop supplying, which then threatens the buyer's own stock.
Ethics means moral principles about right and wrong conduct. A business has legal duties, such as paying at least the legal minimum wage. From 1 April 2026 the National Living Wage, the UK minimum for workers aged 21 and over, is £12.71 an hour.[1] A business may also accept duties beyond the law, such as paying suppliers quickly or cutting packaging waste.
Ethical choices can cost money now but protect reputation, loyalty and recruitment later. They can also look like marketing if actions do not match claims.
A strong judgement says which stakeholder matters most in this case, and why, using the evidence given.
Every AQA Business question uses one of five command words, each with a fixed mark tariff, and quantitative questions sit inside the 9 and 15-mark formats. The A-level papers have no 2 or 4-mark questions. Open each format to see how this topic appears in it. All questions here are original Curriculum Circle practice questions, not board questions.
On this topicAsks for a short, exact meaning of a term such as stakeholder, creditor or dividend.
What earns the marksAO1 only: two marks for an accurate definition, often one mark for a partial idea and one for precision.
CC practice questionDefine the term 'stakeholder'. (2 marks)
On this topicAsks why a named stakeholder cares about a business decision, set in the case context.
What earns the marksAO1 for the interest, AO2 for linking it to the business in the case.
CC practice questionExplain one way in which a local bakery's decision to move to a larger site might affect its employees. (4 marks)
On this topicAsks for a developed chain of reasoning showing how an action affects one stakeholder and what follows.
What earns the marksAO1 knowledge of the stakeholder, AO2 context, AO3 a logical chain using 'because' and 'so'.
CC practice questionAnalyse how a decision to delay payments to suppliers might affect a small furniture manufacturer. (6 marks)
On this topicAsks you to weigh effects on stakeholders or the importance of meeting a group's interests, then judge.
What earns the marksAO1 to AO3 for both sides, AO4 for a justified judgement.
CC practice questionAssess the extent to which a clothing retailer should put customers' interests ahead of shareholders' interests. (9 marks)
On this topicAsks you to compare two courses of action by their stakeholder effects and recommend one.
What earns the marksAll four AOs, with AO4 rewarding a recommendation supported by evidence and conditions.
CC practice questionA regional food manufacturer can either close an old factory to cut costs or invest in it to protect local jobs. Evaluate which option it should choose, considering its stakeholders. (15 marks)
On this topicUses data such as dividends, wage bills, staff turnover or supplier payment days to show how stakeholders gain or lose.
What earns the marksAO1 for the calculation, AO2 for context, AO3 and AO4 for interpreting what the numbers mean for stakeholders.
CC practice questionA company earns £800,000 profit and pays £500,000 as dividends. Using this data and the case study, assess whether shareholders or employees are being treated better. (9 marks)
| Weight | What it is | What it means on stakeholders | |
|---|---|---|---|
| AO1 | 32.5% AS · 24.44% A-level | Knowledge and understanding of terms, concepts, theories, methods and models | State who the stakeholders are and what each wants. Use terms like creditor, dividend and ethical responsibility accurately. |
| AO2 | 27.5% AS · 24.44% A-level | Application to the business context in the case study | Tie each stakeholder to the specific business in the case, such as its size, product, location and financial position. |
| AO3 | 20% AS · 26.66% A-level | Analysis of issues and their impact on individuals and organisations | Build chains: decision, effect on a group, consequence for the business. Use 'because' and 'so'. |
| AO4 | 20% AS · 24.44% A-level | Evaluation of quantitative and qualitative information to make judgements | Weigh gains against losses and decide which stakeholder interest should come first, with conditions and a time frame. |
Weightings are approximate and taken from the AQA AS 7137 and A-level 7138 specification [0].
A family-owned bakery chain plans to replace shop staff with self-service machines to raise profit. Evaluate whether this is the right decision for its stakeholders. (15 marks)
Machines cut wage costs, so profit rises and owners can take higher dividends or reinvest. However, fewer staff means fewer jobs, so employees lose income and the local community sees less employment. Customers who value friendly service may buy elsewhere, so sales could fall.
The decision is right only if the bakery's customers value speed over personal service, because otherwise lost sales cancel the saving. The strongest case is a gradual change through natural staff turnover, since this protects employees while still lowering costs. Overall, owners benefit most in the short run, but long-term survival depends on customer loyalty, so I would recommend a phased roll-out.
In March 2025, Greggs, the UK bakery chain, announced record profit sharing, with £20.5 million to be shared with colleagues from its 2024 results.[3] This shows employees, an internal stakeholder, sharing directly in profit alongside shareholders.
In January 2016 the Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA), the UK regulator that enforces the supermarket supplier code, found that Tesco had breached the Groceries Supply Code of Practice on delays in payments.[4] The investigation covered the period from 25 June 2013 to 5 February 2015.[5] Suppliers are external stakeholders, and here the law protected them.
In its results published on 3 March 2026, Greggs held its total ordinary dividend for 2025 at 69.0p per share, the same as in 2024.[2] Over the same period its underlying diluted earnings per share fell from 137.5p to 122.8p, so shareholders kept their payout while profit per share dropped.[2]
Everything above is the topic page. The pieces below take it further. Each one trains a particular assessment objective rather than covering the topic again, and they are added over the year.
Figures and facts were checked against these sources on 2 November 2026. Worked numbers labelled "Illustrative figures" are invented for teaching.
For more practice questions and marked model answers on stakeholders, see the CC Business revision platform and the Inner Academy's recorded lessons.
See the Business platformThe Inner Academy