About this site

Stephen Taylor is an international business executive, entrepreneur, inventor, and author with a career spanning six decades across corporate leadership, franchise ownership, and independent venture creation. He holds a Master of Arts in International Management from the University of Texas at Dallas and brings to his work a practitioner’s understanding of global commerce earned across markets in Asia, Europe, and the Americas.

His corporate career took him from 3M — where he developed one of America’s earliest proprietary corporate television networks — through franchise ownership, and ultimately to Director of International Business Development in the semiconductor industry, where he led global business expansion across major international markets. When that position ended in a corporate merger, he co-founded Firefly Magic Firefly Lights with his wife Kimberley — a bootstrapped venture that grew to cumulative revenue exceeding three million dollars and recognition as the world leader in firefly simulation technology. He holds a United States utility patent and has worked extensively with manufacturers in China.

Taylor taught business etiquette and international protocol throughout the 1990s alongside his wife Kimberley, bringing to the classroom the same cross-cultural fluency he developed during years of international executive work. He is the founder of University Extension Press and the author of The Circuitous Path series.

This website was originally developed in 1999 by a team of graduate students at the University of Texas – Dallas as a practical resource supporting international management education — a time when the internet was young and authoritative guidance on cross-cultural business protocol was difficult to find in a single accessible place. It has been maintained, revised, and updated continuously since, reflecting the evolving realities of global business practice, shifting cultural norms, and the expanding reach of international commerce. What has not changed is its founding purpose — to give business professionals, educators, and students the knowledge and confidence to work effectively and respectfully across cultural boundaries.

The team of graduate students who participated in its founding were: Patty Butler, Joni Nichol, Matt Priest, Stephen Taylor, and De’Edra Williams. The project also benefited from the invaluable contribution of Kimberley Taylor, whose involvement helped shape the site from its earliest days.