Abstract

This article documents the evolution of the annual reports of the Danish company Danisco A/S from 1935 through 2007-2008. Compared to previous diachronic studies of annual reports, this study offers a finer grained description from a communicative perspective over a long period of time. Using genre theory as a framework, it analyzes the macrostructure and visual elements of these reports from a communicative standpoint paying equal attention to both of the genre’s subordinate communicative purposes: to give a true and fair view of the state of the company and to provide a positive image of the company. The findings indicate that the annual reports have four distinctive phases (1935 through 1958, 1959 through 1988, 1989-1990 through 2005-2006, and 2006-2007 through 2007-2008) that serve different communicative purposes. The study clearly shows that the annual report is primarily a statutory document and reveals that changes within organizations have a much greater and more immediate impact on changes in the annual reports than do other contextual factors.

Journal
Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Published
2012-01-01
DOI
10.1177/1050651911421132
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Citation Context

Cited by in this index (6)

  1. Technical Communication Quarterly
  2. Technical Communication Quarterly
  3. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  4. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  5. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Show all 6 →
  1. Journal of Business and Technical Communication

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