Communicating the Financial Position
Instructions:

We have learned that effectiveness in communication is essential in every aspect of the business world. This assignment will focus on effectively communicating the financial position of the company. Please complete exercise 19.6 at the end of chapter 19.

Locate two annual reports on the Internet. A good source is Report Watch . Compare the style of the two reports. Here are some questions to get you started:

1. How do they use visuals to keep attention?

2. What differences do you see in the letters from the CEOs?

3. How do they present number-heavy information? Do they rely mainly on tables and graphs? Do they give prose summaries?

4. Is the writing easy to understand?

5. Do you see places where negative information is given a positive spin?

6. Is one report easier to understand than the other? Why?

7. Is one report more interesting than the other? Why?

8. Is one report more convincing than the other? Why?