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and the understanding that ‘trust’ in the capital
markets is essential to continued investment
and growth I believe some steps will be
taken to improve the quality of financial
reporting. This offers a unique opportunity to
the corporate communicators to utilize their
talents: informing their stockholders as to what
their companies do and how they make
money, as well as the opportunities open to
those who invest in those companies. Perhaps
too it is time to support the change in the law
that creates corporations. A possible addition
to the phrase ‘the directors and officers of a
corporation shall exercise their powers and
discharge their duties with a view to the interests
of the corporation and of the shareholders’
to include ‘but not to the expense of the
environment, human rights, the public safety,
the communities in which the corporation
operates or the dignity of its employees’
(Hinkley, 2002). While such a step is doubtful,
certainly the need to ensure that corporate
reporting does not undermine the very foundation
of corporate investment upon which
the market place relies is essential.
The attempt to control the accounting
industry by making it responsible for its
actions has led to an increasing number of
lawsuits over the past several years, and has
also led to a significant increase in political
donations from major accounting firms. The
links between government enforcing regulations
and the amount of monies being spent
on the political scene is disturbing. The tendency
to move towards influencing legislation
to limit exposure from suits brought due to the
failure to provide accurate accounting by the
very companies being paid to provide this
accounting is cause for concern in itself.
From what I have found to date there has
not been much study performed in this area.
It is most complex and almost confessional in
nature. It may be that additional emphasis
needs to be placed on this topic during
courses. But in reality the corporation needs
to reaffirm the importance of honesty and
propriety in its dealings with its employees
and the public at the highest executive levels
to truly make a change in current practice.
The role of the corporate communicator
remains challenging. There will continue to be
a requirement to ‘soften’ or ‘control’ the effect
of ‘bad’ news whether financial or otherwise.
There will continue to be pressure to create
the perception that all is fine even when it is
not. There is a strong probability that the
accounting profession will have some degree
of regulation that, if enforced, will require
more appropriate disclosure of the facts. But
I would be most surprised to see any such
regulation providing any direction for the
corporate communication professional.
REFERENCES
Gibson, D. (2002) ‘Object of devotion’, Star Ledger,
17 February.
Hinkley, R. (2002) ‘How corporate law inhibits
ethics’, Business Ethics, January–February, 4–5.
Marchand, R. (1998) Creating the Corporate Soul,
Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Morris, D. (2001) ‘Business ethics assessment criteria’,
Business Ethics Quarterly, 11(4), 623–50.
US News (2001) US News Annual Guide for Graduate
Schools, New York: US News.
© 2004 Sandra Oliver for editorial matter and selection;
individual chapters, the contributors