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Competitive Events

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As an integral part of the classroom curriculum, DECA’s industry-validated competitive events are aligned with the National Curriculum Standards in the career clusters of marketing, business management and administration, finance, and hospitality and tourism. DECA’s flagship evaluation process involves students in both a written component such as an exam or report and an interactive component with an industry professional serving as a judge. DECA’s competitive events directly contribute to every student being college and career ready when they graduate from high school.

PRINCIPLES OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION EVENTS

DECA’s Principles of Business Administration Events measure the student’s proficiency in those knowledge and skills identified by career practitioners as common academic and technical content across marketing, finance, hospitality, and business management and administration. The Principles of Business Administration Events are designed for first-year DECA members who are enrolled in introductory-level principles of marketing/business courses.

TEAM DECISION MAKING EVENTS

DECA’s Team Decision Making Events provide an opportunity for participants to analyze one or a combination of elements essential to the effective operation of a business in the specific career area. The business situation to be analyzed will be presented as a case study.

Individual Series Events

DECA’s Individual Series Events effectively measure students’ proficiency in the knowledge and skills identified by occupational practitioners as essential to success in a given career. Participants receive recognition for achievement in each role-play scenario and in the series as a whole.

Personal Financial Literacy

DECA’s Personal Financial Literacy Event measures the personal finance knowledge and skills that K-12 students should possess. The Personal Financial Literacy Event is designed to measure the student’s ability to apply reliable information and systematic decision making to personal financial decisions. The Personal Financial Literacy Event is designed for DECA members who are enrolled in personal finance and financial literacy courses.

Business Operations Research Events

DECA’s Business Operations Research Events provide opportunities for participants to demonstrate the knowledge and skills needed by management personnel. Students conduct actual research studies in their communities.

Project Management Events

DECA’s Project Management Events require participants to use project management skills to initiate, plan, execute, monitor and control and close a project.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP EVENTS

DECA’s Entrepreneurship Events provide opportunities to explore entrepreneurial concepts from idea generation, business planning, to growing an existing business.

Integrated Marketing Campaign Events

DECA’s Integrated Marketing Campaign Events provide opportunities for members to develop an integrated marketing campaign of no more than 45 days in length for a real event, product or service and present the campaign in a role-play situation.

PROFESSIONAL SELLING AND CONSULTING EVENTS

DECA’s Professional Selling and Consulting Events provide an opportunity for participants to demonstrate skills needed for a career in sales and/or consulting. Participants will organize and deliver a sales presentation or consultation for one or more products/services/customers.

Online Events

DECA’s Online Events provide opportunities for students to participate in online simulations to learn how to invest in the stock market, manage personal finances, or operate a business venture.

Virtual Business challenge Events

Participants in the DECA Virtual Business Challenge (VBC) operate a web-based business simulation utilizing a competition version of the Virtual Business software. The VBC qualifying rounds are conducted via the internet, where participants will vie for chartered association, regional and overall rankings.

DECA+ ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY ‍ A DECA+ subscription is required for each DECA chapter wishing to access the resources within the DECA+ site. The login is to be used only by the chapter and its members, and the login cannot be shared beyond the chapter. Under no circumstances may any of the content, including but not limited to exams, scenarios or sample written entries, in whole or in part, or any item within be published or posted on any website. Under no circumstances may any of the content, including but not limited to exams, scenarios or sample written entries, in whole or in part, or any item within be shared or distributed beyond the specific DECA chapter that has purchased the subscription.  Any chapter(s) which violates the DECA+ distribution and use policy will not be allowed to participate in the current school year’s chartered association conference or the International Career Development Conference. If any exams or scenarios are posted on a chapter or chartered association website in way outside of the distribution and use policy, the chartered association will not be eligible to purchase exams or receive scenarios from DECA Inc. for a period of one year for the first offense. Furthermore, further access to DECA+ by the chapter(s) in violation will be prohibited effective immediately for a period of no less than three years.

COMPETITIVE EVENTS

Apply your knowledge.

Whether it be preparing a written project or an impromptu situational, DECA’s competitive events transfer the knowledge you learn in the classroom to real world application and prepare you to be both college and career ready upon graduation. DECA’s competitive events are aligned directly with the National Curriculum Standards in the career clusters of marketing, business management and administration, finance, and hospitality and tourism.

EVENT SUBMISSION 

The following events will need to be submitted online for the State Career Conference.

BUSINESS OPERATIONS RESEARCH EVENTS Business Services Operations Buying and Merchandising Operations Finance Operations Hospitality and Tourism Operations Sports and Entertainment Marketing Operations

PROJECT MANAGEMENT EVENTS Business Solutions Project Career Development Project Community Awareness Project Community Giving Project Financial Literacy Project Sales Project

ENTREPRENUEURSHIP EVENTS Innovation Plan Start-Up Business Plan Franchise Business Plan Independent Business Plans Business Growth Plan International Business Plan

INTEGRATED MARKETING CAMPAIGN EVENTS Integrated Marketing Campaign-Event Integrated Marketing Campaign-Product Integrated Marketing Campaign-Service

COMPETITIVE EVENT RESOURCES

Click to download the DECA Inc. Competition Update Guide.

Click to view events, guidelines, performance indicators, sample events & exams.

Click to download the 2023-2024 DECA Guide .

Congratulations to the 2023 DECA ICDC Competitive Event Champions

Congratulations to the 2023 DECA International Career Development Conference competitive event champions! Click here to download a complete list of results.

Order of Events

Executive officers.

• Announcement of the 2023-2024 Executive Officer Team

Professional Division Awards

• Advisor Years of Service Awards
• Outstanding Service Award

DECA Challenges

• Digital Presentation Skills Challenge , Sponsored by Knowledge Matters
• Entrepreneur of Tomorrow Challenge , Sponsored by FIDM/Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising
• Social Impact Leader of Tomorrow Challenge , Sponsored by the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation (NPCF)
• Social Innovation Challenge , Sponsored by Inuit
• Social Media Marketing Challenge , Sponsored by Stukent
• Disability is Diversity Challenge , Sponsored by the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA)
• Ethical Leadership Challenge , Sponsored by MBA Research and with support from the Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative High School Program ‍
• Lead4Change Challenge , Sponsored by Lead4Change
• Unreal Campaign Challenge , Sponsored by Amazon and the International Trademark Association (INTA)

Partner Recognition

• NAB Years of Service

Scholarship Recognition

• DECA Inc. Scholarships
• ICDC Travel Scholarships , Provided by the J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation
• Army ROTC Scholarships , Provided by the Army ROTC

Virtual Business Challenge

• Virtual Business Challenge Accounting , Sponsored by Knowledge Matters
• Virtual Business Challenge Entrepreneurship , Sponsored by Knowledge Matters
• Virtual Business Challenge Fashion , Sponsored by Knowledge Matters
• Virtual Business Challenge Hotel Management , Sponsored by the J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation
• Virtual Business Challenge Personal Finance , Sponsored by Knowledge Matters
• Virtual Business Challenge Restaurant , Sponsored by Knowledge Matters
• Virtual Business Challenge Retail , Sponsored by Knowledge Matters
• Virtual Business Challenge Sports , Sponsored by Knowledge Matters

‍ Business Management + Administration

• Business Law & Ethics Team Decision Making
• Business Services Operations Research , Sponsored by Piper Sandler
• Community Giving Project , Sponsored by Lead4Change
• Human Resources Management Series
• Principles of Business Management & Administration , Sponsored by Ball State University, Property Management Program
• Business Solutions Project
• Career Development Project , Sponsored by Ball State University, Property Management Program
• Community Awareness Project
• Financial Literacy Project
• Sales Project
• Financial Consulting
• Accounting Applications Series , Sponsored by AICPA & CIMA
• Business Finance Series , Sponsored by Bentley University ‍
• Finance Operations Research , Sponsored by Anderson Business Advisors ‍
• Financial Services Team Decision Making ‍
• Principles of Finance , sponsored by Anderson Business Advisors ‍
• Stock Market Game

Personal Financial Literacy

• Personal Financial Literacy , sponsored by Anderson Business Advisors

Hospitality + Tourism

• Hospitality Services Team Decision Making
• Hospitality and Tourism Operations Research , Sponsored by Piper Sandler
• Hospitality and Tourism Professional Selling , Sponsored by the J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation
• Hotel and Lodging Management Series , Sponsored by the J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation
• Principles of Hospitality and Tourism , Sponsored by the J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation
• Quick Serve Restaurant Management Series , Sponsored by the J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation
• Restaurant and Food Service Management Series , Sponsored by the J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation
• Travel and Tourism Team Decision Making , Sponsored by the J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation

Entrepreneurship

• Business Growth Plan
• Entrepreneurship Series
• Entrepreneurship Team Decision Making
• Franchise Business Plan , Sponsored by the International Franchise Association (IFA) Foundation
• Independent Business Plan
• International Business Plan
• Start-up Business Plan
• Innovation Plan , Sponsored by SCAD

School-based Enterprise

• School-based Enterprise - Food Operations , Sponsored by Intuit and Otis Spunkmeyer
• School-based Enterprise - Retail Operations , Sponsored by Intuit and Otis Spunkmeyer
• Integrated Marketing Campaign - Event
• Integrated Marketing Campaign - Product , Sponsored by FIDM/Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising
• Integrated Marketing Campaign - Service
• Apparel & Accessories Marketing Series , Sponsored by Men's Wearhouse
• Automotive Services Marketing Series
• Business Services Marketing Series
• Buying and Merchandising Operations Research , Sponsored by Piper Sandler
• Buying and Merchandising Team Decision Making
• Food Marketing Series
• Marketing Communications Series , Sponsored by William Peace University
• Marketing Management Team Decision Making
• Principles of Marketing
• Professional Selling
• Retail Merchandising Series
• Sports and Entertainment Marketing Operations Research , Sponsored by Piper Sandler
• Sports and Entertainment Marketing Series
• Sports and Entertainment Marketing Team Decision Making

Preview of 2023-2024

• Experience the Difference

Discussion Questions

Classroom connection, career cluster:, instructional area(s):, performance indicators:.

Announcing DECA's 2024-2025 Conference Lineup

DECA has a full lineup of educational conferences for its members and advisors coming in the 2024 academic year and beyond. Check out where we're heading next!

Watch the #DECAICDC 2025 Promo Video

Be The One at the biggest DECA event of the year – DECA's International Career Development Conference hosted in Orlando, Florida on April 26-29, 2025.

3 Reasons to Attend DECA ELS

Explore the reasons to attend DECA ELS this summer and learn about what both programs have to offer! Whichever route you choose, ELS promises to be an enriching experience filled with learning, networking and personal growth.

Your Post-ICDC Questions Answered

We hope you were able to experience the difference during DECA's International Career Development Conference! Here are some answers to commonly asked post-ICDC questions.

DECA prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in marketing, finance, hospitality and management in high schools and colleges around the globe.

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Be Part of this Founder's Revolutionary Plan to Harvest Energy from the Moon Invest in Lunar Helium-3 Mining, LLC as they pioneer nuclear fusion power.

By StackCommerce Edited by Jason Fell Aug 21, 2024

Disclosure: Our goal is to feature products and services that we think you'll find interesting and useful. If you purchase them, Entrepreneur may get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our commerce partners.

Nuclear fusion has the potential to provide centuries of nearly limitless, renewable power to the world. But there's one problem – the ideal fuel to make nuclear fusion a reality, Helium-3, is only accessible on the moon.

That hasn't stopped Chris Salvino and his team at Lunar Helium-3 Mining (LH3M) from planning a moon mission and patenting the technologies to make it successful. Better yet, you can invest in the company as they prepare .

Here's why this is more than just an exciting moon mission, but a strategic investment in the future of energy worldwide.

Lunar Helium-3 Mining, LLC's clean energy vision.

Until now, the main way we've used nuclear energy has been dirty, unsafe, and dangerous. Nuclear reactors can explode, as seen with the disasters at Chernobyl in 1986 and Fukushima in 2011. Additionally, radioactive waste from these reactors must be stored for up to 100,000 years. This method is not the answer to green energy.

However, there is another process called nuclear fusion, which has a key advantage: it cannot explode. The ideal fuel for fusion reactions is Helium-3. When used in nuclear fusion, Helium-3 is said to produce more energy than other options, cause much less harm, and doesn't create waste that needs long-term storage. Future nuclear fusion reactors powered by Helium-3 could be our first true green energy source – safe, with a high energy yield, and no hazardous waste.

Helium-3 can't be made on Earth and comes from the sun, getting trapped in our atmosphere. Luckily, there are more than an estimated 1 million tons of Helium-3 on the moon, enough to power green nuclear fusion reactors for hundreds of years.

And Lunar Helium-3 Mining, LLC has just the man to tap into this $40 trillion nuclear fusion market opportunity .

Meet LH3M's future-forward founder.

Chris Salvino, founder and CEO of Lunar Helium-3, has seen it all – from a high-pressure career in trauma surgery to the cutting-edge field of space mining. With more than 30 years of experience as a trauma surgeon and director, Salvino is accustomed to navigating complex problems and making critical decisions.

With degrees in Biology, Engineering, Aerospace Medicine, and Mining Engineering, Salvino is now pursuing a Ph.D. specifically in lunar Helium-3 mining at the University of Arizona. A variety of expertise in aerospace engineering, planetary geology, and mining makes him just about the only candidate qualified to lead LH3M's lunar mining mission.

The company has already achieved significant milestones under Salvino's leadership. Specifically, they've filed for seven patents with an eight coming soon and have received notice from the patent office that their first two applications have been approved. LH3M has also assembled a team of experts and has short term plans on expanding its patent portfolio with 10 to 20 additional patents. LH3M feels that a robust patent portfolio will increase company valuation and strength for future strategic partnerships.

With global investments in fusion technology climbing, the demand for Helium-3 has the potential to soar in the not-so-distant future. Seize this exclusive opportunity to partner with a visionary team poised for success.

The Lunar Helium-3 investment opportunity.

The global nuclear fusion market, is projected to reach an astounding $40 trillion as fusion technology becomes commercially viable. LH3M's strategic approach to mining Helium-3 positions it to capture a significant share of this emerging market.

This is a rare chance to invest in a company that is not merely dreaming of the future but actively building it.Their mission aligns with global efforts to combat climate change and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. With Chris Salvino's leadership and the company's innovative technology, this is not just a dream but an achievable goal.

Learn more on how you can invest in LH3M and be involved in a project that is set to transform the energy landscape for generations to come here .

Disclosure: This is a paid advertisement for Lunar Helium-3 Mining, LLC Reg CF offering. Please read the offering circular at https://invest.lh3m.com/ .

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The Legacy Company’s Guide to Innovation

• Ivanka Visnjic
• Ronnie Leten

Many experts are urging established companies to radically innovate—and disrupt themselves before someone else does. The trouble is, large firms aren’t designed for moon shots. Their owners don’t like the risks and won’t kill the goose that lays the golden egg. As a result, all too often they end up defaulting to incremental innovation.

But there is a solution: Incumbents can partner with entrepreneurial start-ups or with intrapreneurs that have ideas for breakthrough products. By doing that, they can leverage their significant resources while increasing the odds that those ideas will take off. This approach does require careful management, however.

Drawing on the experiences of more than a dozen large multinationals, including Atlas Copco, Enel, and Epiroc, this article outlines a three-stage innovation process for incumbents to follow: First, set up numerous projects with multiple partners, nurturing them until their chances of success become clear. Next, once a venture has a breakthrough, gradually increase your commitment and help it remove roadblocks. Finally, when its business model is viable and it has a critical mass of customers, rapidly mobilize the resources it needs to scale up quickly.

How to collaborate well and scale up fast

Idea in Brief

The problem.

Many established companies aspire to develop radical innovations—to disrupt themselves before someone else does. But for all their capabilities and resources, they struggle to innovate successfully.

Why It Happens

Large firms aren’t set up for moon shots. Their owners don’t like risk and won’t kill the goose that lays the golden egg. So firms end up defaulting to incremental innovation, which only increases their odds of being upended.

The Solution

Partner with start-up companies or intrapreneurs to create portfolios of projects that you can nurture until their chances of success have become clear. Once a new business begins to take off, quickly ramp up investments in it.

As the markets celebrate the success of gen-AI and green-tech start-ups, many experts are urging established companies to emulate those ventures by committing to radical innovation—by disrupting themselves before someone else does. But for a lot of incumbent companies, that’s just not a feasible strategy. Their owners don’t like risk and won’t kill the goose that lays the golden egg. As a result large enterprises end up defaulting to incremental innovation, perversely increasing the chances that they’ll get upended.

• IV Ivanka Visnjic is a professor at ESADE Business School in Barcelona and the head of its department of operations, innovation, and data sciences.
• RL Ronnie Leten is the chairman of Epiroc, a Swedish-based manufacturer of mining and infrastructure equipment; the former chairman of Ericsson; and the former CEO of Atlas Copco.

Partner Center

Kamala Harris is going full YIMBY — and housing experts are optimistic

• Vice President Kamala Harris shared a plan to build 3 million new homes in her first policy speech.
• Housing experts told Business Insider that targeting America's housing supply shortage is critical.
• The experts were more lukewarm on some of the other housing proposals and want to see more details.

Vice President Kamala Harris' newest housing proposal is giving YIMBY — and that's great news for the housing market, where supply has been unable to keep pace with demand, forcing prices up and buyers out.

The Democratic presidential candidate revealed the first details of her new economic agenda on Friday, which she hopes to implement during her first 100 days in office. A key part of her proposal involves building 3 million new homes over a four-year period.

It slots neatly into the YIMBY movement , which stands for "Yes, In My BackYard," and is a pro-development movement focusing on increasing high-density and affordable housing supply by targeting barriers to new building. (It's a counter to the NIMBY, or "Not In My BackYard" movement.)

Harris said Friday that her administration plans to build 3 million units by working in partnership with workers and the private sector to go after obstacles in the way of new construction at both the state and local level.

"There's a serious housing shortage ," Harris said on Friday. "In many places, it's too difficult to build, and it's driving prices up. As president, I will work in partnership with industry to build the housing we need both to rent and to buy."

Housing policy experts say that's the most crucial aspect of her multi-pronged plan, because what the market needs most right now is greater supply .

Jung Hyun Choi, principal research associate at the Urban Institute's Housing Finance Policy Center, said the lack of supply "is the root cause of the current problem" with the housing market, adding that Harris' proposal to build more homes is "really the key solution of the housing market problem."

Four housing policy experts Business Insider talked to all agreed.

"The strongest aspect I see in this proposal is that it recognizes the key issues with housing right now and that it is very explicit on trying to improve the number of homes being built — and not just the number of homes but the number of affordable homes ," John Walsh, a research analyst at the Urban Institute's Housing Finance Policy Center, told Business Insider.

Homeownership is one of the most reliable ways to create stability in Americans' economic lives and should be a priority, according to Christopher Mayer, a professor of real estate at Columbia Business School who praised Harris' emphasis on supply.

Related stories

"I think most people should be homeowners," Mayer said, noting the falling homeownership rate among young people. "Owning a home is a proven way of building wealth. It creates stability for households."

Addressing the housing shortage

However, with the low supply of starter homes, those making the jump from renting to owning often have to contend with both high prices and steep mortgage rates.

America is facing a significant housing shortage, with the country between 4 and 7 million homes short, NPR reported in the spring of this year . Builders have cited supply chain issues, among other reasons building has stalled. Zoning also remains a large barrier to homes being built.

COVID-19 only exacerbated the issue, Mayer said, as more people started working remotely. With her proposal to build 3 million new starter homes, Harris is aiming to address that critical gap.

Harris' housing proposals expand on policies President Joe Biden has attempted to implement since taking office, including loosening regulations that restrict construction. Former President Donald Trump also urged states and cities to pursue some zoning reform while he was in office.

The vice president's plan to build millions of new housing units depends on several novel methods. She intends to provide the nation's first tax incentive for builders who construct starter homes and sell them to first-time buyers. Harris also intends to create a $40 billion federal fund to incentivize local housing construction, an expansion of Biden's proposed $20 billion fund . To top it off, she vowed to expand existing tax incentives for businesses that construct affordable rental housing.

"The answer is more supply, and also the answer is more supply at the sweet spot, which is first-time ownership," said Susan Wachter, a professor of real estate and finance at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

She thinks Harris' commitment to building 3 million homes is the strongest part of her plan, as it will address what she called a "generational crisis" of rent and housing prices. The increase in home supply needs to correspond with an increase in available land, Wachter added.

Part of Harris' proposed federal fund to encourage housing construction would make some federal lands eligible to be repurposed for new, affordable developments — something Trump recently promised to do as well.

Both Choi and Walsh were quick to caution that while Harris' proposal is a great start to alleviating housing burdens and reducing wealth disparity, more details are needed to determine its ultimate effectiveness.

"The devil is really in the detail of where these homes would actually be used," Walsh said.

Targeting down payments and Wall Street

Harris' other flagship proposals — offering $25,000 in down-payment assistance to new homeowners and preventing investors on Wall Street from buying up starter homes — drew more mixed reactions from the experts that spoke to Business Insider.

In Mayer's view, the down-payment policy is rooted in good intentions but may not be particularly cost-effective. Many first-time homeowners traditionally rely on their families for help with a downpayment, Mayer said, meaning lower-income buyers often don't have access to generational wealth, and the $25,000 could significantly help them. Yet, he would rather find ways to lower down payments across the board than distribute money as Harris is proposing.

Wachter, meanwhile, said she supports the effort to aid potential homeowners with their down payments but is not confident the proposal would garner broad political support.

While Wachter declined to comment on Harris' proposal to limit Wall Street's ability to buy single-family homes, Mayer is less enthusiastic about it.

"The vast amount of single-family rentals are not owned by people on Wall Street, they are owned by people who own small numbers of houses," he said of the plan. "Institutional investors bring efficiencies to management of that, and those efficiencies generally result in better opportunities for renters."

Despite lingering doubts about some aspects of Harris' proposal, the experts agreed that the basic premise of building more affordable, first-time homes is what the country needs.

"This would be a huge impact," Wachter said. "Right now, what's threatened is the ability to get onto that ladder to achieve housing security. And housing security where there are markets, where there are jobs, is the key issue for young Americans today."

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Business solutions project.

The Business Solutions Project uses the project management process to work with a local business or organization to identify a specific problem with the current business operations and implement a solution. Examples include talent acquisition, employee on-boarding, policies and procedures, technology integration, customer service improvement, safety operations, marketing and promotion activities, and productivity and output enhancement.

Participants

Written entry page limit, appear before a judge, present project, interview time, sponsored by:.

Essential Elements

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DECA prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in marketing, finance, hospitality and management in high schools and colleges around the globe.