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Research online banking industry over eight years to determine innovation out- comes such as speed of develop- ment and breadth of technological deployment. By counting the number of future-oriented words and phrases in letters to shareholders over this period of time, the researchers were able to predict the level of innovation of that firm up to five years later. What CEOs say to shareholders CEOs' Words May Foretell the Future What CEOs say today may predict how well their organizations innovate tomor- row, according to a study forth- coming in the Journal of Marketing. Three researchers have found that the number of future-oriented sentences that a CEO uses in a compa- ny's annual report can pre- dict its future innovation. The paper, "Managing the Future: CEO Attention and Innovation Outcomes," was co-authored by Rajesh Chandy, professor of mar- keting at the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management in Minne- apolis; Manjit S. Yadav, asso- ciate professor of marketing at Texas A&M University's Mays Business School in College Station; and Jaideep C. Prabhu, professor of mar- keting at Imperial College's Tanaka Business School in London, England. The researchers studied empiri- cal data collected from the 56 Rajesh Chandy can inspire and motivate employ- ees to innovate, the authors say. When a CEO's attention is focused on internal problems rather than the company's future direction, employees' innovation may stall. "The daily pressures from inside the corporation tend to take up the bulk of the CEOs' time, over- whelming their attention spans," explains Chandy. "But because the CEO sets the tone and culture, not thinking forward and out- side the firm has major con- sequences for innovation." The researchers advise Jaideep Prabhu Manjit Yadav BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2007 CEOs to direct their atten- tion to the big picture, while letting others take care of the day-to-day problems that can distract CEOs from their true purpose—moving the company forward. "The temptation to focus on fires within the firm may cause CEOs to take their eyes off their jobs," says Chandy. "A CEO who focuses on the big picture, not the nitty-gritty, will influence the process of innovation and future out- comes of the firm." Research on Entrepreneurship on the Rise While entrepreneurship has been the topic of many courses and much discus- sion, research into the field has been less pervasive. However, a study by three researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology's College of Management in Atlanta has found that, over the last few years, academic research activity on entrepreneurship has been increasing. Frank Rothaermel, associate pro- fessor of strategic management, and doctoral students Shanti Agung and Lin Jiang surveyed the number of academic studies on entrepre- neurship in the U.S. over the past 25 years. They found that 173 arti- cles had been published in 28 aca- demic journals by 232 scholars from 1981 to 2005. However, 127 of them were authored from 2000 to 2005. Moreover, 69 percent of these more recent articles were authored by only 65 researchers. The authors identified four pri- mary research areas of interest in the field of entrepreneurship: the entrepreneurial research university, the productivity of technology transfer offices, new firm creation, and the environmental context for entrepreneurship. The authors cite several reasons for the increase in research over the last 25 years. The passage of the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980 started the trend, they argue, by providing universities with government fund- ing to patent scientific break- throughs and spurring the growth of entrepreneurial courses and degree programs. They also point Frank RothaermelFrank Rothaermel