Steven F Goldstone, Chairman and CEO of RJR Nabisco (one of the largest US cigarette manufacturers) said in a 1998 magazine interview, “I have no moral view of this business…I few it as a legal business. You shouldn’t be drawing a moral judgment about a business our country says is perfectly legal and is taxed like crazy by it.” Think about his comment in terms of ethical awareness. What might change if you think of your business in terms of ethics and not just legal terms? What about the class action lawsuits that were settled for billions and set aside for future claims even while cigarettes are still sold avidly? What about applying these principles to the legalization and sale of marijuana in several US States?
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Should a person be permitted to place a value on human life? Should a company? Should the government? If not, how are decisions to be made to compensate individuals for family members lost?
Answer preview
Class action suits are a testament to the fact that unethical businesses are undesirable because they harm society. Creating ethical companies means that corporate entities are less likely to get into conflict with the public. For instance, players in the tobacco industry have had to pay billions in settlement of class suits. Some companies even had to set aside funds in anticipation of lawsuits. Ethical considerations would remove these worrisome trends by ensuring that corporate entities take on more significant responsibility to guard the public against the harmful effects of their products. The move would be essential in promoting ethical consumerism (Hindley & Font, 2017). This factor is vital since a bulk of class action suits against tobacco companies concerned their concealment of tobacco’s effects.
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