Marketing 6–12Marketing 6 to 12

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Competencies and Skills and Blueprint

The test design below describes general testing information. The blueprints that follow provide a detailed outline that explains the competencies and skills that this test measures.

Test Design

table describing the format of the test, including test time, number of questions, and required passing score

Format	Computer-based test (CBT)
Number of Questions	Approximately 80 multiple-choice questions
Time	2 hours and 30 minutes
Passing Score	A scaled score of at least 200

 

Competencies, Skills, and Approximate Percentages of Questions

table describing the competencies, skills, and approximate percentage of each competency's weight toward overall test score

Competency		Approximate Percentage of Total Test Questions
1	Knowledge of marketing careers and employability	6%
2	Knowledge of human relations	7%
3	Knowledge of communications	6%
4	Knowledge of marketing mathematics	8%
5	Knowledge of economic principles	13%
6	Knowledge of marketing principles	13%
7	Knowledge of selling	8%
8	Knowledge of business operations	6%
9	Knowledge of sales promotion	7%
10	Knowledge of product and service technology	3%
11	Knowledge of leadership and management	6%
12	Knowledge of work-based experiences	4%
13	Knowledge of program operation	3%
14	Knowledge of entrepreneurship	6%
15	Knowledge of financial literacy	4%

Competencies and Skills

Competency 1—Knowledge of marketing careers and employability

1. Identify the resources for marketing career research, including educational and personal requirements, job descriptions, and career ladders.

2. Identify methods for finding job leads and securing information about marketing positions, including technology (e.g., Internet applications).

3. Identify correctly prepared job applications, cover letters, and resumes in print and electronic formats.

4. Identify successful job interview and follow-up techniques.

5. Identify acceptable work habits.

Competency 2—Knowledge of human relations

1. Demonstrate knowledge of the concepts of self-understanding, self-esteem, and human relations.

2. Demonstrate knowledge of personal goal setting and time management principles.

3. Identify interpersonal skills necessary to foster positive working relationships.

4. Identify positive customer/client relations and methods of handling difficult customers, customer inquiries, and complaints.

5. Identify ethical and unethical business practices in the work environment.

6. Identify issues relating to sexual harassment in the workplace.

7. Identify appropriate behaviors related to diversity in the workplace (e.g., people of different cultures, people with special needs).

Competency 3—Knowledge of communications

1. Identify principles of verbal and nonverbal communications (e.g., speaking, writing, listening, reading, body language).

2. Apply knowledge of printed and electronic business letters, business reports, and interdepartmental and company communications.

3. Identify appropriate procedures for using communication technologies in a professional manner (e.g., proper etiquette, legal considerations, ethical considerations).

4. Demonstrate knowledge of the nature and importance of employee communications (e.g., employee publications, staff meetings, e-mail, Web sites, intranet).

5. Identify modern communications technology and its impact on the field of marketing.

Competency 4—Knowledge of marketing mathematics

1. Analyze information in charts and graphs.

2. Solve sales transaction problems involving cash, charge, layaway, COD, returns, and discounts.

3. Perform marketing calculations, such as stock turnover, net sales, stock-sales ratio, mark-ups, markdowns, planned purchases, inventory overages and shortages, and open-to-buy.

4. Calculate purchase order and invoice totals and terms.

5. Analyze profit and loss statements.

6. Identify simple and compound interest.

7. Calculate break-even points.

Competency 5—Knowledge of economic principles

1. Identify economics terminology and economic activities.

2. Identify economic goods, services, and resources.

3. Identify the five types of economic utility (e.g., form, place, possession, time, information).

4. Analyze the concept of supply and demand.

5. Identify the characteristics of the different types of economic systems and how each system answers the three basic economic questions.

6. Identify the roles of profit, risk, competition, and productivity in a free enterprise system.

7. Analyze the relationship between government and business.

8. Analyze the relationship between organized labor and business.

9. Identify the components of the Gross Domestic Product and Gross National Product.

10. Analyze the phases and characteristics of business cycles.

11. Demonstrate knowledge of the issues involved in international trade (e.g., terminology, case situations, legal ramifications).

12. Identify the components of Consumer Price Index and how those components are measured.

Competency 6—Knowledge of marketing principles

1. Identify marketing functions and related activities.

2. Identify and analyze marketing strategies.

3. Apply knowledge of the concept of market and market identification to business situations.

4. Identify the characteristics and functions of channels of distribution (e.g., industrial, consumer, direct, indirect, integrated).

5. Identify pricing concepts and the factors affecting selling price.

6. Identify the principles of product/service planning and the stages of the product life cycle.

7. Identify factors of a business image.

8. Demonstrate knowledge of components of a marketing mix for online and physical store locations or both (i.e., click businesses, brick-and-mortar businesses, brick-and-click businesses).

Competency 7—Knowledge of selling

1. Demonstrate knowledge of the steps of the selling process: opening, questioning, substitution, demonstration, handling objections, closing, suggestion selling, and follow-up.

2. Identify key factors in building a clientele and maintaining a customer and prospect list.

3. Identify customers' buying motives.

4. Identify the process of feature and benefit selling.

5. Identify the purpose of sales quotas, sales journals, sales training, and sales-incentive programs.

6. Demonstrate knowledge of sales via Internet marketing.

7. Identify the types and roles of nonpersonal and personal sales.

Competency 8—Knowledge of business operations

1. Identify the fundamentals of store security, safety, and maintenance.

2. Identify the steps of the shipping and receiving processes.

3. Identify the fundamentals of inventory control and recognize inventory variances.

4. Identify the fundamentals of credit and the factors involved in granting consumer credit.

5. Identify the types of business risks and the methods of risk management.

6. Demonstrate knowledge of and the role of outsourcing.

7. Analyze the different types of investments where business cash reserves can be placed.

Competency 9—Knowledge of sales promotion

1. Demonstrate knowledge of the elements of the promotional mix and its components (e.g., public relations/publicity, display, personal selling, sales promotion, advertising).

2. Demonstrate knowledge of the factors involved in planning promotional programs.

3. Identify the role of the advertising agency.

4. Identify the types of advertising media and calculate their costs.

5. Identify the factors used in the selection and evaluation of advertising media.

6. Identify the parts of a printed advertisement.

7. Identify similarities and differences between promotional and institutional advertising.

Competency 10—Knowledge of product and service technology

1. Identify sources of product and/or service information.

2. Identify grades, standards, warranties, and guarantees.

3. Identify the roles of trade journals/periodicals, professional/trade organizations, trade shows, dealer/franchise meetings, and online resources.

Competency 11—Knowledge of leadership and management

1. Identify leadership or management styles (e.g., authoritarian, laissez-faire, democratic).

2. Demonstrate knowledge of human resources development functions, such as motivation, training, and evaluation.

3. Identify factors involved in employee wages, fringe benefits, and incentive programs.

4. Identify operating budget procedures.

5. Identify management's role in customer relations.

6. Identify computer applications in marketing: inventory, merchandising, data entry, and spreadsheets for decision making.

7. Identify the functions of management (e.g., planning, organizing, directing, controlling).

Competency 12—Knowledge of work-based experiences

1. Identify how to develop business partners and promote work-based programs (e.g., mentoring, career shadowing, internships, cooperative work experience).

2. Identify student placement procedures: training stations, training plans, and evaluating students.

3. Demonstrate knowledge of the child labor laws.

4. Identify strategies to recruit and place student learners.

5. Demonstrate knowledge of industry certifications (e.g., IC3, MOUS, 440 Customer Service Representative).

Competency 13—Knowledge of program operation

1. Identify the purposes and functions of a marketing education advisory committee.

2. Identify professional publications and organizations (e.g., Techniques, Dimensions, Florida Trend, Wall Street Journal; Florida Association of Marketing Educators [FAME], Florida Association of Career and Technical Educators [FACTE], Marketing Education Association [MEA], Association of Career and Technical Educators [ACTE], National Career Academy Coalition [NCAC]).

3. Identify current trends and terminology in marketing education.

4. Demonstrate knowledge of the purpose, operations, and goals of career student organizations (e.g., DECA: An Association of Marketing Students).

Competency 14—Knowledge of entrepreneurship

1. Recognize the elements of entrepreneurship.

2. Identify personal characteristics necessary to be a successful entrepreneur.

3. Identify the components of a plan for opening a business (e.g., form of ownership, financing, merchandising, promotion).

4. Demonstrate knowledge of the different types of business ownership.

5. Differentiate between the terms used in entrepreneurial endeavors (e.g., franchise, franchisee, franchisor, sole-proprietorship, limited liability, partnership, nonprofit, corporation).

Competency 15—Knowledge of financial literacy

1. Identify steps to balance a checkbook.

2. Identify different savings options (e.g., savings account, money market, certificate of deposit).

3. Identify differences between banks and credit unions.

4. Identify personal investment options (e.g., stocks, bonds, mutual funds, real estate, collectibles).

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