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How do we make you look good? A social network study of upstream organizational impression management and the rhetorical construction of IPO firm images
Author(s) -
Lamertz Kai,
Martens Martin L.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
canadian journal of administrative sciences / revue canadienne des sciences de l'administration
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.347
H-Index - 48
eISSN - 1936-4490
pISSN - 0825-0383
DOI - 10.1002/cjas.193
Subject(s) - prospectus , impression management , initial public offering , rhetorical question , corporate governance , business , welfare economics , public relations , management , sociology , psychology , political science , social psychology , economics , accounting , art , finance , literature
We present an upstream model of impression management, focusing on how institutional actors may influence the rhetorical content of images IPO firms present to potential investors. Focusing on impression management to minimize poor and maximize good perceptions, we examined the risk, strategy, and governance images presented in prospectuses of 167 firms who issued an IPO between 1996 and 2000. Our results show that dependence on professional firms and IPO firm network prominence help shape the rhetorical construction of these images and suggest that impression management can be understood in terms of Goffman's team‐based effort to control a social interaction situation. Copyright © 2011 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.