Analysis of Amazon's 2017 Annual Report Presentation

This presentation analyzes the annual report of Amazon for the year 2017, focusing on its structure, key components, and effectiveness as a form of business communication. The presentation begins with a self-introduction and an overview of the chosen annual report. It then delves into the various aspects of an annual report, including the cover letter from the CEO, the table of contents, and the financial statements. The analysis highlights how these elements contribute to informing stakeholders about the company's performance and financial standing. The presentation also provides practical recommendations for enhancing the clarity and impact of annual reports, emphasizing the importance of focused, well-written content and effective use of imagery. The conclusion summarizes the key findings, suggesting areas for improvement in Amazon's presentation and content to make it more informative and accessible to the public. The presentation references several academic sources to support its analysis and recommendations.

Annual
Reports
Name of the Student:
Student ID:

Self-
Introducti
on
 I am ____
 I am doing _____ (education background)
 In this presentation I am going to demonstrate
my skills and understanding of making
presentation on a particular type of exemplary
business presentation.
 The chosen type of exemplary business
presentation is that of annual reports
 The annual report that I choose for this
assignment is that of Amazon for the year
ending 2017.
 In this presentation I shall describe about the
different aspects of annual report
 I shall also highlight some examples and
provide some practical recommendations on
the same.

What are
annual
Reports ?
 They are the most important means of
communication that I sent to the various
stakeholders of a company or organisation
(Lim & Greenwood, 2017).
 The stakeholders can be both internal and
external
 With the help of annual reports, the
shareholders come to know the financial
condition of the company and how it is
performing overall .

Aspects of
the
Amazon
2017 annu
al reports
 The report comes with a cover letter, wherein the
CEO of the company addresses the shareholders.
 The letter to the shareholder suggests the target
audience of the annual report which is followed
by a Table of Contents
 The annual report primarily contain the financial
statements of the company and includes notes to
it wherein the various expenses and gains are
explained.
 With the help of these statements the reader will
understand the position of the company.
 It also contained general information about the
company which provided a better perspective of
the organization to the public.

Aspects of
the annual
report
 Here, the CEO of the company addresses the
shareholders primarily.
 It suggests the target audience of the annual
report (Johnston & Petacchhi, 2017)
 The personalized message of the CEO or
founder of the company to the shareholders
is done to strengthen the bond between the
organization and its stakeholders.
Cover Letter

Aspects of
the annual
report
 The Table of Content shows the page number
where the various contents could be found
 It makes it easier if one wants to skip certain
pages and directly go to a particular content.
Table of Content

Aspects of
the annual
report
 Final Statements have revealed
the notes to it wherein the
various expenses and gains of
the company are explained.
 With the help of these notes a
lay man will understand the
various technical and legal
terms (Lo, Ramos & Rogo,
2017).
 It elaborates the expenses and
income of the company and the
balance sheet provides a
consolidated financial condition
of the organization
Financial
Statements

Practical
Recomme
ndations
 It is to note that Annual reports showcase the
annual performance of the company to the
stakeholders
 It should therefore be focused, dynamic and
must be well-written
 Amazon must target ever business action,
including the communication as well with a
clear result keeping in mind
 Also, it should use the right imagery (Leung,
Parker & Courtis, 2015)
 With the same, a simple description of the
business position should also be showcased in
the annual report and it is all that is called for.

An Example

Conclusion
 The annual report of Amazon 2017 has
contained all the general information about
the company which provided a better
perspective of the organization to the public.
 It provided a summary of the financial data,
which recapitulated the key points of the
financial statements
 It needs to work more on its presentation
and content to make it more informative and
simple.

References:
 Johnston, R., & Petacchi, R. (2017). Regulatory oversight of financial
reporting: Securities and Exchange Commission comment
letters. Contemporary Accounting Research, 34(2), 1128-1155.
 Kenton, W. (2019). Annual Reports: What You Need to Know.
Retrieved from
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/annualreport.asp
 Leung, S., Parker, L., & Courtis, J. (2015). Impression management
through minimal narrative disclosure in annual reports. The British
accounting review, 47(3), 275-289.
 Lim, J. S., & Greenwood, C. A. (2017). Communicating corporate
social responsibility (CSR): Stakeholder responsiveness and
engagement strategy to achieve CSR goals. Public Relations
Review, 43(4), 768-776.
 Lo, K., Ramos, F., & Rogo, R. (2017). Earnings management and
annual report readability. Journal of Accounting and
Economics, 63(1), 1-25.
 Tesco plc. (2019). [online] Available at:
https://www.tescoplc.com/files/pdf/reports/tesco_annual_report_201
1.pdfhttps://
www.tescoplc.com/files/pdf/reports/tesco_annual_report_2011.pdf
[Accessed 4 May 2019].

Thank you
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