This general marketing curriculum guide is the master publication in a series of four curriculum guides. The series is designed to provide the curriculum coordinator with a basis for planning a comprehensive program in the field of marketing as well as to provide marketing and distributive education teachers with maximum flexibility. This guide should be studied carefully before using the other guides (CE 017 039-040 and CE 017 043). The introductory section of this guide contains instructions for using all four guides, a bibliography for instructional materials referenced in all the guides, and a competency curriculum planning grid which indicates by instructional area all the competencies and in which guides they are located. This guide also contains the competencies and learning activities which are common to the three marketing occupations covered in the other guides: food marketing, wholesaling, and general retail merchandising. Common competencies and learning activities are identified for the following instructional areas: communications; human relations; marketing/economics; management; mathematics; merchandising; operations; product and/or service technology; and selling. A cluster instructional objective, suggested learning activities, and references are provided for each competency. A planning guide (CE 017 041) accompanies this series and four related business curriculum guides (ED 114 560, ED 133 435, and ED 146 356-357). (BM)