Edexcel GCSE Business: Stakeholders and technology (1BS0) – Practice Questions

These are original questions written for Marlbridge, for revision and practice on this content. They are not reproduced past-paper questions, and they do not replicate the exam’s exact structure, question count or mark tariffs – examination boards hold copyright in their own papers. Use these alongside the official past papers from your board or school.

These questions cover Theme 1, Topic 1.5 Understanding external influences on business, items 1.5.1 and 1.5.2, in the Pearson Edexcel Level 1/Level 2 GCSE (9-1) in Business (1BS0) specification, Issue 2, July 2022. Use the study guide and revision notes first if you need them. Course links: the Business hub, the printable checklist and the free diagnostics. Every business is invented. Calculators may be used and workings should be shown.

Questions

1. Define the term pressure group. [2]

2. Give two objectives that shareholders (owners) may have. [2]

3. Fenwick Kitchens pays its staff £212,500 a year in total. It agrees a 4% pay rise. Calculate the new annual wage bill and the extra cost to the business. [2]

4. Harrow Fold Coffee Roasters plans to start its roasting machines at 5 am. Outline one way the local community may be affected. [2]

5. Explain one way that a supplier can affect a business. [3]

6. Bramble Florist uses technology in four ways. State which type of technology from the specification each one is: e-commerce, social media, digital communication or payment systems.

(a) Customers order bouquets on the shop’s website for next-day delivery. [1] (b) The owner posts photos of wedding flowers and replies to comments. [1] (c) Staff and the wholesaler send order confirmations by email and video call. [1] (d) Customers pay by tapping a phone on a card reader. [1]

7. Lowick Print Studio sells 480 prints a month in its workshop at an average price of £14. It opens an online store. This sells 210 extra prints a month at £14 each, in 140 orders. Each print costs £5.60 in materials. Postage paid by the studio is £3.20 an order. The platform fee is £35 a month and payment processing costs 2.5% of online sales revenue.

(a) Calculate the extra monthly sales revenue. [1] (b) Calculate the extra monthly costs. [3] (c) Calculate the extra monthly profit. [1] (d) Calculate the percentage increase in monthly sales revenue, using the workshop sales as the original figure. [1]

8. Explain one way that social media can influence the marketing mix of a small business. [3]

9. Cobb Lane Noodle Stall took cash only. It served 90 customers a day, each spending an average of £9. It then rented a card reader for £15 a month. The stall now serves 112 customers a day at the same average spend, and 70% of its sales are paid by card. The reader charges 1.6% of card sales. The stall trades on 26 days a month. Analyse how the card reader has affected the stall’s sales and costs. [6]

10. Harrow Fold Coffee Roasters Ltd has 18 employees. It sells 300,000 bags of coffee a year to cafés and online. Each bag costs 11p. A recyclable bag costs 18p. Profit last year was £96,000. A local pressure group is campaigning for recyclable packaging and several café customers say they would prefer it. The owners want profit kept high. Raising the price by 4p a bag would pass on part of the extra cost. Evaluate whether Harrow Fold should switch to recyclable bags. [9]

11. Tarn End Bikes employs 8 people and has one shop. It is choosing between two options. Justify which option the owner should choose.

	Now	Option A: keep the shop and add online sales	Option B: close the shop, sell online only
Annual sales revenue	£360,000	£432,000	£420,000
Annual total costs	£306,000	£361,000	£339,000

Option B would end 3 of the 8 jobs and customers could no longer try a bike before buying. [9]

Answers

1. An organised group that tries to influence the decisions of a business or the government [1] on an issue it cares about, such as the environment or workers’ conditions [1]. [2] Examiner insight: A definition gains credit for saying what the group does and why. “A group that complains” is too thin, and naming only an example is not a definition.

2. Any two from: a share of the profit as a return on money invested [1]; growth in the value of their shares [1]; the survival of the business. Give two separate objectives, not one objective worded twice. [2] Examiner insight: A “give” question needs only recall. Repeating the same idea twice earns credit once.

3. 212,500 × 1.04 [1] = £221,000; extra cost = 221,000 − 212,500 = £8,500 [1]. [2] Examiner insight: Show the multiplier or the 4% working. Answers that give only the extra cost, or only the new total, answer half of what was asked.

4. Noise from machines and deliveries at 5 am may disturb residents [1], which could lead to complaints or objections and a poorer relationship with the business [1]. [2] Examiner insight: Two linked points, set in the case, are what an outline needs. The second point should follow from the first, not repeat it.

5. A supplier can raise its prices, which is a statement of fact [1]. This increases the business’s costs [1], so the business either takes a lower profit or puts up its own prices, which may lose it customers [1]. [3] Examiner insight: Start with the fact, then expand it twice. Naming the supplier without saying what it does to the business gives little to reward.

6. (a) E-commerce [1] (b) Social media [1] (c) Digital communication [1] (d) Payment systems [1] Examiner insight: Use the specification’s own names. The website order is the sale itself, so it is e-commerce rather than a payment system.

7. (a) 210 × £14 = £2,940 [1] (b) Materials 210 × 5.60 = £1,176 [1]; postage 140 × 3.20 = £448; payment processing 2.5% × 2,940 = £73.50; platform fee £35. Total = 1,176 + 448 + 73.50 + 35 [1] = £1,732.50 [1] (c) 2,940 − 1,732.50 = £1,207.50 [1] (d) Workshop sales revenue = 480 × 14 = £6,720; 2,940 ÷ 6,720 × 100 = 43.75% [1] Examiner insight: Show each cost line before the total. Using the online figures as the original in the percentage is a common slip; the question names the original.

8. Social media can promote the business to a large audience cheaply, which is a statement of fact about promotion [1]. Posts and adverts can be aimed at particular groups such as local customers [1], so more of them hear about the product and visit or order [1]. [3] Examiner insight: Say which element of the mix you mean. A general comment about “getting more customers” without linking it to promotion, product, price or place is incomplete.

9. Sales rose from 90 × 9 = £810 to 112 × 9 = £1,008 a day, an extra £198 a day, or £5,148 over 26 days [1]. Customers without cash can now buy, so the reader is likely to have contributed to the rise [1]. Card sales are 70% × 1,008 = £705.60 a day [1], so the daily fee is 1.6% × 705.60 = £11.29 [1]. Over 26 days that is about £293.53 plus the £15 rental, around £308.53 [1]. The extra sales revenue is far larger than the cost of the payment system, but ingredients for the extra customers cost money too, and not all of the rise may come from the reader [1]. [6] Examiner insight: Analyse answers use the figures to build a chain from cause to effect. A final comparison of the gain with the cost, with one limit, shows you have weighed the evidence.

10. Extra cost = 300,000 × (0.18 − 0.11) = £21,000 [1], which is 21,000 ÷ 96,000 × 100 = 21.9% of last year’s profit [1]. A 4p rise brings in 300,000 × 0.04 = £12,000, so the net cost is £9,000 and profit would be £87,000, a fall of 9.4% [1]. For switching: the pressure group and café customers get what they want [1], and Harrow Fold may avoid further campaigning and a loss of sales [1]. Against: shareholders receive less profit [1], and a price rise may lose some customers [1]. Judgement: switch with the price rise [1], because a fall of under 10% in profit is a moderate price for keeping customers and goodwill, though it would be a weaker choice if the cafés would leave over a 4p rise [1]. [9] Examiner insight: A strong evaluation weighs each side and ends with a decision that follows from the figures. A conclusion that names what would change it is stronger than a bare “yes”.

11. Option A profit = 432,000 − 361,000 = £71,000 [1]; Option B profit = 420,000 − 339,000 = £81,000 [1]; current profit = £54,000, so A raises profit by 17,000 ÷ 54,000 × 100 = 31.5% and B by 27,000 ÷ 54,000 × 100 = 50% [1]. B gives £10,000 more profit than A [1]. But B ends 3 of the 8 jobs, which harms employees and the community [1], and customers who want to try a bike may go elsewhere [1]. Both options rely on online sales growing, so the forecasts are uncertain [1]. Recommendation: Option A [1], because the extra £10,000 profit from B is small against the cost in jobs and lost shop customers, and A still lifts profit by nearly a third [1]. [9] Examiner insight: Either option can be justified if the reasons use the information given. Answers do better when they pick one option clearly and compare it with the other using the figures.

Where marks are usually lost

• Writing a stakeholder name without saying what that group wants.
• Defining a term with an example only.
• Leaving out the new total or the extra cost when both were asked for.
• Using the wrong original figure in a percentage change.
• Describing technology without naming the part of sales, costs or the marketing mix it affects.
• Showing the gain from technology and forgetting the costs it brings.
• Giving a conflict without saying why both groups cannot be satisfied.
• Giving a list for evaluate or justify with no clear decision.

Next steps

• Revise with the revision notes and the study guide.
• Go to the Business hub or the printable checklist.
• Take the free 10-minute diagnostics.
• Book a free trial class.

Frequently asked questions

What do these stakeholders and technology questions cover? They follow Pearson Edexcel GCSE Business (1BS0) Theme 1 items 1.5.1 and 1.5.2: stakeholder groups and their objectives, how stakeholders affect and are affected by a business, conflicts between them, and how technology influences sales, costs and the marketing mix.

How do you answer a stakeholder conflict question? Name the two groups, say what each wants, and explain why both cannot be fully satisfied at once. Writing that “everyone benefits” misses the point of a conflict question.

What is a common mistake when writing about technology? Showing the gain from technology but forgetting the costs it brings, such as website, delivery, payment fees and training. Name the part of sales, costs or the marketing mix that the technology affects.

Can you define a term using only an example? No. A definition should state what the term means; an example can support it but does not replace it.

Official syllabus

Pearson Edexcel Level 1/Level 2 GCSE (9-1) in Business (1BS0), Specification, Issue 2, July 2022, published by Pearson Education Limited. Theme 1: Investigating small business, Topic 1.5 Understanding external influences on business, items 1.5.1 and 1.5.2.