Body language

Body language is the nonverbal cues that we give others while communicating. Some typical body language interpretation short-cuts are: open hands with palms visible is openness and warmth; leaning forward with chin up is confidence; fidgeting or quick, repetitive motions is nervousness; arms crossed in front of chest or looking down is defensive or untrusting behavior.
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Taxes

All U.S. companies must file and pay income taxes. Income tax is a pay-as-you-go tax, meaning it is paid through the year as revenue is earned. Companies with employees must pay employment taxes, including social security and Medicare taxes, Federal income tax withholding, and Federal unemployment tax. Some companies must also pay excise taxes, depending on their type of business.
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Exxon

Exxon Mobil Corp reported the largest annual profit on record for a U.S. corporation earning $39.5 billion -- about $75,000 every minute -- in 2006. The world's biggest publicly traded company by revenue posted revenue of $377.6 billion in 2006, topping its previous profit record of $36.1 billion in 2005.
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Index of Leading Indicators

The Index of Leading Indicators is published monthly by The Conference Board. The ten economic indicators that make up this index change before the economy has changed. Examples include production workweek, building permits, unemployment insurance claims, money supply, inventory changes, and stock prices. The Fed watches many of these indicators as it decides what to do about interest rates.
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P.C.

A Professional Corporation (P.C.) is a corporate entity authorized by state law for a fairly narrow list of licensed professions, including lawyers, doctors, accountants, various types of health practitioners and often architects. A P.C. does not absolve a professional for personal liability for negligence, but does not hold them personally liable for the malpractice of other partners or owners.
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Business-friendly states

Wyoming tops the list of states with the most business-friendly tax system, according to the Tax Foundation’s annual State Business Tax Climate Index. South Dakota, Alaska, Florida, and Nevada round out the top five. Businesses face the least hospitable business tax climate in New York, followed by New Jersey, Rhode Island, Ohio and Vermont.
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The Tax History Project

The Tax History Project is a public initiative from nonprofit publisher Tax Analysts. The Project provides information on the history of U.S. public finance. The Project also offers the Tax History Museum at tax.org/Museum, which provides a multimedia overview of the history of American taxation and revenue policy and politics.
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Inflation

Inflation is defined as the general level of prices for goods and services over time. Inflation is generally affected by fluctuations in demand for products and services, and by changes in the supply or demand for money. Two common measures of inflation are the Consumer Price Index and the Gross Domestic Product Deflator. Economists generally agree that steady versus fluctuating inflation is best.
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Forbes

Forbes Magazine has been in circulation since 1917. Three generations of the Forbes family have been at the helm of one of the world's premier business publications. The bi-weekly publication also features its website Forbes.com. Forbes publishes several annual rankings, including among others the best companies, largest private companies, and the world's wealthiest people.
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Five Whys

The "Five Whys" is a problem-solving guideline developed by Masaaki Imai and was made popular as part of the Toyota Production System during the 1970s. The strategy involves working a problem by asking why repeatedly after each successive answer in order to discover the root cause of the problem. Each successive answer provides better understanding and offers more options to consider.
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Direct Mail

American marketers spent $60 billion on direct mail ads according to the latest figures published by marketing consultancy Winterberry Group. Direct Mail as a marketing vehicle is expected to grow 5% annually through the next five years. Direct mail strategy has shifted away from soliciting direct orders to one of generating prospective leads and driving traffic to other transaction channels.
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Frederick Winslow Taylor

Frederick Winslow Taylor is considered the father of scientific management. In the 19th century Taylor suggested that the way people work was worthy of systematic observation and study. From this he developed the Scientific Management approach to business. His new ideas laid the foundation for 20th century management thinkers, such as Peter Drucker, Frank Gilbreth and James McKinsey.
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Leadership and management

Leadership and management are not interchangeable, according to Management-Issues.com editor Brian Sullivan. Sullivan suggests that leadership is innovative, creative and, above all proactive. Effective leaders anticipate, motivate and engage. In contrast, management is a reactive tool, based on responsive, familiar and time-tested strategies.
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Butterfly Effect

The term "butterfly effect" is based on Edward Lorenz's 19th century study of Chaos Theory. Small variations of an initial event may may produce large variations in long term behavior. The analogy is that a butterfly's wings might create tiny changes in the atmosphere that may ultimately alter the path of a tornado or delay, accelerate or even prevent the occurrence of a tornado in a certain location.
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The Beatles

In one of the most infamous business decisions ever made, Decca Records turned down the Beatles in January 1962. After a 15-song audition at Decca studios, the company told the group's manager, Brian Epstein, "we don't like your boys' sound. Groups are out; four-piece groups with guitars particularly are finished."
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Imagination economy

Fortune Magazine writer Geoffrey Colvin recently coined the phrase "imagination economy" as America's new economic formula. Traditional thinking stresses math and science. Colvin suggests otherwise, that technology advances circle the world too fast for competitive advantage. Rather, the intuitive, nonlinear processes of creativity and imagination hold the key to a new economic frontier.
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Thomas J. Watson, Jr.

Thomas J. Watson, Jr. became CEO of IBM in May 1956. Watson successfully transitioned IBM from the age of mechanical office equipment into the computer era during its most explosive period of growth. When Watson assumed the CEO position, IBM employed 72,500 people and had revenue of $892 million. When he stepped down in 1971, there were more than 270,000 employees and revenue hit $8.3 billion.
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80/20 rule

Dr. Joseph Juran originated the use of the 80/20 rule in quality management research during the 1930s in what he called "vital few and trivial many." The 80/20 rule of thumb says roughly 20% of your efforts produce 80% of the results.
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2 of 3 rule of thumb

2 of 3 rule of thumb. The three major attributes of most products and services are quality, price and speed of delivery. The 2 of 3 rule of thumb says you can pick any two of these attributes but not all three.
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Walt Disney

Born in Chicago in 1901, Walt Disney developed an early interest in drawing, sketching and photography, and later developed movie animation methods. Mickey Mouse made his debut in the 1928 cartoon film "Steamboat Willie". Thus began Disney's fantastic run as a movie and entertainment franchise. Walt Disney and his staff have received more than 950 honors, including 48 Academy Awards.
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Monopoly

The real estate board game Monopoly was invented in 1934 by Charles B. Darrow. His first version of the game was rejected by Parker Brothers due to design flaws. After Darrow sold 5,000 handmade sets of the game to a Philadelphia department store, Parker Brothers agreed to sell the game. Since then, over 200 million Monopoly games have been sold worldwide.
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The greatest leader

"The greatest leader isn’t necessarily the one who does the greatest things. The greatest leader is the one who gets the people to do the greatest things." -- Ronald Reagan.
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Route to the CEO office

The finance department has replaced marketing as the direct route to the CEO office, according to recent study published in CFO Magazine. The study found that one-fifth of all American CEOs were former CFOs, almost double from a decade earlier. The main reason for this shift is the increased importance of quarterly reporting as well as more financial scrutiny as a result of the Sarbanes-Oxley act.
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Productive companies

Jason Jennings recently authored a study of the most productive companies in the world. Starting with more than 4,000 companies, Jennings applied several factors to compile the top ten most productive companies. One trait these companies shared was that they do not layoff workers. In fact, each has specifically refused the idea of manipulating revenue or profits through the use of layoffs.
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Creativity Economy

The Creativity Economy is the next bastion beyond the Knowledge Economy. According to a recent Business Week article, new paradigms such as design strategy and consumer centric innovation are fueling new corporate growth. The new strategies are a blend of consumer observation, discovery, educated risk and process improvement.
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Tea

People have been drinking tea for at least 5,000 years. Studies show that tea produces a multitude of health benefits for humans. Tea contains Theanine, a molecule that improves one's ability to focus, and with caffeine, produces as calming effect. Research has found that tea supports the aging brain. In addition, tea researchers believe it may prevent lung cancer.
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Creative people

Psychology professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi suggests that creative people have one trait that most makes them different from other individuals - complexity. Csikszentmihalyi's summary of exceptionally creative people: smart but naïve, often introverted, both humble and arrogant, more androgynous than others, both conservative and rebellious.
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Bad news

Medical Doctor Robert Buckman consults businesspeople, including executives at IBM, Andersen Consulting, and Upjohn, on how to deliver bad news. As stated in an article by FastCompany, Buckman suggests communicating bad news by engaging and listening, maintaining emotions, and ending with summary: review the message, identify a plan, and agree on a "contract" for the next contact.
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Stay-at-home moms

Stay-at-home moms are on-duty 24/7, wear several hats and work many jobs in the home. Compensation software and services provider Salary.com recently set out to estimate the worth of stay-at-home moms in the marketplace. Based on a schedule of up to 100 hours a week, they have estimated that a fair wage for the typical stay-at-home mom would be $131,471 for executing all of her daily tasks.
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Chorei

"Chorei" is a common morning meeting ritual in Japanese organizations. Each work day begins with a meeting where employees stand in a circle and share their day's work agenda or project status. Chorei is a cultural export in the expanding global economy. Practitioners of chorei believe this type of meeting technique can help improve communication resulting in better productivity.
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