Reading Smoke and Mirrors: The Rhetoric of Corporate Annual Reports

Abstract

In trying to project a positive corporate image and financial health in their annual reports, companies too often confuse and alienate readers with rhetorical smoke and statistical mirrors. Through a more complete understanding of their audiences and by applying effective rhetorical principles to reach those audiences, corporations can both meet the informational needs of report readers and promote a positive and accurate corporate ethos.

Annual Reports: A Literature Review (1989–2001)

“…In 1990, Peter J. Hager and H. J. Scheiber evaluated the rhetorical techniques used in corporate annual reports [59]. Their article, "Reading Smoke and Mirrors: The Rhetoric of Corporate Annual Reports," appeared in the Journal of Technical Writing and Communication and discusses how teachers can use corporate annual reports to enable business communication students to "demonstrate their technical expertise in real-world applications of the business theory taught in academic courses" [59, p. 129].…”

The Rhetoric of Teaching Financial Accounting on the Corporate Web: A Critical Review of Content and Metaphor in Ibm's Internet Webpageguide to Understanding Financials

“…For example, on webpage ࠻12 in its description of the notes to financial statements, the Guide does not mention the impenetrable prose and very specialized terminology often employed in the ''Notes'', the template language code often used, and the necessity to sometimes treat financial statement notes as a new, rather complex and unfriendly language requiring highly skilled decipher-( ) ing Fiol, 1989;Hager & Scheiber, 1990;Jones & Shoemaker, 1994 . As another example, on webpage ࠻15, the Guide concludes its description of ''Revenue'', identified as a ''KEY NUMBER'', by stating:…”