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Lookup NU author(s): Professor David Campbell
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The phenomenon of voluntary disclosure in annual reports has attracted considerable academic interest over the last few decades. This paper examines the literature on mission statements, exploring their content and purpose. The annual reports of the UK FTSE 100 companies were analysed according to whether they disclosed a concise statement of mission or purpose, and what specifically was disclosed within them. The theoretical framework of voluntary disclosure was examined and agency/signalling theory was selected as being an appropriate explicator of mission statement disclosure. The study examined disclosures to those this paper defines as 'more-dependent' stakeholders (namely employees, community and environment) as well as 'less-dependent' economic stakeholders (where the direction of dependence in the converse: shareholders, customers, business partners). The study found that 67 of the 100 companies disclosed what this paper defines as a statement of mission. Out of the 13 items and stakeholders identified for disclosure, 48% of companies addressed at least half and less than 10% of companies disclosed fewer than 4 items. Evidence from this study suggests that mission statements may be used to signal companies' attitudes to a disparate range of constituencies, many of which are external, with investors and customers comprising the most frequently-mentioned groups.
Author(s): Campbell DJ; Shrives P; Bohmbach-Saager H
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Business and Society Review
Year: 2001
Volume: 106
Issue: 1
Pages: 65-87
ISSN (print): 0045-3609
ISSN (electronic): 1467-8594
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, Inc.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/0045-3609.00102
DOI: 10.1111/0045-3609.00102
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