The Management of Corporate Financial Disclosure: Opportunism, Ritualism, Policies, and Processes

Key Points

• To develop a comprehensive grounded theory and empirical framework explaining how corporate managers manage external financial disclosure decisions and processes.
• Field-based qualitative study utilizing semi-structured interviews with senior corporate officers, financial executives, and disclosure advisors across multiple public corporations.
• Inductive analysis of corporate reporting practices to identify key internal structures, external pressures, and behavioral drivers shaping disclosure strategies.
• Identifies a dual-structure framework showing corporate disclosure is driven by a stable disclosure position characterized by ritualism (routine compliance) and opportunism (strategic timing and framing).
• Demonstrates that internal structures, including established policies, specialized consultants, and formal review processes, mediate external regulatory and market pressures.