Finnair PLC and Abbott: Comparison of 2014 Annual Reports

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Table of Contents

Use of visuals to keep the attention
Differences in the letters from the CEOs
How they present heavy information
Understanding the writing
Places where negative information is spin
Understanding the reports and the reports are interesting
Reference

Use of visuals to keep the attention

In the Abbott report, the visuals in the background are pictures depicting different aspects of nutrition and healthy living in warm colors, with green color dominating the presentations. The use of pictures to depict different products in the report is very attractive and a reader would be drawn to the coloration theme immediately after the report is opened. In the Finnair PLC report, the visuals used in the report depict a transportation environment consisting of a picture of aircraft, passengers, and ideal comfort. These visuals are presented in warm colors with the sky blue hue dominating. A reader of the report would be immediately attracted by the balancing of colors and brief colorful wordings in the background (Grace, 2008).

Differences in the letters from the CEOs

The CEOs letter in the Abbott report is more comprehensive and longer than the CEOs letter in the Finnair PLC report. For instance, the key performance indicators are properly organized in Abbotts CEO letter in terms of the actions to be taken and future focus. The sentence structure in the CEOs letter in the Finnair PLC report is well balanced with the first section discussing focused performance followed by actual performance results and expectations in the next financial year. On the other hand, the CEOs letter in the Abbott financial statement does not dwell much on the performance of the company. Rather, it dwells on stakeholder expectations and the need for organization efficiency (Grace, 2008).

How they present heavy information

The two reports use a similar way of presenting heavy information on financial performance, especially the financial ratios. In the part of reporting financial performance for the year 2014, the two reports rely heavily on comprehensive financial ratio tables and graphs in the analysis of each performance indicator against the projections. Besides, there are pie charts that are uniformly spread in the part of describing the basic financial ratios such as profitability, liquidity, and internal rate of return among others. The tables are in the form of income statements. At the end of the presentation of heavy information in both reports, there are prose summaries in the financial reporting consisting of 20 elements that summarize the whole analysis.

Understanding the writing

In the Finnair PLC report, the writing is based on simple language with an explanation of technical terms in the appendix. For instance, each paragraph consists of uncomplicated sentence structures written in simple English language. In the Abbott report, the writings are a little bit complex since there are several medical terms that a reader has to encounter. However, the report is presented in simple English language besides very short sentence structures that easily explain the concepts.

Places where negative information is spin

In the Abbott report, the part reporting financial losses is justified by heavy investment in the expansion of the company in the year 2013. In the Finnair PLC report, the part of competitors interfering with the market is given a positive spin by the presentation of a strategy for competitive advantage through product differentiation and further market expansion.

Understanding the reports and the reports are interesting

The Finnair report is easier to understanding than the Abbott report since it uses the simple language and reporting format unlike the complex reporting format in the Abbott report. The Abbott report is more interesting since there is a clever balance between content and visual presentation. In my opinion, the Abbott report is more convincing since the presentation balances the aspects of content and visualization.

Reference

Grace, J. (2008). Working knowledge: Composition and the teaching of professional writing. New York, NY: ProQuest.

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