MA, PGCE (Vienna University), MBA, PhD (Bangor University)

Location: Room 1.08, Hen Goleg

Telephone: 01248 38 2120

Email: d.m.merkl-davies@bangor.ac.uk

Google Scholar Author Profile

Undergraduate Teaching

  • ASB 1121 Principles of Management Accounting
  • ASB 3211 Advanced Accounting Theory and Practice

 

Postgraduate Teaching

  • ASB / ABJ 4418 Accounting Theory
  • ASB / ABJ 4907 Accounting Dissertation
  • ASB 4932 Foundation in Social Research

Supervision

Annika Beelitz: Organisational Legitimacy of the Nuclear Industry following the Fukushima Disaster (2010-2016)

Danial Hemmings: Corporate Equity Issues: The Symbolic Management of Investor Sentiment Prior to Seasoned Equity Offerings (2012-2016)

Emma Hughes: Frames of reference in contemporary labour disputes: The case of London Underground (2014-2018)

Sara Closs-Davies: A conceptual framework of tax credits (2012 - 2019)

Salma Ashour: Corporate Tax Avoidance: Media Coverage and Corporate Tax Reporting in the UK (2017-2021)

My work focuses on impression management in corporate communication. Impression management entails the construction of a public impression by organisations with the intention to appeal to their audiences, including shareholders, stakeholders, the general public, and the media. The majority of research focuses on attempts to influence perceptions by means of financial statements (earnings management). However, the language in corporate narrative documents (e.g., chairmen’s statements, press releases, corporate social responsibility reports) constitutes a more subtle and powerful way of persuading audiences to accept a specific version of reality. My work is interdisciplinary and encompasses the development of conceptual and theoretical frameworks of impression management and the development and application of text analysis methodologies (primarily based on rhetoric, discourse analysis and Critical Discourse Analysis) for the analysis of corporate narratives. For this purpose, I draw on my background in accounting (MBA in Banking and Finance, PhD in Accounting) and literature and linguistics (MA in German and English). There is a growing interest in corporate narrative reporting, evidenced by the publication of the Routledge Companion to Accounting Communication and the Special Issue of Accounting Forum on Analysing the Quality, Meaning and Accountability of Organizational Reporting and Communication, to which I have both contributed.

I am an associate editor of Accounting and Business Research (ABR, 3*) and the British Accounting Review (BAR, 3*). I am also an editorial board member of the Accounting Auditing and Accountability Journal (AAAJ, 3*). My work is published in highly regarded journals. I won the Mary Parker Follett Award for the best paper published in the Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal for 2011. Reflecting the interdisciplinary orientation of the journal, the award is named in memory of Mary Parker Follett, a pioneer in the field of management and accountability literature, who was international and interdisciplinary in her focus. Another of my papers published in the Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journalwas selected by the journal’s editorial team as a Highly Commended paper in 2015. In 2017, I was the joint winner of the Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal award for outstanding reviewer in the 2016 year of the journal.

Corporate narrative reporting and impression management: Corporate reporting of COVID-19

Corporate narrative reporting and impression management: Tax strategy reporting

Corporate narrative reporting and impression management: CSR reporting

2023

  • PublishedAccounting Communication
    Brennan, N., Hemmings, D. & Merkl-Davies, D., 26 May 2023, Oxford Bibliographies.
    Research output: Contribution to specialist publication › Article

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2017

  • Information for Better Markets Conference: Corporate reporting: is it heading in the right direction?

    What information should companies disclose? How should they measure their profits and their capital? How should their reporting be regulated? As the laws, regulations and standards governing financial reporting become ever more complex, the ICAEW Financial Reporting Faculty aims to helps members keep up to date and to understand the implications of new requirements. The faculty also seeks to inform and influence regulators and standard-setters on financial reporting questions. The faculty’s work on these public policy issues is informed by its Information for Better Markets thought leadership programme.

    18 Dec 2017 – 19 Dec 2017

    Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Invited talk (Speaker)
  • 9th Colloquium on Qualitative Research Methods in Business and Accounting

    This colloquium is a two day intensive research development forum normally delivered each year by Professor Parker and selected visiting research professors invited from across Australia and overseas. It is multidisciplinary and attracts scholars and doctoral students from across and beyond the various business disciplines in all states of Australia and New Zealand. It covers a wide variety of qualitative research methodologies and includes both formal presentations from professorial leaders as well as interactive forums and exercises engaging all participants. The research methodologies covered continually change across each year’s Colloquium and include the most leading edge developments in the tradition.

    26 Jun 2017 – 27 Jun 2017

    Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Invited talk (Speaker)
  • Research seminar at Essex Business School

    3 May 2017

    Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Invited talk (Speaker)
  • Research seminar at Loughborough School of Business & Economics

    17 Mar 2017

    Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Invited talk (Speaker)

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