A preliminary study into impression management practices in chairman’s statements in South African annual reports

The purpose of this study was to determine whether there is a systematic difference in the textual characteristics of information in the chairman’s statement of profitable and unprofitable companies on the JSE main board. The study replicated research by Clatworthy and Jones (2006) to determine the...

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Main Authors: Yaeesh Yasseen, Mahdiyyah Moola-Yasseen, Nirupa Padia
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Johannesburg 2022-10-01
Series:Communicare
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/jcsa/article/view/1578
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author Yaeesh Yasseen
Mahdiyyah Moola-Yasseen
Nirupa Padia
author_facet Yaeesh Yasseen
Mahdiyyah Moola-Yasseen
Nirupa Padia
author_sort Yaeesh Yasseen
collection DOAJ
description The purpose of this study was to determine whether there is a systematic difference in the textual characteristics of information in the chairman’s statement of profitable and unprofitable companies on the JSE main board. The study replicated research by Clatworthy and Jones (2006) to determine the existence of impression management within chairman’s statements. The difference in reporting between profitable and unprofitable companies was analysed in relation to three pre-determined textual characteristics using an attribution theory perspective. The primary conclusion drawn is that impression management does exist in the chairman’s statements of companies listed on the JSE main board. Another finding of the study was that ‘extremely unprofitable’ companies are less likely to employ impression management. The findings indicate that users of annual reports should be alert to the existence of reporting bias introduced by management and its impact on the usefulness of management commentary in their decision-making.
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publishDate 2022-10-01
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series Communicare
spelling doaj-art-8b608f8628db498392c2354e2ae1a91f2025-01-20T08:55:48ZengUniversity of JohannesburgCommunicare0259-00692957-79502022-10-0136110.36615/jcsa.v36i1.1578A preliminary study into impression management practices in chairman’s statements in South African annual reportsYaeesh Yasseen0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0651-4240Mahdiyyah Moola-Yasseen1Nirupa Padia2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3274-2925University of the WitwatersrandUniversity of the WitwatersrandUniversity of the Witwatersrand The purpose of this study was to determine whether there is a systematic difference in the textual characteristics of information in the chairman’s statement of profitable and unprofitable companies on the JSE main board. The study replicated research by Clatworthy and Jones (2006) to determine the existence of impression management within chairman’s statements. The difference in reporting between profitable and unprofitable companies was analysed in relation to three pre-determined textual characteristics using an attribution theory perspective. The primary conclusion drawn is that impression management does exist in the chairman’s statements of companies listed on the JSE main board. Another finding of the study was that ‘extremely unprofitable’ companies are less likely to employ impression management. The findings indicate that users of annual reports should be alert to the existence of reporting bias introduced by management and its impact on the usefulness of management commentary in their decision-making. https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/jcsa/article/view/1578South African annual reportsimpression management practiceschairman’s statementstheory perspectiveJSEbias
spellingShingle Yaeesh Yasseen
Mahdiyyah Moola-Yasseen
Nirupa Padia
A preliminary study into impression management practices in chairman’s statements in South African annual reports
Communicare
South African annual reports
impression management practices
chairman’s statements
theory perspective
JSE
bias
title A preliminary study into impression management practices in chairman’s statements in South African annual reports
title_full A preliminary study into impression management practices in chairman’s statements in South African annual reports
title_fullStr A preliminary study into impression management practices in chairman’s statements in South African annual reports
title_full_unstemmed A preliminary study into impression management practices in chairman’s statements in South African annual reports
title_short A preliminary study into impression management practices in chairman’s statements in South African annual reports
title_sort preliminary study into impression management practices in chairman s statements in south african annual reports
topic South African annual reports
impression management practices
chairman’s statements
theory perspective
JSE
bias
url https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/jcsa/article/view/1578
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