CEO letters as legitimacy builders: coupling text to numbers
Journal of Human Resource Costing & Accounting
ISSN: 1401-338X
Article publication date: 2 November 2010
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe and interpret the CEO letter in the annual reports of three multinational Swedish companies. This study focuses on the CEOs' comments on accounting principles and rules, on company decisions and actions, and on external events. Examination of CEO letters reveals how CEOs make themselves accountable to readers and establish their own and their companies' legitimacy.
Design/methodology/approach
A strategic design was used to select the three companies;.the three criteria used in making the selection were company nationality, age, and stock market listing. A fourth criterion was that the company had been a nominee in the Stockholm Stock Exchange “Best Annual Report” contest. Based on a social constructivist approach, with inspiration from the field of discourse psychology, a discursive action model (DAM) is applied in this research.
Findings
The analysis shows that the CEO letters at two of the three companies do not emphasize numbers and text. In the third company's CEO letters, the numbers are an important component and are balanced with text. It was found that one explanation of the CEO letter format is the CEO's wish to persuade readers of the company's legitimacy, excellence, and future survival. The CEO letter is intended to strengthen readers' confidence in the company.
Originality/value
This paper provides insight into how CEOs use CEO letters in annual reports to craft a corporate image for readers.
Keywords
Citation
Jonäll, K. and Rimmel, G. (2010), "CEO letters as legitimacy builders: coupling text to numbers", Journal of Human Resource Costing & Accounting, Vol. 14 No. 4, pp. 307-328. https://doi.org/10.1108/14013381011105975
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2010, Emerald Group Publishing Limited