Disclosing Principles of IR Communication : Rhetorical Moves for Constructing Transparency

A functioning financial market requires transparency of listed companies. Transparency is a communicative practice ensuring that stakeholders have all relevant information about a company to make informed financial decisions. This article discusses how transparency is communicated through a genre specifically designed for this purpose, disclosure policy. A disclosure policy is a communication strategy document in which companies define their investor relations communication principles and thereby deliver a transparent image of themselves. The data for this study consist of 13 disclosure policy documents published in English on investor relations websites of listed companies. Methodologically the study combines a rhetorical moves analysis with a semantic approach to intertextuality. The results of the analysis indicate that following a consistent genre pattern enables companies to directly address requirements of authorities but also leaves room for company-specific characterizations. In order to portray a rhetorically convincing image, transparency characterizations need to reflect the company strategy.