Impression management in annual report narratives: the case of the UK private finance initiative

Edgar, Victoria C.; Beck, Matthias; Brennan, Niamh

doi:10.1108/aaaj-10-2016-2733

Cited by 30 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 66 publications

(110 reference statements)

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“…The annual reports of the companies listed under the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) are taken for the SDA. Annual reports are considered as a credible source of corporate narratives in prior studies (see, for example, Dumay et al, 2015;Edgar et al, 2018;Kuruppu et al, 2019;Li and Haque, 2019;Lupu and Sandu, 2017;Nwagbara and Belal, 2019). The latest annual reports (mostly of 2017) are downloaded from official websites of listed companies between 22nd December and 31st December 2018.…”

Section: Sample and Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Gender-related discourses in corporate annual reports: an exploratory study on the Bangladeshi companies

Hossain

Alam

Mazumder

et al. 2021

JAOC

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Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore the gender-related discourses in the annual reports of the listed companies in Bangladesh. Design/methodology/approach To fulfill this objective, a sociological discourse analysis (SDA) of the gender-related texts in the annual reports of Bangladeshi companies (listed in the Dhaka Stock Exchange) was conducted. Sandberg and Holmlund’s (2015) organizational impression management tactics (description, praise, admission, defense and writing styles) was applied as the analytical framework of SDA. The findings of the study were interpreted from a triangulation of two different theories: legitimacy theory and impression management theory. Findings The study suggests that the companies in Bangladesh are disclosing gender-related information to a limited extent. They provide some information in relation to equal opportunities, business activities targeted to women and corporate contribution to women’s welfare. Most of these gender-related discourses are rhetorical in nature. The companies used various impression management tactics such as description, praise, positive writing style, vague writing style and emotional writing style. Research limitations/implications This study is exploratory in nature and focuses on cross-sectional data. Thus, it does not identify the trend of corporate gender reporting over the years. Practical implications At the policy level, the findings revealed a need for reporting guidelines for gender narratives. Although there is a global gender reporting guideline as proposed under global reporting initiative, there is no local guideline in Bangladesh. Our findings suggest that in the absence of proper directives, companies presented facts and figures rhetorically and qualitatively. Social implications Our findings provide valuable insights for the companies in assisting the Government of Bangladesh to deal with the prevailing gender inequality and achieved gender-related sustainable development goals. It is argued that the government should take more interest in corporate social responsibility activities (such as promoting gender equality) and introduce legislation and guidelines for social accounting. Originality/value This is one of the very few studies that illustrate the corporate gender reporting of a developing economy – Bangladesh. To make a unique contribution to corporate gender disclosure, the study has drawn its analysis from a triangulation of the impression management and the legitimacy perspectives. Also, the use of SDA for annual report analysis has informed the readers about “how” the corporate narratives are presented in the annual reports rather than “what” issues are disclosed as commonly done in content analysis.

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Section: Sample and Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Gender-related discourses in corporate annual reports: an exploratory study on the Bangladeshi companies

Hossain

Alam

Mazumder

et al. 2021

JAOC

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“…Drawing on the literature and related publications, nine themes were identified (Table 2). Consistent with other public sector research (Ogden and Clarke, 2005; Lundbeg et al ., 2009; Edgar et al ., 2018), the documents were coded using a thematic analysis approach 3 . The coding rules were tested on a number of occasions to ensure that they enabled the authors to arrive at the same coding outcome, with the data being input and analyzed through SPSS in order to identify any trends or patterns within the themes 4 .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recent UK Central Government Accounting Reforms: Claimed Benefits and Experienced Outcomes

Stewart

Connolly

2021

Abacus

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Focusing on the four most recent and highly publicized accounting reforms in UK central government, and utilizing discourse analysis of official publications, together with semi‐structured interviews, this paper examines the basis on which these four reforms were introduced, the extent to which they are considered appropriate, and the reasons for the persistence of new public management (NPM)‐inspired accounting reforms in UK central government. The findings indicate that each was promoted in a similar manner despite limited post‐implementation evidence that the supposed benefits of preceding reforms had not been realized to the extent originally suggested. Given NPM's continued acceptance, these findings have international significance.

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“…The social psychology literature on IM has been applied to organizational settings. Scholars have proposed many typologies and tactics (Jones and Pittman, 1982; Tedeschi and Melburg, 1984; Mohamed et al , 1999) which can be used by organizations facing legitimacy threats (Ogden and Clarke, 2005; Conway et al , 2015; Boiral, 2016; Nègre et al , 2017; Edgar et al , 2018). IM tactics can be classified as assertive or defensive (Mohamed et al , 1999).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Telling a success story through the president’s letter

Martins

Gomes

Oliveira

et al. 2019

QRAM

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Purpose This paper aims to explore the role of storytelling and impression management (IM) through the president’s letter in legitimizing the practices of an electricity company with regard to controversial issues during a period of change. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on a qualitative case study, this paper examines annual report letters from 1995 to 2013 using a methodological interpretative approach. Findings By promoting a success story using IM, the presidents give sense to particular actions related with controversial issues and attempt to influence expectations on strategic changes. The findings demonstrate that organizational actors use the flexibility of the president’s letter to tell the story and emphasize its self-laudatory nature. The study highlights that storytelling in these documents can be used to alleviate the tensions created by the inherent contradictions of social structures. Practical implications This research is useful for regulatory authorities, users of annual reports and academic researchers, making them attentive of the narratives companies may adopt to protect their legitimacy. The findings shed light on the need to evaluate the credibility of accountability mechanisms and can help stakeholders to develop a more critical view of the president’s letter. Originality/value This paper makes a contribution to research on communication issues by expanding literature on accounting and organizational storytelling. By demonstrating how presidents use sensegiving as a means of legitimacy-claiming, this study adds to the literature on legitimating accounts. In doing so, this paper bridges the gap between theories about organizational legitimacy, storytelling and IM. To sum up, the findings serve as an incremental step toward understanding the nature of accountability reporting.

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Impression management in annual report narratives: the case of the UK private finance initiative

Cited by 30 publications

References 66 publications

Gender-related discourses in corporate annual reports: an exploratory study on the Bangladeshi companies

Gender-related discourses in corporate annual reports: an exploratory study on the Bangladeshi companies

Recent UK Central Government Accounting Reforms: Claimed Benefits and Experienced Outcomes

Telling a success story through the president’s letter

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