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Company: Volvo Best Feature: Clarity of Info. Weakest Feature: Content Depth |
Grade Key: |
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Graphic & Visual Elements - Grade: *** |
This Swedish company maximized its annual report's visuals with top-notch charts and pictures. We were impressed with the amount of graphics integrated into this report and the range of chart-related info.: product life cycles, sales broken down according to market areas and comparisons with other specialist car manufacturers, such as Audi, Mercedes Benz and BMW. We also thought it was clever that the report looked like a car manual. |
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Thematic Consistency & Clarity - Grade: ** |
Even though your company may have a conservative image that anchors you to traditional branding approaches (avoiding predictions or branching into various industries), that doesn't mean you can't find a way of having a forward-thinking annual report. Here's a company that seems so stuck in time! With the exception of a URL, there was little else that would tempt investors trying to build portfolios of companies who not only have a past, but a future. |
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Usefulness as a Communication Tool - Grade: ** |
Snooze. This report lacked depth and breadth (if I'm a shareholder in the U.S., do I want to have to convert kronors into dollars to find out whether Volvo deserves my money?). Also, members of the press tracking the automotive industry need company perspective, not obligatory rhetoric. For instance, don't mention that "virgorous efforts" are being made in new markets in Asia and Latin America and then not offer insight into how that's being done. |
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Integration of Editorial & Financial - Grade: ** |
Unless a reader is so entrenched in the "international automotive and transport vehicle group" markets, there's little here that satisfies when it comes to getting the big picture - in other words, what piece of the global-market puzzle does Volvo have? We know that Volvo builds dependable cars but there is no sense of who's running this company and what its business philosophies are. |
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Corporate Candor - Grade: * |
We realize that the company may not view this report as a communications vehicle but that's no excuse for not having some perspective from its chairman. Other than a section on its "core values," this report came across as staid and dry. And where are its principals and those on its payroll? |
Annual Report Review
