CAREER CLUSTER Marketing CAREER PATHWAY Merchandising INSTRUCTIONAL AREA Operations APPAREL AND ACCESSORIES MARKETING SERIES EVENT PROCEDURES PARTICIPANT INSTRUCTIONS The event will be presented to you through your reading of the 21 st Century Skills, Performance Indicators and Event Situation. You will have up to 10 minutes to review this information and prepare your presentation. You may make notes to use during your presentation. You will have up to 10 minutes to role-play your situation with a judge (you may have more than one judge). You will be evaluated on how well you meet the performance indicators of this event. Turn in all your notes and event materials when you have completed the role-play. 21 st CENTURY SKILLS Critical Thinking Reason effective and use systems thinking. Problem Solving Make judgments and decisions, and solve problems. Communication Communicate clearly. Creativity and Innovation Show evidence of creativity. PERFORMANCE INDICATORS 1. Explain the nature of operations. 2. Explain routine security precautions. 3. Explain employee s role in expense control. 4. Devise/Enact merchandise security measures to minimize inventory shrinkage. 5. Choose and use appropriate channel for workplace communication. Published 2016 by DECA Inc. Copyright 2016 by DECA Inc. No part of this publication may be reproduced for resale or posted online without written permission from the publisher. Printed in the United States of America.
EVENT SITUATION You are to assume the role of manager at MOXIE, a store specializing in female apparel in both regular and plus sizes. The district manager (judge) wants you to determine how to fix a recurring problem of inventory shrinkage due to employee theft. MOXIE is a very popular store among females age 15 29 that sells trendy yet affordable fashions. There are over 500 MOXIE locations, most located in shopping malls or strip malls. The average size of a MOXIE store is 20,000 square feet, much larger than typical apparel retailers. You have noticed inventory shrinkage for the last three quarters at the MOXIE store you manage. The district manager (judge) has made sure the security system is in good working order and has facilitated ongoing training for your staff so they are aware of how to spot shoplifters or suspicious customers. These measures have not reduced your store s inventory shrinkage. It was brought to your attention that one of your assistant managers and one of your hourly employees have been selling MOXIE merchandise on a local classified advertisement website. The MOXIE clothing is listed as brand new and the photographs show the clothing still has tags attached. Upon investigation it was determined that the assistant manager and hourly employee were stealing MOXIE merchandise at the end of their shifts by stuffing it into backpacks and then selling it on the classified website. Both employees have been terminated. The district manager (judge) has asked you to fix the problem of employee theft. Specifically, the district manager (judge) wants you to put practices into place that will safeguard against employee theft and determine how to best communicate those practices to your entire staff. You will present your ideas to the district manager (judge) in a role-play to take place in the district manager s (judge s) office. The district manager (judge) will begin the role-play by greeting you and asking to hear your ideas. After you have presented your ideas and have answered the district manager s (judge s) questions, the district manager (judge) will conclude the role-play by thanking you for your work. 2
JUDGE S INSTRUCTIONS DIRECTIONS, PROCEDURES AND JUDGE S ROLE In preparation for this event, you should review the following information with your event manager and other judges: 1. Procedures 2. Performance Indicators 3. Event Situation 4. Judge Role-play Characterization Participants may conduct a slightly different type of meeting and/or discussion with you each time; however, it is important that the information you provide and the questions you ask be uniform for every participant. 5. Judge s Evaluation Instructions 6. Judge s Evaluation Form Please use a critical and consistent eye in rating each participant. JUDGE ROLE-PLAY CHARACTERIZATION You are to assume the role of district manager at MOXIE, a store specializing in female apparel in both regular and plus sizes. You want a local store manager (participant) to determine how to fix a recurring problem of inventory shrinkage due to employee theft. MOXIE is a very popular store among females age 15 29 that sells trendy yet affordable fashions. There are over 500 MOXIE locations, most located in shopping malls or strip malls. The average size of a MOXIE store is 20,000 square feet, much larger than typical apparel retailers. The local store manager (participant) has noticed inventory shrinkage for the last three quarters. You have made sure the security system is in good working order and have facilitated ongoing training for the staff so they are aware of how to spot shoplifters or suspicious customers. These measures have not reduced the store s inventory shrinkage. It was brought to the store manager s (participant s) attention that one of the assistant managers and one of the hourly employees have been selling MOXIE merchandise on a local classified advertisement website. The MOXIE clothing is listed as brand new and the photographs show the clothing still has tags attached. Upon investigation it was determined that the assistant manager and hourly employee were stealing MOXIE merchandise at the end of their shifts by stuffing it into backpacks and then selling it on the classified website. Both employees have been terminated. 3
You have asked the store manager (participant) to fix the problem of employee theft. Specifically, you want the store manager (participant) to put practices into place that will safeguard against employee theft and determine how to best communicate those practices to the entire staff. The store manager (participant) will present ideas to you in a role-play to take place in your office. You will begin the role-play by greeting the store manager (participant) and asking to hear about his/her ideas. During the course of the role-play you are to ask the following questions of each participant: 1. Are your ideas to reduce employee theft ethical? 2. What are other reasons for inventory shrinkage? 3. Should your ideas be implemented in all MOXIE stores or just those stores experiencing employee theft? Once the store manager (participant) has presented ideas and has answered your questions, you will conclude the role-play by thanking the store manager (participant) for the work. You are not to make any comments after the event is over except to thank the participant. 4
Evaluation Form Information JUDGE S EVALUATION INSTRUCTIONS The participants are to be evaluated on their ability to perform the specific performance indicators stated on the cover sheet of this event and restated on the Judge s Evaluation Form. Although you may see other performance indicators being demonstrated by the participants, those listed in the Performance Indicators section are the critical ones you are measuring for this particular event. Evaluation Form Interpretation The evaluation levels listed below and the evaluation rating procedures should be discussed thoroughly with your event chairperson and the other judges to ensure complete and common understanding for judging consistency. Level of Evaluation Exceeds Expectations Meets Expectations Below Expectations Little/No Value Interpretation Level Participant demonstrated the performance indicator in an extremely professional manner; greatly exceeds business standards; would rank in the top 10% of business personnel performing this performance indicator. Participant demonstrated the performance indicator in an acceptable and effective manner; meets at least minimal business standards; there would be no need for additional formalized training at this time; would rank in the 70-89 th percentile of business personnel performing this performance indicator. Participant demonstrated the performance indicator with limited effectiveness; performance generally fell below minimal business standards; additional training would be required to improve knowledge, attitude and/or skills; would rank in the 50-69 th percentile of business personnel performing this performance indicator. Participant demonstrated the performance indicator with little or no effectiveness; a great deal of formal training would be needed immediately; perhaps this person should seek other employment; would rank in the 0-49 th percentile of business personnel performing this performance indicator. 5
APPAREL AND ACCESSORIES MARKETING SERIES, 2016 JUDGE S EVALUATION FORM SAMPLE SCENARIO 2016 Participant: I.D. Number: INSTRUCTIONAL AREA Operations Did the participant: Little/No Value Below Expectations Meets Expectations Exceeds Expectations Judged Score PERFORMANCE INDICATORS 1. Explain the nature of operations? 0-1-2-3-4 5-6-7-8 9-10-11 12-13-14 2. Explain routine security precautions? 0-1-2-3-4 5-6-7-8 9-10-11 12-13-14 3. 4. 5. Explain employee s role in expense control? Devise/Enact merchandise security measures to minimize inventory shrinkage? Choose and use appropriate channel for workplace communication? 21 st CENTURY SKILLS 6. 7. Reason effectively and use systems thinking? Make judgments and decisions, and solve problems? 0-1-2-3-4 5-6-7-8 9-10-11 12-13-14 0-1-2-3-4 5-6-7-8 9-10-11 12-13-14 0-1-2-3-4 5-6-7-8 9-10-11 12-13-14 0-1 2-3 4 5-6 0-1 2-3 4 5-6 8. Communicate clearly? 0-1 2-3 4 5-6 9. Show evidence of creativity? 0-1 2-3 4 5-6 10. Overall impression and responses to the judge s questions 0-1 2-3 4 5-6 TOTAL SCORE 6