Alfred Marshall

English-born economist Alfred Marshall published his most influential book "Principles of Economics" in 1890. This seminal work popularized the concepts of supply and demand curves, short run versus long run assumptions, and price-elasticity. Alfred Marshall is considered to be one of the most influential economists during the late 19th and early 20th century.
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Rainmaker

In business, the term "rainmaker" refers to an executive or sales person with exceptional ability to attract clients and increase profits. The term was adapted from the Native-American practice of using rituals and incantations to induce rainfall. Those with rainmaker status are usually compensated very well for their efforts.
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Economic Espionage Act

A two-year effort on the part of the FBI and U.S. industry professionals in the Economic Espionage Act of 1996. Prior to enactment of this act, there was virtually no federal statute that outlawed the theft of trade secrets. Canadian Xiaodong Sheldon Meng was the first person convicted under the act in 2007 for providing U.S. military application trade secrets to the Peoples Republic of China.
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Recession

Two consecutive quarters of falling Gross National Product define a recession. Predicting economic recession is a difficult task even for economists. Forces that typically exhaust an economic expansion include heated consumer spending, shifts in fiscal or monetary policy, or jolts from strikes, wars or natural disasters. Recessions are usually officially declared after they have commenced.
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Sole proprietors

A sole proprietor is someone who owns an unincorporated business by himself or herself. This form of business is the simplest as there are no legal formalities to forming a business and the business is not separate from the individual. Unlike other business classes, a sole proprietor is fully liable if the business gets sued. Sole proprietors may also find it harder raising business capital.
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Product warranties

Product warranty contracts, once a revenue cash cow for retailers and manufacturers, are wearing off. Retailers such as Best Buy and Circuit City once enjoyed huge windfalls from warranty sales. The culprit is products that are getting cheaper to replace as well as products that are lasting longer. The result is more consumers rationalizing on warranties.
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National Inventors Hall of Fame

The National Inventors Hall of Fame, established in 1973 by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, honors the people responsible for the great technological advances that make human, social and economic progress possible. Visit online at invent.org, browse inventors and inventions, and locate inventions within various invention channels. The Hall of Fame is located in Akron, Ohio.
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Goals and objectives

A goal is a statement of vision specifying something to be achieved or obtained. Objectives are statements of specific activities required to achieve the goal. For example, a goal to bring on twenty-five new accounts may be achieved by the objectives of doubling the number of sales calls, creating a new ad campaign, and raising incentive for sales reps.
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Best U.S. states for business

Virginia was rated as the best U.S. state for business, according to CNBC's latest state business survey. CNBC ranked each state by ten weighted categories of business, including such things as business friendliness, cost of living, quality of life, education and workforce. Following Virginia were the states of Texas, Utah, Georgia and North Carolina.
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Meetings

Meetings can be very expensive activities for an organization. EffectiveMeetings.com offers the following essential meeting tips to make the most of your meetings: set objectives for the meeting; provide an agenda beforehand; assign meeting preparation to attendees; assign action items; evaluate the meeting outcome to improve the process.
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Wage drift

Wage drift refers to the difference between basic pay and total earnings. Wage drift is caused by factors such as overtime pay, bonuses, profit-sharing, and performance pay. Wage drift is prevalent during periods of high growth. Wage drift also occurs in places with higher cost of living and for more experienced workers.
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The KISS principal

The KISS principal is an age-old business acronym that stands for "Keep It Simple and Stupid" or the more politically correct version of "Keep It Simple and Straightforward". The basic premise of this rule suggests to avoid unnecessary complexity when developing solutions. The less assumptions, the better.
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Unprofitable customers

The Harvard Business Review estimates that a typical company has about 15% of its customers that fall in the category of unprofitable. Identify unprofitable customers. Determine if they are unprofitable due to high costs or low revenue. Take the appropriate action: raise the price, lower costs, change policies or divest of the customer.
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Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award

The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award is awarded annually by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The award was named for Malcolm Baldrige, who served as U.S. Secretary of Commerce from 1981 to 1987. The purpose of the award is to promote quality awareness, recognize quality achievements, and publicize successful quality strategies.
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Seven Habits

Stephen R. Covey's 1990 book "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change" continues to be a business best-seller with more than ten million copies sold. Covey describes the seven habits in context of productivity, time management and positive thinking. Other Covey titles include: "The 8th Habit", "Firsts Things First", and "Principle Centered Leadership".
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Glengarry Glen Ross

The 1992 movie "Glengarry Glen Ross" stars Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Alec Baldwin, and Kevin Spacey. The screen play is adapted from David Mamet's Pulitzer Prize and Tony-winning play of the same name. It tells the dark story of a group of desperate real estate sales agents in the context of a twisted sales motivation contest and few leads to work with. Scheming and plotting ensue among the agents.
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Sam Walton

Sam Walton perfected the concept of the discount store in rural America during the 1940s and 1950s. Over the ensuing decades, his self-named chain of stores surged through the use supply-chain management and volume pricing to offer prices lower than its competition. Wal-Mart is America's largest employer, employing more than 1.3 million people.
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Career rule of thumb

The more job experience you have, the longer the duration to find a new job. A career rule of thumb says a new job search takes about one month for every $10,000 of salary.
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Well paid

A Fortune Magazine rule of thumb says you are well paid if you earn four times your age. For example, a person at age 30 earning $120,000 is considered well paid.
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John Pierpont Morgan

John Pierpont Morgan was one of the most influential business leaders in U.S. history. Morgan formed railroads, was instrumental in creating General Electric, and brokered the establishment of U.S. Steel, the world's first billion-dollar company. Morgan assisted the fledgling federal government during several instances of financial crisis. J.P. Morgan died in 1913.
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John Pierpont Morgan

John Pierpont Morgan was one of the most influential business leaders in U.S. history. Morgan formed railroads, was instrumental in creating General Electric, and brokered the establishment of U.S. Steel, the world's first billion-dollar company. Morgan assisted the fledgling federal government during several instances of financial crisis. J.P. Morgan died in 1913.
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Mount Everest

Attempts to climb Mount Everest began in 1921 when Tibet first opened its borders to outsiders. Eleven expeditions over a period of thirty years failed to conquer the world's tallest mountain. On May 29, 1953, New Zealanders Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay overcame crevasses, ferocious winds, sudden storms and oxygen deprivation to became the first to conquer Everest.
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Hand-written letters

President George H. W. Bush was a prolific letter-writer, always sending hand-written thank you notes to friends, associates, and fellow political leaders. A note written promptly and sincerely is much more meaningful to a recipient. It shows you took the time craft your words on piece of stationary that can be saved by the recipient and passed around to share with others.
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First job to the CEO office

The amount of time from first job to the CEO office has fallen over the past two decades, according to study published on Economist.com. The average time has decreased from 28 years in 1980 to 24 years in 2001. CEOs are spending less time at each level, four years versus six years. The study attributed the faster pace to flatter organizations and the relatively new arrival of women in the CEO ranks.
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Booker T. Washington

"Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which have been overcome while trying to succeed." - Booker T. Washington.
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Yoga

Yoga originated in ancient India as a group of spiritual methods designed to provide connection and enlightenment. As a contemporary exercise, Yoga is designed to tone, strengthen, and align the body. Yoga has been used to alleviate physical problems such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, migraine headaches, and asthma. It also has been used to promote relaxation and reduce stress.
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The Seven Habits

Management and leadership author Stephen Covey describes the Seven Habits model of management and leadership for personal and business growth. The Seven Habits of Covey include: be proactive, begin with the end in mind, put first things first, think win-win, seek first to understand and then to be understood, synergize, and learn from previous experience.
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Executive and professional temps

Executive and professional temps accounted for 11% of the temp workforce, up from 7% in 1998, according to the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Temporary executives are usually hired to handle crisis situations, organizational transitions, or strategic shifts. According to a recent Wall St. Journal article, seasoned top-level executives command up to $2,500 per day in the U.S.
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E-mail

Executives are relying less on the telephone and face-to-face meetings and more on e-mail and digital devices for communicating at work. According to an OfficeTeam survey of 150 senior executives at the nation's 1,000 largest companies, 71 percent listed e-mail as their most common form of dialogue at work, compared with 27 percent five years ago.
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Experience

"Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes." - Oscar Wilde.
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