Company annual reports: Analysis of the genre with regard to communication strategies

Radek Vogel

Company annual reports: Analysis of the genre with regard to communication strategies

Vol.3,No.1(2010)

PDF

Communicating an objective message effectively and presenting oneself in a favourable light at the same time is of utmost importance in business. This paper analyses the genre of non-tabular sections of company annual reports, whose main aim is to reinforce a positive image of the company in the eyes and minds of different sorts of its stakeholders. The focus is on the specifi c arrangement and choice of lexis and syntax which are expected to contribute conveniently to achieving an intended goal in this type of impersonal and distant communication, consisting of provision of data as well as self-promotion. Linguistic means used to convey associative as well as purely denotative components of meaning, anticipation of the inferences of the reader and a desirable degree of vagueness have been analysed on a corpus of annual reports of large corporations operating in different industries.

Keywords:
annual report; associative meaning; communication strategies; genre analysis; inference; objectivity; pragmatic strategy; reference; self-promotion

References

Bhatia, V. K. (1993) Analysing Genre: Language Use in Professional Settings. Harlow:
Pearson Education Limited.

Borovičková, J. (2008) Structure, Style and Lexis of Company Annual Reports.
(Unpublished Master’s thesis) Brno: Masarykova univerzita.

Brown, G. and Yule, G. (1983) Discourse Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.

Cano Petroleum. (2008) Annual Report. Cano Petroleum, Inc. Retrieved on 2 July 2009
from http://www.canopetro.com.

Carter, R. (1997) Investigating English Discourse. London and New York: Routledge.

Crystal, D. (1995) The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.

Crystal, D. and Davy, D. (1969) Investigating English Style. London: Longman.

Dontcheva-Navratilova, O. (2006) ‘Text colonies revisited: Clause relations in colony
texts.’ In: Povolná, R. and Dontcheva-Navratilova, O. (eds) Discourse and Interaction
2. Brno: Masarykova univerzita. 43-56.

Gastar. (2008) Annual Report. Gastar Exploration Ltd. Retrieved on 2 July 2009 from
http://www.gastar.com.

International Power. (2006) Annual Report. London: International Power plc.

International Power. (2007) Annual Report. London: International Power plc.

Kaupthing Bank. (2006) Annual Report. Kaupthing Bank.

Knittlová, D. (1990) Funkční styly v angličtině a češtině. Olomouc: Univerzita
Palackého.

Knittlová, D. (2000) K teorii i praxi překladu. Olomouc: Univerzita Palackého.

Levinson, S. C. (1983) Pragmatics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Marathon. (2006) Annual Report. Houston, TX: Marathon Oil Corporation.

Mey, J. L. (1993) Pragmatics: An Introduction. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.

National Suisse. (2006) Annual Report. Basel: Swiss National Insurance Company.
Oxford Dictionary of Accounting. (2005) 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Swales, J. M. (1990) Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Tárnyiková, J. (1993) Chapters from Modern English Syntax I. (A Communicative
Approach). Olomouc: Univerzita Palackého.
‘Tips for Reading an Annual Report.’ Retrieved on 30 June 2009 from http://www.zpub.
com/sf/arl/arl-read.html.

Toyota Motor Corporation. (2007) Annual Report: Year ended March 31, 2007. Toyota
City: Toyota Motor Corporation.

Wales, K. (2001) A Dictionary of Stylistics. 2nd ed. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited.

Wallace, M. (1998) ‘Guide on the Side – Annual Reports: Connecting the Parts with the
Whole.’ Retrieved on 30 June 2009 from http://www.llrx.com/columns/guide12.htm.

Yamaha. (2007) Annual Report: Year Ended March 31, 2007. Yamaha Corporation, Public
Relations Division.

Metrics

431

Views

306

PDF views

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

PDF