An office toy (also known as an executive toy or a desk toy) is a novelty item typically placed on the desk of a corporate executive or other office worker. They have no work-related function, but are often intended to provide decoration or pleasure, relieve stress or inspire creativity. [1] [2] The Newton's cradle is a classic example of an office toy. [2] [3]
Different types of office toys fulfill different needs for their users. Although providing pleasure and being decorative could be the two major functions in office toys, there are still some differences between each types of office toys. For example, puzzle-type toys can also help inspire creativity. A fidget spinner is an office toy that is used to reduce stress or boredom. [4] Design curator Donald Albrecht described executive toys as "aspirational" objects, "less tools for provoking creativity than foghorns of identity and status in a sea of corporate homogeneity." [2] Toys with corporate logos act as advertisements, such those distributed by pharmaceutical sales representatives in doctors' offices. [5]
A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on the executive branch of the government, university or company. The name comes from the Latin term vice meaning "in place of" and typically serves as pro tempore to the president. In some countries, the vice president is called the deputy president. In everyday speech, the abbreviation VP is used.
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer, chief administrative officer (CAO) or chiefadministrator (CA) or just chief executive (CE), and as managing director (MD) in the UK, is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization – especially an independent legal entity such as a company or nonprofit institution. CEOs find roles in a range of organizations, including public and private corporations, non-profit organizations and even some government organizations. The CEO of a corporation or company typically reports to the board of directors and is charged with maximizing the value of the business, which may include maximizing the share price, market share, revenues or another element. In the non-profit and government sector, CEOs typically aim at achieving outcomes related to the organization's mission, usually provided by legislation. CEOs are also frequently assigned the role of main manager of the organization and the highest-ranking officer in the C-suite.
A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment. Simple examples include toy blocks, board games, and dolls. Toys are often designed for use by children, although many are designed specifically for adults and pets. Toys can provide utilitarian benefits, including physical exercise, cultural awareness, or academic education. Additionally, utilitarian objects, especially those which are no longer needed for their original purpose, can be used as toys. Examples include children building a fort with empty cereal boxes and tissue paper spools, or a toddler playing with a broken TV remote control. The term "toy" can also be used to refer to utilitarian objects purchased for enjoyment rather than need, or for expensive necessities for which a large fraction of the cost represents its ability to provide enjoyment to the owner, such as luxury cars, high-end motorcycles, gaming computers, and flagship smartphones.
Investment banking pertains to certain activities of a financial services company or a corporate division that consist in advisory-based financial transactions on behalf of individuals, corporations, and governments. Traditionally associated with corporate finance, such a bank might assist in raising financial capital by underwriting or acting as the client's agent in the issuance of debt or equity securities. An investment bank may also assist companies involved in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and provide ancillary services such as market making, trading of derivatives and equity securities, FICC services or research. Most investment banks maintain prime brokerage and asset management departments in conjunction with their investment research businesses. As an industry, it is broken up into the Bulge Bracket, Middle Market, and boutique market.
An office is a space where the employees of an organization perform administrative work in order to support and realize the various goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific duties attached to it ; the latter is an earlier usage, office as place originally referring to the location of one's duty. In the adjective form, the term "office" may refer to business-related tasks. In law, a company or organization has offices in any place where it has an official presence, even if that presence consists of a storage silo, for example, instead of a more traditional establishment with a desk and chair. An office is also an architectural and design phenomenon, including small offices, such as a bench in the corner of a small business or a room in someone's home, entire floors of buildings, and massive buildings dedicated entirely to one company. In modern terms, an office is usually the location where white-collar workers carry out their functions.
LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc. is an educational entertainment and electronics company based in Emeryville, California. LeapFrog designs, develops, and markets technology-based learning products and related content for the education of children from infancy through grade school. The company was founded by Michael Wood and Robert Lally in 1994. John Barbour is the chief executive officer of LeapFrog.
A receptionist is an employee taking an office or administrative support position. The work is usually performed in a waiting area such as a lobby or front office desk of an organization or business. The title receptionist is attributed to the person who is employed by an organization to receive or greet any visitors, patients, or clients and answer telephone calls. The term front desk is used in many hotels for an administrative department where a receptionist's duties also may include room reservations and assignment, guest registration, cashier work, credit checks, key control, and mail and message service. Such receptionists are often called front desk clerks. Receptionists cover many areas of work to assist the businesses they work for, including setting appointments, filing, record keeping, and other office tasks.
The Newton's cradle is a device that demonstrates the conservation of momentum and the conservation of energy with swinging spheres. When one sphere at the end is lifted and released, it strikes the stationary spheres, transmitting a pressure or sonic wave through the stationary spheres that creates a force that pushes the last sphere upward. The last sphere swings back and strikes the nearly stationary spheres, repeating the effect in the opposite direction. The device is named after 17th-century English scientist Sir Isaac Newton and designed by French scientist Edme Mariotte. It is also known as Newton's pendulum, Newton's balls, Newton's rocker or executive ball clicker.
A stress ball or hand exercise ball is a malleable toy, usually not more than 7 centimetres (2.8 in) in diameter, which is squeezed in the hand and manipulated by the fingers, ostensibly to relieve stress and muscle tension or to exercise the muscles of the hand. Patrick Hummel is widely understood to have created the stress ball in central Indiana in the mid-1980s.
Play is a range of intrinsically motivated activities done for recreational pleasure and enjoyment. Play is commonly associated with children and juvenile-level activities, but may be engaged in at any life stage, and among other higher-functioning animals as well, most notably mammals and birds.
Fidgeting is the act of moving about restlessly in a way that is not essential to ongoing tasks or events. Fidgeting may involve playing with one's fingers, hair, or personal objects. In this sense, it may be considered twiddling or fiddling. Fidgeting is commonly used as a label for unexplained or subconscious activities and postural movements that people perform while seated or standing idle.
The Newton is a series of personal digital assistants (PDAs) developed and marketed by Apple Computer, Inc. An early device in the PDA category, it was the first to feature handwriting recognition. Apple started developing the platform in 1987 and shipped the first devices in August 1993. Production officially ended on February 27, 1998. Newton devices ran on a proprietary operating system, Newton OS; examples include Apple's MessagePad series and the eMate 300, and other companies also released devices running on Newton OS. Most Newton devices were based on the ARM 610 RISC processor and all featured handwriting-based input.
Bubble wrap is a pliable transparent plastic material used for packing fragile items. Regularly spaced, protruding air-filled hemispheres (bubbles) provide cushioning for fragile items.
Fat Brain Toys is a United States manufacturer and retailer of educational toys and games. The company was founded by husband and wife, Mark and Karen Carson, from the basement of their home in 2002. It is headquartered in Elkhorn, Nebraska with a distribution center located in nearby Omaha, Nebraska. The company operates two retail storefronts, one in Omaha, Nebraska and another in Overland Park, Kansas. The company specializes in building toys, brainteasers, and multi-player games. They collect various statistics on their consumers and toys, such as the ages of recipients and a 'Toy Value Index' which they display at the lower end of the respective product's page. As of 2014, the company had 46 full-time employees. The staff expands to approximately 300 people during the holiday season.
Ketchapp SARL is a French video game publisher based in Paris, specializing in the mobile games market. Founded in 2014 by brothers Antoine and Michel Morcos, the company first came into the public eye later that year, through its port of the open-source game 2048. Ketchapp has been accused of cloning popular casual games by other developers. When Ketchapp was acquired by Ubisoft in September 2016, the company had more than 700 million downloads across their portfolio of games.
A fidget spinner is a toy that consists of a ball bearing in the center of a multi-lobed flat structure made from metal or plastic designed to spin along its axis with pressure. Fidget spinners became trending toys in 2017, although similar devices had been invented as early as 1993.
The Fidget Cube is a small hand-held device designed by Matthew and Mark McLachlan, brothers and co-founders of the Colorado-based design studio Antsy Labs. It has fidget tools on all sides: a switch, gears, a rolling ball (marble), a joystick, a spinning disk, a worry stone, and five buttons. It may also help users with ADHD focus.
A squishy is a type of soft toy made of a specially formulated soft polyurethane foam, that slowly returns to its original shape after being squeezed. Squishies are manufactured into many different shapes and sizes, such as animals, fruits, and food items. They are often scented to match the object represented. The toy is also called kawaii squishy, kawaii meaning "cute" in Japanese.