Smoking can be considered as one of the key cultural elements of the 20th century. Although the current knowledge evidently defines the given activity as highly detrimental to one’s health, it is important that the lack of such data in the past was the main driver of the issue. The entire segments of the population were targeted through aggressive marketing campaigns in order to facilitate the broader use by including women and wider age groups.
I believe that the prevalence of smoking in the previous century is one of the biggest human-made health crises. For example, it is stated that: “tobacco smoking killed an estimated 100 million over the 20th century – most in high-income countries” (Ritchie & Roser, 2019, para. 5). In other words, the effect was devastating, where the damage led to worldwide health and well-being decline. One should also note that the given number can be significantly higher because smoking can also be an indirect risk factor for an array of metabolic disorders.
Tobacco companies exhibited one of the inappropriate behaviors in terms of business ethics, which was manifested in the suppression of truthful academic knowledge and deliberate deception of masses. Such an approach can be considered as a focus on short-term profitability with no consideration for the long-term sustainability of the business (Byars & Stanberry, 2018). In my own experience, both my uncle and grandfather passed away directly due to smoking because they were regular smokers who died from lung cancer. They would tell me that during their younger years, they would firmly believe that there was no harm in smoking, and my grandfather even thought that it was healthy. They would tell me that they were in shock when they learned about ramifications.
It is important to note that there a number of key takeaways. Business ethics can be described as a long-term objective-oriented behavioral change (Varma, 2019). It also does not necessarily contradict profitability because true profit comes from sustainability and a long-term approach towards business. The lack of business ethics will inevitably backfire, which means that only short-term gains can be acquired. In addition, I would like to comment on the fact that the problem is still persistent even today, where one out of five people uses tobacco (Ritchie & Roser, 2019). In addition, the negative side effects of the habit emerge later in life, which means that the surge of the cases is only beginning to appear. Therefore, imposing a strong set of business ethics is critical in order to prevent mass-scale health crises and other population-wide disasters. For example, special attention should be paid to companies producing sugary drinks, such as Coca-Cola or Pepsi.
In conclusion, tobacco companies in the 20th century exhibited one of the most unethical behaviors by poisoning entire segments of the population. At first, one can attribute such action to ignorance of the smoking ramifications, but their active suppression of truth revealed that they do not value business ethics. Any form of sustainable business can be possible through long-term strategies, which means that ethical measures are in tune with profitability.
References
Byars, S. M., & Stanberry, K. (2018). Business ethics. XanEdu Publishing.
Ritchie, H., & Roser, M. (2019). Smoking.Our World in Data. Web.
Varma, S. (2019). Why learn business ethics? – Students’ conceptions of the use and exchange value of applied business ethics.Asian Journal of Business Ethics, 8(1), 107-125. Web.
Appendix
Byars, S. M., & Stanberry, K. (2018). Business ethics. XanEdu Publishing.
The book was selected, because it provides comprehensive overview of business ethics, and the key factor is its novelty.
Ritchie, H., & Roser, M. (2019). Smoking. Our World in Data. Web.
The website article was chosen due to its statistical data, and the factors revolve around the sheer size of information.
Varma, S. (2019). Why learn business ethics? – Students’ conceptions of the use and exchange value of applied business ethics. Asian Journal of Business Ethics, 8(1), 107-125. Web.
The journal article was selected, because it assesses the concept of business ethics in depth, and the factor is its specificity.