The corporate communication process between listed companies and financial analysts

Purpose The purpose of the paper is to analyse the views of management teams regarding different aspects related to the corporate communication process with financial analysts. The focus is the following aspects: incentive for communication; sources of information; and frequency and initiator of communication. Design/methodology/approach The data is based on a comprehensive questionnaire survey addressed to investor‐relation managers (IRMs) at the largest companies listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. Findings The study confirms an increasing frequency of corporate communication, a short‐term orientation, more demand for direct contacts, and embracing of new communication tools. The findings reveal that quite a few challenges lie ahead in shaping the efficient corporate communication process of tomorrow. The most critical relate to the risk of opportunity costs due to lost management opportunities caused by increased demand from stock‐market actors for communication time with management teams and to perceived risks with, for example, increased accessibility, information leakage and misinterpretations due to the introduction of new electronic communication tools. Practical implications Given the delicate nature of the above challenges, they need to be taken on promptly by management teams, policy makers and financial market regulators if the corporate communication process is to function efficiently and facilitate decreased information asymmetry and uphold an efficient allocation of resources on the stock market. Originality/value The study is motivated by the changed conditions for corporate communication (e.g. increased globalisation, new electronic ways to communicate, importance of non‐financial drivers), paired with a lack of recent studies. Furthermore, herein not only one aspect is being analysed but several, and from a management‐team perspective, which is a perspective often neglected for the sophisticated‐user perspective.