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)

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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

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