1

Unit II Essay

Nguyen Khoi Nguyen

Columbia Southern University

Business Ethics

Professor: Dr. Clay Owens

January 10, 2021

 2

Introduction

There are many products in the markets which are being wrongly advertised and cause

negative effects to consumers. Tobacco products are one of them. In this essay, we will discuss

the ethical issues of tobacco companies and their products.

Ethical dilemma

Tobacco products vary from cigarettes, electronic cigarettes, cigars, bidis, snuff, and

chewing tobacco. Tobacco products are well known to the world. Most people who smoke

started smoking in their teenage years. According to Martin J. Jarvis [ CITATION Jar04 \l 1033 ],

smoking a cigarette for a beginner is a symbolic act of rebellion. This action is to prove

adulthood as well. Children who smoke tend to come from backgrounds that favor smoking such

as smoking parents, neighborhood, or peers. Smokers who come to cigarettes also have issues in

their social life such as low self-esteem, impaired psychological wellbeing, or poor achievers at

school. Mostly 80% of cigarette smokers regret that they ever started, but as a result of their

addiction, they could not stop smoking and will continue to smoke.

Tobacco products are believed unhealthy to society for a reason. Tobacco use is

considered the leading preventable cause of death in the U.S. with about 1 in 5 deaths each year [

CITATION Ame20 \l 1033 ]. The data also show that people who smoke die about 10 years earlier

than people who have never smoked. Cigarette smoking has a connection to lung cancer, heart

disease, and emphysema. They also have been connected to cancers of the mouth and throat, and

mothers who smoke during pregnancy tend to have babies of lower birth weight. Secondhand

smokers have been associated with sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

In 2018, tobacco companies spent $9.06 billion in marketing for cigarettes and smokeless

tobacco in the United States. This equals about $25 million each day, or more than $1 million
 3

every hour. Leading tobacco companies such as British American Tobacco, Philip Morris

International, Imperial Brands took net sales of $83 billion in the worldwide market in 2019

[ CITATION Sta21 \l 1033 ]. Tobacco companies have been arguing for a long time that their

marketing efforts do not increase the overall demand for tobacco products and create no impact

on the initiation of use among young people. They believe their marketing campaigns are mainly

focusing on competing with other companies for market share. However, the advertising of

tobacco products has increased the number of smoking people in proportion to the increase of

world population as well as net sales of tobacco companies.

Perception of tobacco in different cultures

There are approximately 1 billion smokers in the world with 80% of those currently

living in low- and middle-income countries. According to a report by Agustin

Ciapponi[ CITATION Agu14 \l 1033 ], the finding from his research was a robust association

between current smoking and lower-income levels. This finding is applied to most geographical

regions and both genders. Under the same reason to Ciapponi, Brendon Stubbs gave an article to

conclude that perceived stress is significantly associated with higher smoking rates across low-

and middle-income countries [ CITATION Bre17 \l 1033 ]. According to World Health Organization

[ CITATION Wor19 \l 1033 ], South East Asia still has the highest rates of tobacco use with data of

more than 45% of people aged from 15 and over, whilst data of European and Western Pacific

regions decline to 25% by 2025. For 15 countries of America regions, the reduction of using

tobacco is on track to 30% by 2030. The data show that many countries have implemented

effective tobacco control policies that have a positive effect on reducing tobacco use. For the

U.S., in 2019, the President signed legislation to raise the minimum age to 21 for the sale of
 4

tobacco products. The new legislation which is commonly referred to as Tobacco 21 came into

effect immediately to protect young U.S. citizens from harmful products.

Handling the ethical implications

For tobacco companies, handling the ethical implications is one of the obstacles to face to

protect their sales and concurrently being accepted by society. The smartest measure with the

main purpose of being more friendly to society is to be honest about their products. Tobacco

companies should add the real images of possible diseases from smoking to each of their

products to warn consumers of their choices. Social campaigns with sport events are good

channels to raise better health quality to people as well as tobacco consumers. Funding to

researching programs to find cures to diseases relating to smoking is also encouraged to get a

better look from the communities. These are several measures that could help tobacco companies

to level up their image in the communities and keep them on track of business ethics.

Leadership within an organization of producing unhealthy products

To maintain an ethical culture in an organization of unhealthy products is not an easy

objective for every leader. Code of conducts and code of ethics should be established to guide

staff of do’s and don’ts. The marketing team is highly responsible for advertising and promotion

of unhealthy products, and therefore, moral candidates should be chosen carefully to place

appropriate staff into positions. Truth is all we have to dictate to consumers for their best

knowledge of what they are going to consume. The advertising should not make deception to

viewers and the rules must be carefully applied. For example, the sale of tobacco products is

prohibited to under 21 ages people should be strictly followed in the States. Finally, the top

leaders should be consistent to the ethical regulations of company to ensure every projects,

campaigns and staff to follow.

 5

Conclusion about the relationship between organization and business ethics

As running a company, keeping company profited and constantly grown is a hard thing

under the pressure of ethical issues. Running a company that is producing unhealthy products

such as tobacco products is a harder objective. The business objective with a green bottom line is

a must but it must concur with the corporate social responsibilities. For a tobacco company,

Research and Development Department takes the pioneer position to find a new better product

that could replace or bring less harmful substances to consumers than current tobacco products

such as cigarettes. A substitute could be a remedy for this industry and could change the

prejudice to tobacco industry.

Conclusion

In conclusion, keeping the balance between business objectives and business ethics is not

an easy mission to achieve, however, top leaders should make their moves and maintain the

discipline within an organization for everybody to follow. Business ethics could only be

achieved by creating and performing from the top-down.

 6

References

American Cancer Society. (2020, 10 28). Retrieved from https://www.cancer.org/healthy/stay-

away-from-tobacco/health-risks-of-tobacco/health-risks-of-smoking-tobacco.html
Ciapponi, A. (2014). Systematic review of the link between tobacco and poverty. Buenos Aires,
Argentina: IECS-Institute for Clinical Effectiveness and Health Policy.
Jarvis, M. J. (2004). Why people smoke.
Organization, W. H. (2019). WHO launches new report on global tobacco use trends. Retrieved
from https://www.who.int/news/item/19-12-2019-who-launches-new-report-on-global-
tobacco-use-trends
Statista.com. (2021). Retrieved from Leading tobacco companies worldwide in 2019, based on
net sales: https://www.statista.com/statistics/259204/leading-10-tobacco-companies-
worldwide-based-on-net-sales/
Stubbs, B. (2017). Perceived stress and smoking across 41 countries: A global perspective across
Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas.