Ethical Financial Storytelling in Executive Communication: Ethics, Trust, and Transparency

In an era of heightened scrutiny around corporate ethics and transparency, this study investigates how Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) in the entertainment industry engage in ethical financial storytelling to build and maintain trust with stakeholders. Using a constructivist grounded theory and narrative inquiry approach, the research draws on qualitative data from twenty in-depth interviews to uncover nine core themes that shape ethical storytelling practices. These include transparency as a strategic imperative, balancing optimism with realism, consistency and ownership, audience-centric storytelling, ethical standards in forecasting and accruals, preparedness, formality, materiality, and confidentiality. The findings reveal that ethical storytelling is not merely a function of regulatory compliance but a proactive, deliberate, and stakeholder-oriented strategy embedded in organizational leadership. The study underscores the significance of ethics in financial narrative development, providing a pragmatic framework for CFOs and finance professionals aiming to traverse intricate reporting landscapes while upholding integrity. The report ends with suggestions for improving leadership and a request for more research in different industries and with new technologies.