Örgüt Düzeyinde Uygulanan İzlenim Yönetimi Stratejileri: BİST 100 Firmaları Üzerine Nitel ve Nicel Bir Çalışma

Abstract

The advancement in communication and information technology nowadays is changing the way organizations carry out their activities. The greater availability and access to information and its widespread through various communication channels increase organizations’ motivation to survive in the competitive environment. Moreover, extraordinary circumstances such as economic crises, disasters, and scandals also motivate organizations to protect their corporate reputation. For this reason, similar to individuals, organizations also engage in various impression management strategies to establish and maintain a positive impression in their business environment. Corporate disclosures are considered one of the most probably used tools for organizational impression management. Among these corporate disclosures, chairman letters found in firms’ annual reports have been studied as an impression management tool for many years. In light of previous studies, this study aims to examine the organizational impression management strategies within the scope of the chairman letters and reveal the determinative variables on these implemented strategies. For this purpose, the chairman letters of companies that possess regularly traded stocks in Borsa İstanbul (BIST) and take place in the top one hundred according to the market and trading volume were obtained. In the qualitative analysis section of the study, the chairman letters shared between the years 2009 and 2019 were examined using content analysis, and the positive word ratios of these letters were calculated. Afterward, in the quantitative analysis section of the study, a model was developed by collecting data on variables that are most frequently associated with the organizational impression management strategies in the literature. In this context, four different models with four dependent variables were built using logistic regression analysis, and the model that best explains organizational impression management strategies was determined. The result of this study showed a significant relationship between the characteristics of the company, the structure of the board of directors, the text, and the positive word ratios in the chairman letters. This finding indicates that companies in Turkey engage in impression management strategies through their corporate disclosures, which they prepare to present to their stakeholders. This study is believed to be of vital importance and will contribute to the literature in terms of addressing the organizational impression management strategies, having a large sample, and using both qualitative and quantitative methods. Moreover, it is expected that this study will constitute an example of Turkey since no other studies offer a model examining the chairman letters within the scope of the organizational impression management strategies.