Journal of Business and Technical Communication Apr 2022

The Ethics of Delivering Bad News: Evaluating Impression Management Strategies in Corporate Financial Reporting

Emily Barrow DeJeu Carnegie Mellon University

Abstract

Business communication textbooks offer impression management (IM) strategies to help students learn how to soften bad news. But corporations sometimes use these strategies in ethically questionable ways. This article analyzes IM strategies in a landmark case of ethically dubious corporate financial reporting. Findings suggest that the company, Ivax, manipulated three standard IM strategies by overamplifying its power to fix a financial crisis, substantially downplaying bad news, and concealing damaging information. Ivax also used a fourth, less familiar strategy: It buried contradictory information in legal disclaimers. Instructors need to help students become ethical writers who avoid questionable IM strategies like these.

Journal
Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Published
2022-04-01
DOI
10.1177/10506519211064618
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Topics
professional writing
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Citation Context

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    IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication

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