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Business Organisation - Lesson Plan: 1-2 x 1 hour lessons

A series of 'off the shelf' lesson plans and resources for use in the classroom. These lessons deal with Business Organisation and are relevant to the following specifications:

• AQA: Module 2, 11.1
• Edexcel: Unit 1, Section 5
• OCR: Module 2872

Aim:

This lesson is a fairly traditional case study/problem solving activity. The case is based on a fictional company involved in a wide range of business activities. The student is asked to consider the company's current type of business organisation and to review, analyse and evaluate the effectiveness of the organisation in meeting the company's objectives. The resulting analysis can be presented as a written report for formal assessment or presented to others in the group, stimulating discussion about the appropriate way forward for the company. The Activity should be a useful precursor to those who will be doing a pre-seen case study type approach to one or more of their modules.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of the lessons, students should understand:

• The different forms of business organisation and the advantages and disadvantages of each
• The links between the organisation of the business and the objectives of the business
• Ways of changing a business organisation and showing some appreciation of the impact on a business of such changes

Resources:

• PowerPoint Presentation - Business Functions and Organisation [80 KB]
• Mind Map - Business Organisation
• Mind Map - Functional Areas
• Activity - Business Organisation
• Access to PCs for students for research

Lesson Structure:

The basics of business organisation will have been explained to students. The use of the Presentation and the Mind Map are resources that could facilitate this. The lesson structure is fairly simple - students are introduced to the business scenario, the problem is posed and students have to analyse the problem. The suggested approach is as follows:

1. Brainstorm the key issues
2. Background reading on alternative organisation structures
3. Discuss possible solutions
4. Evaluate solutions
5. Write up the report/presentation

The activity can take up to two lessons depending on the time available - if doing the presentation approach then a second and possibly third lesson will be needed to enable feedback to occur. Discussion of the different approaches taken by each group will be an effective way of highlighting the problems of decision making in large organisations.