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4 Ethical Discussion on Sustainability and CSR
In the text “Taboos in CSR Discourse” Kallio states, ”Thus, we may not be able to define exactly what CSR is, but we do know what it is not, and so do the CEOs and other business advocates.”(Kallio, 2007, p.168) and Blanco & Souto state, “All concepts involved in CSR have the same particularity: everybody knows the concepts, everybody can give appropriate definitions but the question is that these definitions can be understood with different meanings.” (Blanco & Souto, 2009, p.157). Hence, the ethical issues that surround CSR is open to discussion and may take on different angles, given that CSR is, as Kallio and Blanco & Souto mention, not specifically defined or understood. Hence, this part of the thesis deals specifically with the ethics of sustainability as a concept under CSR. Crooks notes, “The ’pro-CSR’ discourse has recently ’won the battle of ideas’.”(Crooks 2005, in Kallio, 2007, p.165) which leads to Kallio’s notion, ”…it is hardly wise for a CEO to publicly question the firm’s social responsibility, rather to underline the ethically high principles that steer corporate actions.” (Kallio, 2007, pp.165-166). Thus, an understanding of the ethical principles that drives business is here suggested to have a more important role, than CSR in itself, to the company. However, if a business is able to conduct sustainability with a proper ethical value, one might argue that if such an approach is adopted it could steer the idea of ethical corporate sustainability in the right direction. This argument is now further discussed.
Laufer argues that existing ethical programs read: sustainability programs are perceived as most effective when there is already a dominant ethical culture and/or credible ethical leadership style within the corporation. Hence, Laufer supports the notion that for companies who wish to engage in CSR and sustainability programs, there must exist a coherent culture that promotes ethical business (Laufer, 2003). Therefore, it seems reasonable to question the ethical perspective of BAT’s engagement in CSR and sustainability reporting. BAT’s products are unquestionably of an unethical nature. BAT produces the only lethal consumer product which is sold legally to the consumers. Even though it is not recognised by all consumers, the fact that more than 70.000 articles have been published on tobacco consumption it is now a known fact that nicotine is physiologically addictive and that this combination of tobacco consumption and nicotine addictiveness is a major threat to the public health. Moreover, the fact that tobacco companies cannot live up to one of the simplest rules of CSR, primum non nocere, meaning, first do no harm. It seems fair to question how they as such can achieve a status as a good corporate citizenship (Palazzo & Richter, 2005).
However, what seems to be one of the major influences on the existing negativity of tobacco companies is linked to their previous behaviour as an industry, with a particular focus on the past representatives of the tobacco industry. The previous unethical behaviour of the tobacco industry and its representatives are of major concern to the representatives of today’s tobacco companies. Yach et al. present a statement by Michael Prideaux, the director of corporate affairs in BAT, in which he says, “We are very serious about demonstrating responsible behaviour in an industry seen as controversial.” (Yach et al., 2001, p.196). Hence, the fact that BAT recognises that their industry is of a controversial nature speaks in their favour, but at the same time it also underlines that they do know that when engaging in CSR and sustainability they must be careful due to the very nature, which surrounds their corporate identity and brand. Moreover, Palazzo and Richter have found that the tobacco industry for decades rejected the negative effects of smoking, including passive smoking, and they used substantial efforts to reject scientific claims through misleading campaigns and political lobbying. The reason being that they were trying to protect themselves against lawsuits brought forward by affected consumers simply because they recognised that such statements could lead to a major crisis within the tobacco industry. Interestingly, the industry joined forces to depower WHO and the tobacco industry deliberately destabilised WHO’s position, in order to prevent their tobacco control efforts (Palazzo & Richter, 2005). This is critical information, and it explains the reason why BAT, today, are having problems getting involved with their most critical stakeholders e.g. WHO. However, it also provides an understanding of why it is legitimate to question the tobacco industry’s ethical behaviour.
As mentioned above, Laufer argued that if a company is to successfully implement ethical CSR and sustainability programs, there should already be an existing ethical culture or ethical leadership style within the organisation. However, this seems hardly the case in the tobacco industry, based on Palazzo and Richters’ research of the tobacco industry (Palazzo & Richter, 2005).
Taking the problematic ethical issues of the tobacco industry into consideration, how is BAT then trying to turn that negative perception around? The answer may appear simple but it is given by BAT above as they recognise their dark ages. They are trying to focus on the present and future by conducting CSR that reaches out to their stakeholders. By doing so, BAT is asking its stakeholders to judge them on their present action within the field of CSR instead of focusing on the previous rhetorical strategy. However, the previous actions and rhetoric used in the ‘dark ages’ of the tobacco industry has now become known to the public and for that the tobacco industry is suffering today. Interestingly enough, the tobacco industry and BAT use this as a legitimisation for their current engagement in CSR and claim that by doing so, it is their chance to turn that general negativity and scepticism that surrounds the industry, around. Moreover, BAT uses the CSR concept as a way of approving and validating the development of new products. This notion will be discussed in the following chapter.
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