LAP Modules

Employers have consistently ranked communication skills as one of the most desirable traits in new employees. In this LAP, students will learn the importance of effective communication skills as well as techniques for overcoming barriers to communication. Students will discover how communication plays a role in their everyday lives, and how their ability to communicate can help them achieve their personal and professional goals. LAPs are comprehensive instructional packages that include all...

Increased self-esteem, more meaningful relationships, improved group morale…the benefits of giving praise are practically endless. In this LAP students will learn how to give effective recognition, helping them develop the leadership and interpersonal skills that they need to succeed in the modern workplace. For example, in the Gray Zone, students will examine the case of a restaurant manager who feels that praise is unnecessary – and determine for themselves just how important recognition...

Initiative is an extremely important skill in all types of careers. Teach your students about it with Hustle! They’ll learn why initiative is necessary and how they can demonstrate it at work. LAPs are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan. This LAP includes a student handout (with CopyIT! permission) that includes information about taking initiative at work, a (So What?) discussion of why it's important to learn, ideas (Make it...

Businesses and entrepreneurs must test their ideas before jumping in feet-first. They accomplish this task by conducting feasibility studies. Teach your students about feasibility studies—why businesses conduct them, what they include, and the benefits they provide. LAPs are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan. This LAP includes a student handout (with CopyIT! permission) that includes information about feasibility studies, a (So...

Starting and running a successful, well-respected company doesn’t just require business smarts – it requires dedication to ethical principles and a commitment to doing what’s right. In this LAP, students will explore several common ethical dilemmas associated with starting a company, and will discover the importance of using ethics as a “compass” when beginning a new business venture. LAPs are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan....

Credit helps people buy now and pay later. This LAP explains the types of credit, who offers it, and the costs that businesses and individuals pay for using it. It also illustrates the reasons why businesses offer credit and the benefits consumers get from using credit, along with the laws that attempt to make credit fair for everyone. LAPs are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan. This LAP includes a student handout (with CopyIT!...

Where there’s risk, there’s reward! This LAP covers this fundamental investing concept, explains how investors know if they’re risk-tolerant or risk-averse, and goes over common lending and ownership investments, such as stocks and bonds. LAPs are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan. Each LAP includes a student handout (with CopyIT! permission) that includes information about types of investments, a (So What?) discussion of why...

Though it might not seem as “glamorous” as inventing new products or creating marketing campaigns, accounting is an absolutely vital part of business success. Teach your students about the importance of accounting—what it is, why businesses need it, and how they use it. Explain to them the difference between managerial and financial accounting, and help them discover each step in the accounting cycle. LAPs are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a...

Open your students’ eyes to the significance of cash flow in business! The LAP Count the Cash explains the importance of maintaining a positive cash flow to pay expenses, invest, and expand a business. It includes discussions of how entrepreneurs find funding and manage cash with limited resources as well as the challenge of managing inconsistent cash flows due to seasonal business. An explanation of how cash flow is determined is also included. LAPs are comprehensive instructional packages...

The balance sheet is one of a business's key financial statements. This LAP discusses the accounting equation, who uses balance sheets, and balance sheet components, including assets, liabilities, and owner’s equity. Teach your students what balance sheets are and why they're important. LAPs (Learning Activity Packages) are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan. This LAP includes a student handout (with CopyIT! permission) that...

What do the terms earnings statement, operating statement, and profit-and-loss statement have in common? They're all names for the income statement. Help your students learn about these important financial documents with Watch Your Bottom Line. Readers will gain an in-depth knowledge of the various components of income statements and will discover why it’s so important for these documents to be accurate and up to date. LAPs (Learning Activity Packages) are comprehensive instructional packages...

Planning ahead is important in life and in business! Budgeting is essential for financial success. Teach your students about budget components, formats, strategies, and how to develop an effective budget for their company or department. LAPs are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan. Each LAP includes a student handout (with CopyIT! permission) that includes information about budgeting, a (So What?) discussion of why it's important...

Running a business without a budget is like trying to steer a ship on a cloudy day without a compass—it’s far too easy to sail off course. Money Tracks helps you teach your students why budgets are so important, prepares you to discuss various types of budgets, and maps out your discussion of the characteristics that effective budgets possess. LAPs are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan. This LAP includes a student handout (with...

Internal accounting controls, such as separation of duties, documentation, and auditing, are the safeguards meant to protect a business’s financial assets and information against loss from error or fraud. Teach your students what these controls are and why they’re so important! LAPs are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan. Each LAP includes a student handout (with CopyIT! permission) that includes information about internal...

Accountants provide an important service to society, and therefore, they have a duty to be ethical. With Due Care (The Role of Ethics in Accounting) describes the importance of ethics to all types of accountants. It focuses on the purpose of ethics in accounting and the benefits that businesses receive from ethical accounting practices. This LAP also explains several key principles that accountants should follow to maintain ethical behavior. LAPs are comprehensive instructional packages that...

Finance affects just about every aspect of a business. In this engaging LAP, students will discover the various responsibilities of financial managers and explore the relationship between finance and other business functions. In the Gray Zone, students will explore a challenging ethical dilemma commonly faced by finance professionals. LAPs (Learning Activity Packages) are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan. This LAP includes a...

Ethics are essential for success in finance. Money Morals (The Role of Ethics in Finance) takes an in-depth look at the role that ethics play in finance. It explains why ethics are so important to financial professionals and identifies factors that lead to unethical actions in finance. This LAP also discusses strategies that promote ethical behavior in finance. LAPs are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan. This LAP includes a...

Just like individuals, businesses weigh risks and rewards when making important decisions. Teach your students more about cost-benefit analysis. LAPs (Learning Activity Packages) are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan. This LAP includes a student handout (with CopyIT! permission) that includes information about cost-benefit analysis, a (So What?) discussion of why it's important to learn, ideas (Make it Pay!) for immediate...

Financial information is important for all of us – but especially important for businesses! Using this LAP, teach your students about the types of financial information businesses use as well as how they use it. In the activities, students will get hands-on experience with financial information, helping them better understand the various characteristics of quality financial information. LAPs (Learning Activity Packages) are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a...

Successful business organizations depend on their employees, or human resources. Managing human resources involves a lot more than just interviewing and hiring! HR managers administer benefits, oversee training and development, ensure compliance, and more. This LAP shows students just how influential the HR function is in every business. LAPs are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan. Each LAP includes a student handout (with...

From handling sensitive issues such as discrimination and harassment to determining compensation plans and reward systems, HR managers often face serious ethical dilemmas. In this LAP, students will delve into the issues facing human resources professionals in today’s modern workplace, gaining an in-depth understanding of how ethics play a role in HR management. In the activity Hershey’s: An Ethical Chocolate Company, students will discover how a real-world human resources department uses an...

Being a leader means influencing, motivating, and empowering followers to be creative, learn new skills, and strive toward organizational goals. Teach your students how effective leadership can help a business to be more productive, its employees to be more creative and skilled, and its leaders to enjoy both internal and external rewards. LAPs are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan. Each LAP includes a student handout (with...

Marketing information is essential for business success. Businesses use marketing information to make educated decisions, solve problems efficiently, and plan for the future. And, where do businesses get this information? From marketing-information management systems. Marketing-information management systems are responsible for continuously gathering, sorting, analyzing, evaluating, and distributing needed marketing information. LAPs are comprehensive instructional packages that include all...

Seek and Find explores the crucial role that marketing research plays in business decision-making and describes the steps involved in the marketing research process. The importance of research identifying target markets, trends, preferred product features, and pricing is illustrated with examples from corporate giants Apple, Taco Bell, Lego, and Hershey. LAPs are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan. This LAP includes a student...

Decision making requires data. Marketers must determine who will buy a product, how they will promote it, how much it will cost, where they will sell it, and so on. Teach your students about the types of data that marketers need for effective decision making; where they locate data; how they use data; and how data usage can impact business. LAPs are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan. Each LAP includes a student handout (with...

Interviews, focus groups, surveys, Internet tracking, and more—marketing researchers use a variety of qualitative and quantitative methods to collect the data they need. This LAP guides students through these methods—what they are, how they work, and their advantages and disadvantages. LAPs are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan. Each LAP includes a student handout (with CopyIT! permission) that includes information about...

Marketers have to follow certain guidelines to make sure they are managing information efficiently and effectively. One way that they can do so is by following ethical principles. Info With Integrity (Ethics in Marketing-Information Management) is all about the importance of ethics when handling marketing information. It includes specific, relevant ethical conflicts in marketing-information management. The detailed examples and interactive activities will help students grasp this challenging...

Many types of data, such as customer data, competitor data, sales data, and more, are essential for informed marketing decision making. Thriving businesses take the time and effort to gather and analyze these data and use them to their best advantage. Teach your students how to identify useful marketing data from both internal and external sources. LAPs are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan. This LAP includes a student handout...

Each marketing-research project is different. However, they are all the same in at least one aspect—they all require researchers to obtain data. Teach your students about primary and secondary marketing-research data, why they are used, and the advantages and disadvantages of each. LAPs are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan. This LAP includes a student handout (with CopyIT! permission) that includes information about obtaining...

Before data can be collected, marketing researchers must identify the problem or root causes driving the research. This LAP explains how managers and researchers work together to determine the actual research problem so research objectives can be developed. Types of data, units of analysis, and relevant variables for marketing research studies are also discussed. LAPs are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan. This LAP includes a...

Marketing researchers create their designs with the end goal in mind. Better by Design will help your students understand the importance of choosing the most effective research designs to acquire the needed information. This LAP discusses exploratory, descriptive, and causal research designs, presenting marketing research examples from Coca-Cola, DeWALT Tools, Frito-Lay, and more. LAPs are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan....

When marketers undertake a marketing research project, one of their top priorities is to obtain clear and accurate data. They know that a “slice” of the population—a sample—can represent the whole quite precisely. Use this LAP to teach your students why and when marketers use sampling, and help them discover different types of sampling designs. LAPs are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan. This LAP includes a student handout...

Knowledge is as important in the business world as it is in your personal life. Sometimes, there can be so much knowledge in one place that it can be overwhelming. That’s why organizations need knowledge management. Teach your students about knowledge management and its key role in businesses today. LAPs are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan. This LAP includes a student handout (with CopyIT! permission) that includes...

Knowledge management has become increasingly important to organizations of all shapes and sizes. But do your students understand the role that ethics play in effectively managing knowledge? If they don’t, this LAP can help. Know What’s Right (Ethics in Knowledge Management) explains how knowledge management makes organizations more ethical. It also discusses ethical issues that can disrupt the knowledge management process. This comprehensive lesson includes engaging activities and relevant...

The marketing functions – market planning, product/service management, marketing-information management, pricing, channel management, promotion, and selling – all play significant roles in carrying out a business’s marketing plan and attracting the target customer to the business. Work the Big Seven explains each marketing function, its importance, and how the marketing functions work together to bring success. LAPs are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a...

Marketing makes the world go round. It makes our lives better, provides us with a variety of goods and services, and encourages trade between nations. Marketing is essential for business success, yet many students know nothing about it. Use this LAP to introduce your students to marketing activities, the marketing concept, and the many ways that marketing impacts us every day. LAPs are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan. Each...

Show your students how the growth of sports and sport marketing impacts the world. The Wide, Wide World of Sport Marketing (Nature of Sport Marketing) explains how the popularity of sports has created a diverse industry that impacts everyone from corporate sponsors to soccer moms. Anyone leading an active lifestyle or watching a sporting event enjoys the recreational and entertainment benefits that sports provide. This LAP includes activities, videos, and more showing how sport marketing...

Consumers purchase products and services for a variety of reasons – from cultural influences, to personal preferences, to past experiences. Marketers know that their companies’ success depends on understanding the diverse influences affecting buying behavior and using those influences to their advantage. In this LAP, students will discover how final consumers and companies make buying decisions, as well as the practical implications that buying behavior has for marketers. LAPs are...

Every business has goals, and every business needs employees to help it reach those goals. Act Now! teaches your students the general and specific employee actions they can take to help companies work toward their goals. LAPs are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan. This LAP includes a student handout (with CopyIT! permission) that includes information about employee actions and company goals, a (So What?) discussion of why it's...

In the world of business, one thing leads to another. The actions companies take today will lead to the results, good or bad, that they face tomorrow. Teach your students about positive and negative company actions and results with Just Do It...Right. LAPs are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan. This LAP includes a student handout (with CopyIT! permission) that includes information about company actions and results, a (So What?)...

To sell products and services, marketers have to connect producers with consumers. And how can they do that? By using goals, strategies, and tactics! This LAP explains the importance of setting marketing goals, choosing strategies, and picking tactics. It also explains how the four elements of the marketing mix—product, price, place, and promotion—work together to help marketers get the job done. LAPs are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented...

Do your students understand the word “market,” and how it is used to describe mass groups of consumers as well as smaller, more specific groups? Can they benefit from understanding how marketers use information to locate and identify specific consumers based on demographic, geographic, psychographic, and behavioral traits? The LAP Have We Met? explains mass marketing and market segmentation with examples from Adidas, the NBA, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as well as...

No one can see the future in perfect clarity—but sales forecasts can help! This LAP explains the importance of sales forecasts and how businesses use this essential tool to predict sales and plan production, promotion, prices, and much more. LAPs are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan. Each LAP includes a student handout (with CopyIT! permission) that includes information about the nature of sales forecasts, a (So What?)...

Success is hard to achieve without careful planning, especially in marketing. Whether a business is just starting up or has been established for decades, it must have a marketing plan in place to succeed. This LAP teaches the purpose, benefits, and components of a marketing plan. LAPs are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan. Each LAP includes a student handout (with CopyIT! permission) that includes information about the nature...

Just as people have personal goals and ambitions, businesses have their own goals for corporate success. One way that companies measure their progress toward their goals is by evaluating their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT). In this LAP, students will learn how to conduct a SWOT analysis for their own companies as well as the benefits of SWOT analysis for long-term success. In the activities, students will have the opportunity to conduct SWOT analyses for real-life...

Old documents may seem useless. However, accurate business records contain valuable information that help businesses pay their taxes, prepare budgets, and acquire new clients. Records may be stored in electronic cloud storage or in paper file cabinets. Regardless of how records are stored, they need to be accurate and accessible so information can easily be retrieved. This LAP will help your students understand the importance of good record keeping. LAPs are comprehensive instructional...

Technology has drastically changed how we work and conduct business. Teach your students about some of the technologies that modern businesses use, as well as the ways that technological innovation has altered and influenced the business world. LAPs are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan. This LAP includes a student handout (with CopyIT! permission) that includes information about the technology's impact on business, a (So...

Environmental scanning helps business leaders adapt their strategies to capitalize on opportunities and minimize threats. By regularly gathering and analyzing information about their environment, they can determine the future impact of many changing elements, including demographics, society and culture, technology, competition, and more. Use this LAP to teach students about these different environmental factors, the environmental scanning process, and trends that businesses are grappling with...