• Assess the theories and practice of strategic financial and investor relations
• Analyze effective communication techniques in building and maintaining relationships with key stakeholders
• Discuss the concepts (e.g. disclosure, financial numbers) and relevant activities (roadshows, press releases) of financial and investor relations
• Evaluate the role and function of regulatory bodies and personnel within the framework of financial and investor relations

This interdisciplinary course provides an opportunity for students to understand the role and implications of financial and investor communication from a theoretical, management and market perspective. The course also aims to provide the knowledge, understanding and skills required to effectively communicate a story through crucial numbers (i.e. stock price, earnings per share, etc.) to key stakeholders, including the investment community, business media and shareholders. Other related topics include the importance of public disclosure, managing issues (e.g. mergers and acquisitions, and crisis situations), and the role and responsibilities of the chief communications officer and investor relations officer.

Preliminary assignment: Video case analysis.

Class 1: Introducing perspectives from communication, management and market theories.
Class 2: Connecting the art of communication with storytelling, strategy, investment and stock price.
Class 3: Linking communication, numbers and the corporate story.
Class 4: Company disclosure within the dynamics of communication.
Class 5: The financial bazaar: The stock market.
Class 6: Stakeholder relations: The investment community.

Feedback activity: Following session 5 there will be an individual case study assignment which forms the basis of the feedback activity in session 6.

Class 7: Stakeholder relations: The business media.
Class 8: Stakeholder relations: The shareholder. 
Class 9: Issues management:  Merger and acquisition, initial public offer and crisis engagement.
Class 10: Job specification: Roles of the Chief Communications Officer or Investor Relations Officer.
Class 11: Applying theory, narratives and practice to the corporate   
story.

Preliminary Assignment: To help students get maximum value from ISUP courses, instructors provide a reading or a small number of readings or video clips to be read or viewed before the start of classes with a related task scheduled for class 1 in order to 'jump-start' the learning process.

Course timetable is available on https://www.cbs.dk/uddannelse/international-summer-university-programme-isup/courses-and-exams.

We reserve the right to cancel the course if we do not get enough applications. This will be communicated on https://www.cbs.dk/uddannelse/international-summer-university-programme-isup/courses-and-exams end February 2018 at the latest.

Mandatory readings:

(Discussion on some of the articles below will purely be based on the concepts, key findings, lessons learned and future trends)

1. Gackowski, T. (2017) The idea of investor relations in the modern economy: a communication approach, Economic Research-Ekonomska Istraživanja, 30:1, 1-13.

2. Jameson, D. (2000). Telling the investment story: A narrative analysis of shareholder reports. The Journal of Business Communication 37 (1): 7-38.

3. Heldenbergh, A. & Scoubeau, C. (2005). The role of financial communication in public share issues: An analysis of the Belgian experience, Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Vol. 10 Issue: 3, pp.189-200.

4. Sabelfeld, S. 2011. Disclosure on investor relations websites. Unpublished thesis in Business Administration. Gothenburg: Göteborgs Universitet.

5. Hoffmann, C & Fieseler, C. (2012). Investor relations beyond financials: Non‐financial factors and capital market image building, Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Vol. 17 Issue: 2, pp.138-155.

6. Uysal, N. (2014). The expanded role of investor relations: socially responsible investing, shareholder activism, and organizational legitimacy. International Journal of Strategic Communication, 8, 215–30. 

7. Rosenkranz, J. & Pollach, I. (2016). The framing and reframing of corporate financial results: How corporate earnings releases become news, Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Vol. 21 Issue: 1, pp.103-119.

8. Davis, S. & Lukomnik, J. (2015, August). Strategies for director-investor communication. Complianceweek, 50-51.

9. Thompson, L. (2009, November). Digital media versus shareholder communication. Complianceweek, 60-61, 74.

10. Heldenbergh, A., Scoubeau, C., Arnone, L., & Croquet, M. (2006). The financial communication during a period of transition: The case of banks and insurance companies in Belgium, Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Vol. 11 Issue: 2, pp.174-188

11. Hoffmann, A., Tutic, A., & Wies, S. (2011). The role of educational diversity in investor relations", Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Vol. 16 Issue: 4, pp.311-327.

12. Ramassa, P., & Di Fabio, C. (2016). Social media for investor relations: a literature review and future directions. The International Journal of Digital Accounting Research, 16.

Additional relevant readings:

Laskin A. V. (2017). The handbook of financial communication and investor relations. New Jersey, USA: John Wiley & Sons.

Westbrook, I (2014). Strategic financial and investor communication: The stock price story. London, United Kingdom: Routledge.