NES Profile: Business Education (309)

Content Domain V: Business Communications, Technology, Career Development, and Professionalism

Competencies:

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0013 Understand principles and procedures related to business communication.

Descriptive Statements:

Demonstrate knowledge of effective communication skills and proper etiquette in personal and professional situations.
Demonstrate knowledge of specific business terminology, appropriate style, and standard English for written business communications.
Examine strategies and technologies used for preparing and delivering presentations to diverse audiences.
Demonstrate knowledge of terminology, components, procedures, and business applications related to the use of electronic communications systems.

Sample Item:

In which of the following situations would it be most important for participants to communicate in a face-to-face meeting?

A manager wishes to inform a subordinate of topics that will be discussed at an upcoming meeting.
An entrepreneur wishes to persuade a potential investor to back a business start-up.
A team leader wishes to inform members of the team about specifications for an assigned task.
A human resources director wishes to persuade employees to use company e-mail solely for business purposes.

Correct Response and Explanation (Show Correct ResponseHide Correct Response)

B. This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of effective communication skills in professional situations. Face-to-face communication allows each participant to send and receive both verbal messages and nonverbal messages in the form of body language, facial expressions, and gestures. Compared with other forms of communication (e.g., writing, telephone) face-to-face communication allows greater amounts and more subtle types of information to be sent and received. This makes face-to-face communication especially useful during interactions in which the information exchanged is complex or nuanced, as in persuading a potential investor to back a business start-up.

0014 Understand information systems in business.

Descriptive Statements:

Demonstrate knowledge of the impact of information technology on business and society.
Examine strategies for planning the selection and acquisition of information technologies.
Demonstrate knowledge of basic principles and terminology associated with the use of computer technology in business.
Apply knowledge of how to use the Internet and systems networking.
Demonstrate knowledge of principles, procedures, and issues related to laws, ethics, and security in technology systems.
Demonstrate knowledge of the use of computer technology in production systems.

Sample Item:

A business is looking for a commercial Internet server to host its Web site. It is most likely to need a server offering SQL capabilities if it intends to offer its Web site users:

video streaming.
database access.
site searches.
interactive forms.

Correct Response and Explanation (Show Correct ResponseHide Correct Response)

B. This question requires the examinee to apply knowledge of how to use the Internet. Structured Query Language (SQL) is a computer language for inserting, retrieving, modifying, updating and deleting data from databases. A business Web site would need a server that offers SQL capabilities if it intends to offer visitors to the Web site access to databases.

0015 Understand information processing and computer technology applications in business.

Descriptive Statements:

Identify methods for developing the skills and knowledge of technology users in a business.
Apply knowledge of components and operations of computer systems.
Apply knowledge of principles and procedures related to software applications used for information processing.
Demonstrate knowledge of skills and techniques used for data input technology and information processing.

Sample Item:

An incomplete spreadsheet for a business is shown below.

Rows 1 through 3 contain headers that say, in order from 1 to 3, "Ahead Financial Services," "Balance Sheet," and "March 31." In subsequent rows, some cells contain text or numbers as follows: Cell A 4, Assets. Cell A 5, Total current assets. Cell B 5 250,000. Cell A 6, Fixed assets. Cell B 6, 125,000. Cell A 7, Intangible assets. Cell B 7, 15,000. Cell A 9, Total assets. Cell A 11, Liabilities. Cell A 12, Current liabilities. Cell B 12, 175,000. Cell A 13, Long-term liabilities. Cell B 13, 125,000. Cell A 15, Total liabilities. Cell C 15, 300,000. Cell A 17, Owner's Equity. Cell A 18, Common stock, cell B 18, 50,000. Cell A 19, Retained earnings, cell B 19, 40,000. Cell A 21, Total equity. Cell C 21, 90,000. Additionally, cell C 9 in the Total assets row is blank with a dark border around it.

What formula should be inserted in cell C9?

B5 + B12
SUM(B5:B7)
B15 + B21
SUM(C15:C21)

Correct Response and Explanation (Show Correct ResponseHide Correct Response)

B. This question requires the examinee to apply knowledge of principles and procedures related to software applications used for information processing. A spreadsheet is a computer application that consists of a grid of cells that may contain alphanumeric text, as in column A of the spreadsheet shown, or numerals, as in columns B and C. A spreadsheet cell may also contain a formula that specifies how the content of that cell is to be calculated from the contents of other cells. In the spreadsheet shown, column C of the balance sheet represents the total of each of the categories (assets, liabilities, owner's equity) of the balance sheet. The highlighted cell represents total assets, and the formula for calculating the cell's content would be SUM(B5:B7).

0016 Understand career development and professionalism.

Descriptive Statements:

Identify career opportunities in business; sources of information about business careers; and personal interests, education, and experience needed for business careers.
Apply knowledge of career-planning strategies and skills related to job search and job acquisition.
Demonstrate knowledge of career, technical, student, and professional organizations related to business education.

Sample Item:

Which of the following steps should a person take first when choosing a career?

assessing short- and long-term prospects for employment in various fields
identifying one's own personal characteristics and career objectives
reviewing strategies for writing an effective résumé and application letter
gathering information about academic requirements for various professions

Correct Response and Explanation (Show Correct ResponseHide Correct Response)

B. This question requires the examinee to apply knowledge of career-planning strategies and skills related to job search and job acquisition. A primary objective of the career-planning process is to identify potential careers that match the individual's goals, values, and personal strengths. This requires both a knowledge of the characteristics of a variety of careers and a knowledge of one's own personal characteristics. Since the number of potential careers is extremely large, it is most efficient to begin this process by identifying one's own personal characteristics and career objectives and then matching these characteristics and objectives with characteristics of particular careers.

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