Innovation

How important is innovation these days? Increasingly important, if one goes by the frequency of the word appearing during earnings calls that publicly traded companies have with investment analysts. In 2008, the word appeared 1,733 times in earnings calls for 435 large publicly traded companies. That's an average of about four mentions per company (Starbucks topped the list with 139 mentions). In the last four quarters where full...

Companies covered by larger numbers of analysts generate fewer patents, and the patents they produce have lower impact than those from other firms, according to an analysis by Jie (Jack) He of the University of Georgia and Xuan Tian of Indiana University. The findings suggest that analysts exert so much pressure on managers to meet short-term financial goals that they impede companies' investment in long-term projects, the researchers...

A good idea faces so many obstacles en route to market today that it's a wonder we have any innovative products at all. You know those baby sea turtles that get eaten by birds and crabs on their way from the nest to the water? It's like that. Corporations have narrowed the focus of their R&D by pressing for clear, short-term wins; venture capitalists are too quick to...