The pace of economic growth has slowed significantly since the start of 2011 and the slowdown is expected to continue into the start of 2012, according to a survey of CEOs of small-to-medium-sized businesses. The Vistage CEO Confidence Index was 92.9 in the Q2 2011 survey, substantially below the 105.2 posted in Q1, and erasing all the gains recorded since 93.7 was registered in Q1 2010. Though declines were present in every major survey component, the largest losses were in evaluations of the overall economy. Rather than expecting a renewed economic downturn, the majority of CEOs anticipated a stagnating economy: growth too slow to support robust gains in employment or investment, and resulting in lower revenue and profit levels than previously forecast. Half of all firms put planned investments on hold due to the slowdown in economic growth.
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The Corporate Executive Board (CEB) (NYSE: EXBD), a leading research and advisory services company, today announced the publication of Executive Guidance 2011, the company’s year-end analysis of industry trends and corporate best practices designed to inform and support business planning. This year’s Executive Guidance focuses on “Intelligent Growth”—a long-term pattern of above-industry performance in both revenue growth and efficiency—and highlights four key management principles that are critical to achieving it. While most companies aspire to create this balance, currently less than 10 percent of global organizations are considered Intelligent Growth companies.
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The Audi Group once again set records for deliveries, revenue and key earnings data in the fiscal year 2011. The brand with the four rings sold more than 1.3 million cars in the past year, at the same time increasing revenue to €44.1 billion. Operating profit for the Audi Group rose to over €5.3 billion in the past fiscal year. The operating return on sales climbed from 9.4 to 12.1 percent.
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In a bold move to address the healthcare affordability crisis, Blue Shield of California Chairman & CEO Bruce Bodaken announced a pledge today that Blue Shield will limit its annual net income to no more than 2 percent of revenue. This commitment will apply retroactively to income earned in 2010, when Blue Shield’s net income exceeded the 2 percent target by $180 million. That amount will go back to Blue Shield’s customers and the community.
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2010 was a very good year for Lexmark, highlighted by revenue, earnings and cash generation growth, record laser performance, product line expansions, managed print services growth and the acquisition of Perceptive Software, which has strengthened Lexmark’s expanding software business. Ninety percent of the top global retailers¹, 70 percent of the top global banks1, and 36 percent of the Fortune 50 are Lexmark customers.
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Activision Publishing, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) announced today the worldwide debut of Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure, an entertainment breakthrough for the toy and video game industries. Through an innovative use of technology, the game allows players to transport real-world toys into virtual worlds of adventure through the “Portal of Power™.” These “toys with brains” can come to life inside the game in connection with multiple gaming platforms, as well as on handheld gaming devices, mobile devices and on the web, remembering achievements and level-ups wherever they go. This marks a wholesale change in the interaction between toys and video games, opening up new possibilities and revenue streams for both industries.
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Infinite Computer Solutions (India) Limited (BSE: 533154, NSE: INFINITE), a global provider of IT services, infrastructure management services (IMS) and intellectual property leveraged solutions, today announced its results for the second quarter of the Fiscal 2010-11.
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Telcordia, a global leader in the development of Mobile, Broadband and Enterprise communications software and services, announced today that it has been honored as the winner of the Aegis Graham Bell 2011 Award in the “Innovation in Telecom OSS/BSS” category for the company”s Telcordia® Converged Revenue Management solution. For the second consecutive year, Telcordia received this award for its work with the region's CSPs, enabling them to accelerate new customer and revenue growth in a highly competitive market.
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The American Gaming Association (AGA) today released a comprehensive report showing that the economic impacts of the commercial casino industry spread throughout the entire U.S. economy in 2010. The report, “Beyond the Casino Floor: Economic Impacts of the Commercial Casino Industry,” is the first of its kind and offers new in-depth analysis of the gaming industry, including data on the effects of industry spending as well as industry supported and induced spending. The report shows the economic activity supported by the commercial casino industry is roughly equivalent to 1 percent of the $14.5 trillion U.S. gross domestic product in 2010.
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Frost & Sullivan recently published a white paper, Virtualization for Midsize Businesses: Keep Your Foot on the Accelerator, which identifies the benefits midsize businesses gain through holistic adoption of virtualization technologies.
To overcome the many recurring challenges pertaining to data centers, there are streams of benefits virtualization across servers, storage, networks, and desktops can deliver, especially for midsize businesses with heightened strategic priorities in innovation and revenue growth. This shift to virtualization increases capacity and improves effectiveness with greater speed, flexibility and reliability than possible in non-virtualized environments.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://www.multivu.com/mnr/56117-frost-sullivan-white-paper-virtualization-midsize-business-efficiency-ibm
Even with some extra time, the tax deadline is fast approaching. Thanks to a holiday in the District of Columbia, all taxpayers have until April 17 to get Form 1040 into the IRS.
For people who find taxes a little too taxing, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has a program that can help. It’s called Free File. You can use free software to do your taxes and e-file for free. Get started at IRS.gov/freefile.
Free File is a partnership between the IRS and leading tax software providers who make their brand-name products available for free. The software does the hard work − doing the math and helping you find the tax breaks you’re due.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://www.multivu.com/mnr/55243-irs-free-file