The number of group presidents that comprise the reporting entity's executive office.

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Represents the number of operating segments that are led by the group president who is responsible for corporate services.

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Represents the number of operating segments which are led by group presidents.

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Represents the number of smaller operating segments that are led by the group president.

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Amount of total capital expenditures attributable to the reportable segments.

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Represents the useful life used to amortize goodwill to allocate to segments assets.

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Sum of the carrying amounts as of the balance sheet date of all assets that are recognized. Assets are probable future economic benefits obtained or controlled by an entity as a result of past transactions or events.

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Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.18)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

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-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher SEC
-Name Regulation S-X (SX)
-Number 210
-Section 03
-Paragraph 12
-Article 7

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The aggregate expense recognized in the current period that allocates the cost of tangible assets, intangible assets, or depleting assets to periods that benefit from use of the assets.

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Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 28
-Subparagraph (b)
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Sum of operating profit and nonoperating income or expense before Income or Loss from equity method investments, income taxes, extraordinary items, and noncontrolling interest.

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Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 235
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-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.4-08.(h)(1)(i))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=26873400&loc=d3e23780-122690

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Number of operating segments. An operating segment is a component of an enterprise: (a) that engages in business activities from which it may earn revenues and incur expenses (including revenues and expenses relating to transactions with other components of the same enterprise), (b) whose operating results are regularly reviewed by the enterprise's chief operating decision maker to make decisions about resources to be allocated to the segment and assess its performance, and (c) for which discrete financial information is available. An operating segment may engage in business activities for which it has yet to earn revenues, for example, start-up operations may be operating segments before earning revenues.

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Number of segments reported by the entity. A reportable segment is a component of an entity for which there is an accounting requirement to report separate financial information on that component in the entity's financial statements.

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Amount of revenue recognized from goods sold, services rendered, insurance premiums, or other activities that constitute an earning process. Includes, but is not limited to, investment and interest income before deduction of interest expense when recognized as a component of revenue, and sales and trading gain (loss).

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Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
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-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 225
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-03.1)
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Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

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Segment information (Details) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
Segment information (Details) $ in Millions	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2014 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2014 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($) group_presidents segments	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 USD ($)
Segment Reporting Information
Number of group presidents \| group_presidents									5
Number of operating segments \| segments									7
Useful life to amortize goodwill for segment assets									20 years
Reportable Segments
Sales and revenues	$ 11,030	$ 10,962	$ 12,317	$ 12,702	$ 14,244	$ 13,549	$ 14,150	$ 13,241	$ 47,011	$ 55,184	$ 55,656
Depreciation and amortization									3,046	3,163	3,087
Consolidated profit before taxes									2,855	5,083	5,128
Segment assets	78,497				84,681				78,497	84,681	84,896
Capital expenditures									$ 3,261	3,379	4,446
All Other operating segments
Segment Reporting Information
Number of group presidents \| group_presidents									1
Number of smaller operating segments led by Group President \| segments									3
Reportable Segments
Sales and revenues									$ 2,197	2,251	2,263
Depreciation and amortization									276	279	305
Consolidated profit before taxes									779	850	736
Segment assets	2,616				2,810				2,616	2,810	2,973
Capital expenditures									276	331	452
Reportable Segments Including Intersegment Eliminations
Reportable Segments
Sales and revenues									$ 47,481	56,252	56,373
Reportable segments
Segment Reporting Information
Number of operating segments led by Group Presidents \| segments									3
Number of operating segments led by Group president responsible for corporate services \| segments									1
Number of reportable segments \| segments									4
Reportable Segments
Sales and revenues									$ 45,135	53,323	53,716
Depreciation and amortization									2,615	2,744	2,622
Consolidated profit before taxes									5,885	7,647	7,351
Segment assets	58,394				61,574				58,394	61,574	63,469
Capital expenditures									2,806	2,888	3,533
Intersegment Eliminations
Reportable Segments
Sales and revenues									2,346	2,929	2,657
Machinery, Energy & Transportation \| Reportable Segments Including Intersegment Eliminations
Reportable Segments
Sales and revenues									44,403	52,939	53,149
Machinery, Energy & Transportation \| Reportable segments
Reportable Segments
Sales and revenues									42,057	50,010	50,492
Depreciation and amortization									1,767	1,859	1,833
Consolidated profit before taxes									5,076	6,746	6,361
Segment assets	22,629				24,563				22,629	24,563	26,489
Capital expenditures									1,341	1,254	1,727
Machinery, Energy & Transportation \| Intersegment Eliminations
Reportable Segments
Sales and revenues									2,346	2,929	2,657
Construction Industries \| Reportable Segments Including Intersegment Eliminations
Reportable Segments
Sales and revenues									16,761	19,612	18,862
Construction Industries \| Reportable segments
Reportable Segments
Sales and revenues									16,568	19,362	18,532
Depreciation and amortization									481	522	493
Consolidated profit before taxes									1,925	2,207	1,374
Segment assets	5,480				6,596				5,480	6,596	7,607
Capital expenditures									246	369	551
Construction Industries \| Intersegment Eliminations
Reportable Segments
Sales and revenues									193	250	330
Resource Industries \| Reportable Segments Including Intersegment Eliminations
Reportable Segments
Sales and revenues									7,904	9,352	12,237
Resource Industries \| Reportable segments
Reportable Segments
Sales and revenues									7,551	8,921	11,805
Depreciation and amortization									641	685	693
Consolidated profit before taxes									(88)	404	1,572
Segment assets	8,602				9,497				8,602	9,497	10,340
Capital expenditures									281	277	499
Resource Industries \| Intersegment Eliminations
Reportable Segments
Sales and revenues									353	431	432
Energy & Transportation \| Reportable Segments Including Intersegment Eliminations
Reportable Segments
Sales and revenues									19,738	23,975	22,050
Energy & Transportation \| Reportable segments
Reportable Segments
Sales and revenues									17,938	21,727	20,155
Depreciation and amortization									645	652	647
Consolidated profit before taxes									3,239	4,135	3,415
Segment assets	8,547				8,470				8,547	8,470	8,542
Capital expenditures									814	608	677
Energy & Transportation \| Intersegment Eliminations
Reportable Segments
Sales and revenues									1,800	2,248	1,895
Financial Products Segment \| Reportable Segments Including Intersegment Eliminations
Reportable Segments
Sales and revenues									3,078	3,313	3,224
Financial Products Segment \| Reportable segments
Reportable Segments
Sales and revenues									3,078	3,313	3,224
Depreciation and amortization									848	885	789
Consolidated profit before taxes									809	901	990
Segment assets	$ 35,765				$ 37,011				35,765	37,011	36,980
Capital expenditures									1,465	1,634	1,806
Financial Products Segment \| Intersegment Eliminations
Reportable Segments
Sales and revenues									$ 0	$ 0	$ 0