Research Outputs (Financial Intelligence)
https://hdl.handle.net/10500/22035
2024-03-28T13:48:20ZSeeing the Wood for the Trees - Textual Analysis of the Integrated Reports of Forestry, Logging and Related Services Companies in South Africa
https://hdl.handle.net/10500/28518
Seeing the Wood for the Trees - Textual Analysis of the Integrated Reports of Forestry, Logging and Related Services Companies in South Africa
du Toit, Elda; Esterhuyse, Leana
Low readability and narrative tones can be used as impression management tools in corporate communications, especially in environmentally sensitive industries. We conducted computerised textual analysis on the integrated reports of all four companies listed in the Forestry, Logging, and Related Services (FLRS) industry of the JSE for the period 2014 to 2020. Results are compared with similar analyses of integrated reports from four well-known Retail companies. We find that FLRS integrated reports are significantly longer and more difficult to read than those from the Retail industry. For analysis of narrative tone, results showed that both industries favoured Commonality as the most favoured tone. However, the Activity and Optimism narrative tones reveal significantly different usage between the two industries. Activity scores are consistently higher for the FLRS industry while Optimism is higher for the Retail industry. We contribute to the field of impression management with results from the South African context. We confirm lower readability of integrated reports from companies operating in environmentally sensitive industries, as well as differences in narrative strategies between two industries, the FLRS and the Retail industry.
2021-01-01T00:00:00ZNarrative Styles and Institutional Isomorphism in South African CEOs’ Shareholder Letters
https://hdl.handle.net/10500/27495
Narrative Styles and Institutional Isomorphism in South African CEOs’ Shareholder Letters
du Toit, Elda; Esterhuyse, Leana
Among the most-read corporate documents are chief executive officers’ (CEOs’) shareholder letters. Using institutional isomorphism as lens, this study examines the extent to which the narrative styles used by South African CEOs in their shareholder letters are similar to the styles used by CEOs at leading international companies. The study also explores the degree to which impression management techniques are present in the South African CEOs’ shareholder letters. The study uses DICTION software to conduct a narrative analysis of South African CEOs’ shareholder letters for a single financial year, and compares the findings with those drawn from the Craig and Amernic (2018) study of the shareholder letters of CEOs from samples of international Fortune 500 and FTSE 100 companies. The study finds that optimism and realism are the two most-used narrative styles in South African CEOs’ shareholder letters, and that these findings are markedly similar to those generated by the Craig and Amernic (2018) study of international companies. The study contributes to the understanding of normative institutional isomorphism in corporate reporting by providing empirical evidence that the narrative styles employed by CEOs of companies in a developing economy with high corporate governance standards conform to the same norms as those of CEOs of large international companies. The study also finds that the South African CEOs’ dominant communication styles in the shareholder letters lend themselves to being tools of impression management.
2021-06-03T00:00:00ZTowards corporate transparency
https://hdl.handle.net/10500/25944
Towards corporate transparency
Esterhuyse, Leana
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to determine whether companies recognised for the quality of their sustainability reporting are also adopting investor relations (IR) best practices for their IR webpages. Quality communications to all stakeholder groups may then speak to organisational transparency and integrated corporate communication management (CCM).
Design/methodology/approach – An ordinary least squares regression model was developed to test the hypothesis that companies with quality sustainability reporting also adopts best practices in online IR. Sustainability reporting quality was signalled by inclusion of the company in a socially responsible investment (SRI) index. IR quality was proxied by disclosure scores compiled from content analyses of investor relations webpages.
Findings – This study find that inclusion in the SRI Index was positively and significantly associated with online IR quality, while controlling for other variables associated with voluntary disclosure behaviour.
Practical implications – For retail and institutional investors in SRI Index companies, cost of information discovery is reduced as they can use the investor relations webpages as comprehensive source.
Originality/value – This study contributes to the literature on corporate transparency by operationalising reporting “transparency” in that it considers the combined communications output to both financial and non-financial stakeholder groupings. A 2 x 2 conceptual framework for corporate disclosures is proposed that reconciles legitimacy theory and voluntary disclosure theory as motivations. It also contributes to the paucity
of research on the links between public relations and investor relations in corporate communications by demonstrating a joint contribution to transparency.
2019-10-01T00:00:00ZPrevalence of investor and analyst presentations on investor relations webpages - an industry analysis.
https://hdl.handle.net/10500/25032
Prevalence of investor and analyst presentations on investor relations webpages - an industry analysis.
Esterhuyse, Leana
Recent behavioural research indicate that non-textual cues are relayed during investor and analyst presentations that influences investors’ judgement. The first objective of this study was to investigate to what extent Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) listed companies provide media from these presentations on their investor relations webpages. A second objective was to determine whether industry differences exist in the availability and usability of these presentations on the webpages. Findings indicate that although many companies provided PDFs of slides and handouts of presentations, very few provided audio or visual recordings of these events. No significant industry association could be discerned, although Basic Resources companies performed best. This study highlights that JSE-listed companies were not making the most of available investor communication channels to convey subtle non-textual information cues. Institutional investors and analysts participating in presentations have informational advantages over retail investors who have to rely on textual reports, if any.
2018-01-01T00:00:00Z