Ruamporn Vongurai. Do corporate leaders display sincerity in their messages to stakeholders?. Master's Degree(Accounting). Thammasat University. Thammasat University Library. : Thammasat University, 2015.
Do corporate leaders display sincerity in their messages to stakeholders?
Abstract:
Corporate leaders generally employ Message from the Chairman (MFTC), one of narrative sections in annual report, to explain their performance. Voluntarily disclosed and unaudited by Certified Public Accountant (CPA), MFTC takes a concerning role toward parties who regularly rely on the words of the Board and management. A group of researchers revealed that MFTC is regarded as a vehicle of impression management, aiming to divert attention from poor performance. While another found that it acts as a communicative mechanism, aiming to sincerely discuss the true performance with stakeholders. This paper focuses on examining these contrasting roles by comparing optimistic tone in MFTC of the best- against worst- performing firms listed in Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET). The congruence between optimistic tone, measured by Diction Software, and firm performance implies that corporate leaders sincerity is observed (Yuthas et al., 2002). The findings suggest that best performers, in term of past performance, express significantly higher optimistic tone than their worst-performing counterparts. Positive relationship is also found between optimistic tone and past firm performance. This shows that corporate leaders, in general, are sincere in their words. Further, this research also examines whether the tone in MFTC can help predict future performance. However, no relationship exists between the two
Thammasat University. Thammasat University Library