Disclosing elements of disclosure: A test of legitimacy theory and company ethics

Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences

Volumn 25, Issue 1, 2008, Pages 7-21

  Lightstone, Karen ^a   Driscoll, Cathy ^a  

^a SAINT MARY S UNIVERSITY   (Canada)

Author keywords

Company ethics; Investor welfare; Symbolic legitimacy management; Voluntary disclosure

Indexed keywords

EID: 43749105386     PISSN: 08250383     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1002/cjas.50     Document Type: Article

References (92)

1. Abrahamson, E., & Amir, E. (1996). The information content of the president's letter to shareholders. Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, October, 23(8), 1157-1183.
2. Abrahamson, E., & Park, C. (1994). Concealment of negative organizational outcomes: An agency theory perspective. Academy of Management Journal, October, 37(5), 1302-1335.
3. Aerts, W. (2005). Picking up the pieces: Impression management in the retrospective attributional framing of accounting outcomes. Accounting, Organizations, and Society, 30(6), 493-517.
4. Ashforth, B.E., & Gibbs, B.W. (1990). The double-edge of organizational legitimation. Organization Science, 1(2), 177-194.
5. Baum, J., & Oliver, C. (1991). Institutional linkages and organizational mortality. Administrative Science Quarterly, 36, 187-218.
6. Beattie, V., Brandt, R., & Fernley, S. (2001). Behind Closed Doors: What company audit is really about. New York: Palgrave.
7. Berkman, H., Bradbury, M.E., Hancock, P., & Innes, C. (1997). An analysis of disclosures of derivative financial instruments in Australia and New Zealand. Accounting Forum, 21(2), 207-228.
8. Bettman, J.R., & Weitz, B.A. (1983). Attributions in the board-room: Causal reasoning in corporate annual reports. Administrative Science Quarterly, 28(2), 165-184.
9. Board Games Methodology (2006, October 24). The Globe and Mail, p. B8.
10. Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants Handbook. Retrieved on January 25, 2006 from http://www.knotia.ca.
11. Choi, F.D.S. (1973) Financial disclosure in relation to the European capital market. The International Journal of Accounting. 9(1), 53-66.
12. Clapham, S.E., & Schwenk, C.R. (1991), Self-serving attributions, managerial cognition and company performance. Strategic Management Journal, 12, p. 219-29.
13. Cooke, T.E. (1991) An assessment of voluntary disclosure in the annual reports of Japanese corporations. The International Journal of Accounting, 26, 174-189.
14. Cowen, S.S., Ferrari, L., & Parker, L. (1987). The impact of corporate characteristics on social responsibility disclosure: A typology and frequency-based analysis. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 12(2), 111-122.
15. D'Aveni, R.A., & MacMillan, I.C. (1990). Crisis and the content of managerial communications: A study of the focus of attention of top managers in surviving and failing firms. Administrative Science Quarterly, 35(4), 634-658.
16. DeAngelo, L.E. (1981). Auditor size and audit quality. Journal of Accounting and Economics, 3, 183-199.
17. Deegan, C., Rankin, M., & Tobin, J. (2002). An examination of the corporate social and environmental disclosures of BHP from 1983-1997: A test of legitimacy theory. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 15(3), 312-32.
18. Deephouse, D.L., & Carter, S. (2005). An Examination of Differences between Organizational Legitimacy and Organizational Reputation. The Journal of Management Studies, 42(2), 329-341.
19. Deephouse, D.L. (1996). Does isomorphism legitimate? Academy of Management Journal, 39(4), 1024-1039.
20. DiMaggio, P.J., & Powell, W.W. (1983). The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields. American Sociological Review, 48, 147-160.
21. Dowling, J.B. (1983). The legitimation of legitimating institutions. Paper presented at the British Sociological Association, Cardiff, UK.
22. Dowling, J.B., & Pfeffer, J. (1975). Organizational legitimation. Pacific Sociological Review, 18(1), 122-136.
23. Dunne, T., Helliar, C., Power, D., Mallin, C., Ow-Yong, K., & Moir, L. (2002). The introduction of derivatives reporting in the UK: A content analysis of FRS 13 disclosures. University of Dundee: Discussion Paper Series.
24. Dutton, J.E., & Dukerich, J.M. (1991). Keeping an eye on the mirror: Image and identity in organizational adaptation. Academy of Management Journal, 34(3), 517-554.
25. Eisenhardt, K.M. (1989). Agency theory: An assessment and review. Academy of Management Review, 14, 57-74.
26. Elsbach, K.D. (1994). Managing organizational legitimacy in the California cattle industry. Administrative Science Quarterly, 39(1), 57-83.
27. Elsbach, K.D., & Sutton, R.I. (1992). Acquiring organizational legitimacy through illegitimate actions: A marriage of institutional and impression management theories. Academy of Management Journal, 35(4), 699-738.
28. Epstein, M.J., McEwen, R.A., & Spindle, R.M. (1994). Share-holder preferences concerning corporate ethical performance. Journal of Business Ethics, 13(6), 447-454.
29. Fairclough, N. (1995). Critical discourse analysis: the critical study of language. London: Longman.
30. Fama, E. (1980). Agency problems and the theory of the firm. Journal of Political Economy, 88, 288-307.
31. Fedders, J.M. (1998). Qualitative materiality: the birth, struggles, and demise of an unworkable standard. Catholic University Law Review, 48, 41-84.
32. Fiss, P.C., & Zajac, E.J. (2006). The symbolic management of stratgeic change: Sensegiving via framing and decoupling. Academy of Management Journal, 49(6), 1173-1193.
33. Foote, A. (2002). Communicate, say investors. Corporate Finance, 213(August), 19-21.
34. Frazier, K.B., Ingram, R.W., & Tennyson, B.M. (1984). A methodology for the analysis of narrative accounting disclosures, Journal of Accounting Research, 22(1), 318-331.
35. Friedman, S. (2005). Time to get naked. National Underwriter P & C., 109(21), p. 5.
36. Gioia, D.A., & Chittipeddi, K. (1991). Sensemaking and sense-giving in strategic change initiatives. Strategic Management Journal, 12, 433-448.
37. Gordon, L.A., Loeb, M.P., & Lucyshyn, W. (2006). The impact of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act on the corporate disclosures of information security activities. Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, 25(5), 503-517.
38. Guthrie, J., Petty, R., Yongvanich, K., & Ricceri, F. (2004). Using Content Analysis as a Research Method to Inquire into Intellectual Capital Reporting, Journal of Intellectual Capital, 5(2), 282-293.
39. Hannon, N. (2003). XBRL: EDGAR analyst changes everything. Strategic Finance, 84(70), 55-56.
40. Harrison, P.D., & Harrell, A. (1993). Impact of "adverse selection" on managers' project evaluation decisions, Academy of Management Journal, 36, 635-643.
41. Hosmer, L.T. (1994). Strategic planning as if ethics mattered, Strategic Management Journal, 15, 17-34.
42. Huss, H.F., & Jacobs, F.A. (1991). Risk containment: Exploring auditor decisions in the engagement process. Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory, 10(Fall), 16-32.
43. Jayne, V. (2003). Communication making the most of annual reports producing an annual report is both an obligation and an opportunity - but are companies making the most of a vital communication tool? Do shareholders and other stakeholders get the full story? New Zealand Management, Dec., 105-108.
44. Jensen, M.C. (2002). Value maximization, stakeholder theory, and the corporate objective function. Business Ethics Quarterly, 12(2), 235-256.
45. Jensen, M.C., & Meckling, W.H. (1976). Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure. Journal of Business, 52, 469-506.
46. Latham, C.K., & Jacobs, F.A. (2000). Monitoring and incentive factors influencing misleading disclosures. Journal of Managerial Issues, 12(2), 169-187.
47. Linsmeier, T.J., Thornton, D.B., Venkatachalam, M., & Welker, M. (2002). The effect of mandated market risk disclosures on trading volume sensitivity to interest rate, exchange rate, and commodity price movements. The Accounting Review, 77(2), 343-377.
48. Logsdon, J.M. (1991). Interests and interdependence in the formation of social problem solving collaborations, Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 27(1), 23-37.
49. Longstreth, B. (1983). SEC disclosure policy regarding management integrity. The Business Lawyer, 38, 1413-1428.
50. Loughran, T., McDonald, B., & Yun, H. (2007). A wolf in sheep's clothing" The use of ethics-related terms in 10-K Reports. Retrieved September 10, 2007, from http://www. nd.edu/~tloughra/WolfSheef.pdf
51. Lublin, J.S. (2003). Corporate Governance (A Special Report); The Naked Truth: To counter investor skepticism, some CEOs are making public what was once considered private. Wall Street Journal, Eastern Edition, October 27, p. R. 12.
52. Maguire, F. (2003). Louder calls for transparency. The Banker, 153(828), 77-83.
53. Meyer, J.W., & Rowan, B. (1977). Institutionalized organizations: Formal structure as myth and ceremony. American Journal of Sociology, 83, 340-363.
54. Meyer, J.W., & Scott, W.R. (1983). Organizational environments: Ritual and rationality. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
55. nd ed.) London: Sage Publications.
56. Miller, G.F. (2000). Staff accounting bulletin no. 99: Another ill-advised foray into the murky world of qualitative materiality. Northwestern University Law Review, 95, 361-406.
57. Oliver, C. (1991). Strategic responses to institutional processes. Academy of Management Review, 16, 145-179.
58. Ontario Securities Commission. Retrieved November 29, 2006, from http://www.osc.gov.on.ca/index_en.jsp
59. Orlitzky, M., & Benjamin, J.D. (2001). Corporate social performance and firm-risk: A meta-analytic review. Business & Society, 40(4), 369-396.
60. Parsons, T. (1960). Structure and process in modern societies. New York: Free Press.
61. Parum, E. (2005). Does disclosure on corporate governance lead to openness and transparency in how companies are managed? Corporate Governance, 13(5), 702-709.
62. Perrow, C. (1970). Organizational analysis: A sociological view. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
63. Pfeffer, J. (1981). Management as symbolic action: the creation and maintenance of organizational paradigms. Research in Organizational Behavior, 3, 1-52.
64. Pfeffer, J. (1992). Managing with power: Politics and influence in organizations. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
65. Preston, L., & Post, J. (1975). Private management and public policy. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
66. Picou, A., & Rubach, M.J. (2006). Does good governance matter to institutional investors? Evidence from the enactment of corporate governance guidelines. Journal of Business Ethics, 65, 55-67.
67. Roulstone, D.T. (1999). Effect of SEC financial reporting release No. 48 on derivative and market risk disclosures. Accounting Horizons, 13(4), 343-363.
68. Scott, R. (1995). Institutions and organizations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
69. SEC. (1999). SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin 99, Materiality in Financial Statements. Washington, D.C.: SEC.
70. Secord, P. (2003). Harmonization of accounting practices within NAFTA: History, environment assessment and prospects. University of Reading, Doctoral dissertation.
71. Selznick, P. (1957). TVA and the grassroots. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
72. Shafer, W.E. (2004). Qualitative financial statement disclosures: Legal and ethical considerations. Business Ethics Quarterly, 14(3), 433-451.
73. Shriffin, D. (1994). Approaches to discourse. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell Publishers.
74. Smith, M., & Taffler, R.J. (2000). The chairman's statement: A content analysis of discretionary narrative disclosure. Accounting, Auditing, and Accountability Journal, 13(5), 624-646.
75. Stahl, B.C. (2004). The responsible company of the future: reflective responsibility in business. Futures, 37, 117-131.
76. Starbuck, W.H., Greve, A., & Hedberg, B.T. (1978). Responding to crisis. Journal of Business Administration, 9, 111-137.
77. Staw, B.M., McKechnie, P.I., & Puffer, S.M. (1983). The justification of organizational performance. Administrative Science Quarterly, 28, 582-600.
78. Stigler, G.J. (1964). Public regulation of the securities markets. The Journal of Business, 37(2), 117-142.
79. Suchman, M. (1995). Managing legitimacy: Strategic and institutional approaches. Academy of Management Review, 20, 571-610.
80. Sutton, R., & Callahan, A. (1987). The stigma of bankruptcy. Academy of Management Journal, 30, 405-436.
81. Tapscott, D., & Ticoll, D. (2003). The Naked Corporation: How the Age of Transparency will Revolutionize Business, Toronto: Penguin Group.
82. Tolbert, P.S., & Zucker, L.G. (1983). Institutional sources of change in the formal structure of organizations: The diffusion of civil service reform, 1880-1935. Administrative Science Quarterly, 28(1), 22-39.
83. Toronto Stock Exchange, 2006. Company Manual, Original listing requirements. Retrieved February 22, 2007, from http://www.tsx.com/en/listings/ tsx_issuer_resources/tsx_ manual.html.
84. TSX Venture Exchange, 2006: Company Manual, Part 4.1 Policy 1-1-1 Interpretation. Retrieved February 21, 2007, from http://www.tsx.com/en/ listings/venture_issuer_ resources/finance_manual.html
85. Voluntary relations is a plus: pros of additional transparency outweigh cons, FABS says. Investor Relations Business, Feb. 19, 2001, p.1.
86. Westphal, J.D., & Zajac, E.D. (1998). The symbolic management of stockholders: Corporate governance reforms and shareholder reactions. Administrative Science Quarterly, 43(1), 127-153.
87. Westphal, J.D., & Zajac, E.D. (1994). Substance and symbolism in CEO's long-term incentive plans. Administrative Science Quarterly, 39(3), 367-390.
88. Whetten, D.A. (1980). Organizational decline: A neglected topic in organizational science. Academy of Management Review, 5, 577-588.
89. Wong, M.H.F. (2000). The association between SFAS No. 119 derivatives disclosures and the foreign exchange risk exposure of manufacturing firms. Journal of Accounting Research, 38(2), 387-417.
90. Wood, D., & Gray, B. (1991). Collaborative alliances: Moving from practice to theory, Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 27(1), 3-22.
91. Wysdom Inc. (2003). Audited annual financial statements. Retrieved November 29, 2006, from www.sedar.com
92. Zajac, E.J., & Westphal, J.D. (2004). The social construction of market value: Institutionalization and learning perspectives on stock market reactions. American Sociological Review, 69(3), 433-457.