...Tobacco is one of the world’s largest consumer goods industries despite pressuring environmental forces that try to diminish its market share. It has a long withstanding global history as a profitable business model rooted on a leisure activity. The use of tobacco first started to spread in the late 15th century after a crewman aboard the Christopher Columbus voyage noticed Cuban natives igniting and inhaling smoke from dried tobacco leaves. News returned to Spain, spreading the smoking experience, which lead to the production of the world’s first cigar. By the 1600’s the use of Tobacco reached much of Europe, Asia, Africa and North America. Although paper cigarettes were developed around the same time as cigars, the first push for factory production came in 1881 with the issuance of a patent for a cigarette rolling machine that could produce 120,000 units daily. By 1944, there were roughly 300 billion cigarettes produced annually.[i] However, the industry would take a turn in 1964 when the Surgeon General of the United States reported the dangers and health risks of cigarette smoking. The tobacco industry has been combating consumer health awareness, governmental restrictions and taxes, and anti-smoking lobbying despite increased profitability ever since its introduction to the global market. Estimates place the current industry revenue at $465BN and gross profit at $280.3BN for 2010. After taxes the estimated net profit will account for approximately 8.5% of...
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...The tobacco industry continues to abuse the ethics of corporate social responsibility (CSR) to change their public image, whilst also attempting to achieve their goals. This is evident in the ways the industry manipulates data and targets youth smokers. This could be characterised by the analysis of the transparency, dignity and citizenship principles of the Global Business Standards Codex (GBSC). The manipulation of data by the tobacco industry expresses the abuse of the transparency principle, demonstrating their involvement in deception. The tobacco industry has utilised its economic power, political influence, marketing and manipulation of the media to discredit scientific research and, lobby governments to propagate the sale and distribution of its deadly product (Friedman 2009). According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) the tobacco industry has utilised their power to undermine tobacco control through inappropriate relationships with staff, to discourage initiatives, and using front groups for indirect influence. In a historic judgement, United States (US) District Judge Gladys Kessler, ordered tobacco makers to buy newspaper advertisements detailing adverse health effects in smoking. Justice Kessler in her judgement blamed the tobacco companies of suppressing research, destroying documents, distorting the truth about low-tar and light cigarettes to encourage smokers to switch, instead of quitting, and abused the legal system in order to make profit with disregard...
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...The tobacco industry in the mid 1900’s to early 2000’s is significantly more than just a business. For civilians in the southern United States, the tobacco industry was a lifestyle, which was centered around the means of selling the tobacco -- auctions. Auctions are comprised of four main groups, the warehousemen who own the warehouse where the auction takes place, the farmers who grow the tobacco and bring it to the warehouse to have it sold, the buyers who want to buy the tobacco and sell it for profit, and finally, the auctioneers who run the auction. These four groups comprise the auction sector of the tobacco industry and interact in unapparent web of complex and important relationships. Auctioneers are the most important player in the...
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...stakeholders are affected by the U.S. tobacco industry's production and marketing of cigarettes? What stakeholder interests are impacted? How does the tobacco industry prioritize these stakeholders? Do you agree with the tobacco industry's prioritization? Why or why not? According to Wikipedia, a stakeholder is defined as a person, group, organization, member or system who affects or can be affected by an organization’s actions. There are several stakeholders that have been affected by the U.S. tobacco industry’s production and marketing of cigarettes. The retail tobacco companies are one such group that is undoubtedly affected by the developments affecting the production and marketing of cigarettes. Companies like Phillip Morris USA, Inc., RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company and British American Tobacco Limited who are interesting in profit maximization and return on investment felt that they were unfairly targeted by the imposition of restricted marketing activities and efforts to reduce the consumption of cigarettes. The tobacco companies believe that the law is excessive and will result in an increase in the cost of modifying packages and inversely, a reduction in net profit. The state (government) is also affected by the issues surrounding the tobacco industry. The government is faced with a slight dilemma because they are the regulator of the industry and the product is a legal product which is known to be harmful to both smokers and non-smokers. The industry also contributes significant...
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...The Tobacco Industry Benefits the Society In Hang Zhou, a ban on smoking has been put in force since March 1st, 2010. Some supporters even suggest forbidding producing cigarettes. However, others find significance and benefits of the tobacco industry. People who support to restrict the industry use hazards of smoking as a powerful argument. Much research indicates that most of serious health problems are associated with smoking, such as coronary heart disease and lung cancer. An estimated four-hundred-forty-thousand Americans die of smoking-related diseases every year (Cynthia, 2004)[1]. Supporters believe that forbidding tobacco industry can prevent and tackle the health problem from the source. Although the evidence proves the harm of smoking, it is not enough to sentence the tobacco industry to death. In fact, tobacco industry may provide a win-win solution. Using new technology, it can find a balance between health and the pleasure of smoking. The industry minimizes the damage by decreasing the nicotine content. At the same time, smokers will not feel nervous or offended. Because of the industry, the market becomes more regular. The industry, like a manager, leads the market to be healthier. For example, it uses advertisements of the cigarette boxes to warn people. The tobacco industry also brings economic benefit. High tax of cigarette contributes to the social benefits. People may have more money to improve public service, to optimize industrial structure...
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...ignorant of the negative health effects caused by smoking, but this awareness doesn't seem to be doing much to hurt the industry – in a paper published by the World Health Organization, over 1.2 billion people smoke worldwide. That's only slightly less than the population of China. However, many remain unaware of the consequences the tobacco industry has on the environment. In fact, the entire life cycle of a cigarette is damaging to the ecosystem, beginning in the fields where tobacco is grown, during cigarette production and consumption, and after the filter is disposed of. Everyone over the age of eighteen, at least in the US, has the right to choose whether or not to smoke, but I believe that to take steps to fix this environmental mess we've put ourselves in, first we must be informed of the effect we have. Tobacco is one of the most environmentally irresponsible crops to grow. According to The Smoke Ring: The Politics of Tobacco by Peter Taylor, tobacco is a weak plant that requires a great deal of pesticides. Tobacco also causes severe nutrient depletion in the soil, necessitating regular chemical fertilizing. Besides heavily polluting the ground, these cultivation practices have led to chronic health problems in farmworkers, including Green Tobacco Sickness, a type of nicotine poisoning. Workers absorb nicotine through their hands when weeding and picking tobacco, essentially causing them to overdose and sometimes require emergency medical treatment. Keep in mind that child...
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...Prosecution 1. Mike Moore, Attorney General Mississippi 2. Bob Butterworth, Attorney General Florida 3. Dickie Scruggs, Plaintiff Lawyer 4. Scott Harshbarger, Attorney General Massachusetts Defense 1. Steven Goldstone, CEO RJR Nabiasco 2. Geoffrey Bible, CEO Philip Morris 3. Martin Broughton, Head of B. A. T. (parent company of Brown and Williamson) The Case The negotiation took place between the five largest tobacco companies of the United States, namely, Philip Morris, R. J. Reynolds, Brown and Williamson, U. S. Tobacco and Lorillard, and the Attorneys General of several states of America, where the later accused the former of burdening the taxpayer with costs of tobacco-related illnesses through the Medicaid Program, and for breaking the law by selling their product to children under the age of 18. The prosecution wished for the defense to: 1. Accept the responsibility of the illnesses and deaths caused due to the use of their product. 2. Pay a heavy compensation for the Medicaid costs of tobacco-related illnesses, in product liability. 3. Fund massive antismoking campaigns aimed particularly at teens. 4. Be liable to pay penalties if the targets of reduction in the underage usage of their product were not achieved. 5. Be regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in terms of manufacture, marketing and distribution...
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...With the harmful side-effects that accompany tobacco use, it can be surprising that the tobacco industry manages to maintain tobacco as a legal product. To the American economy, tobacco has been a staple commodity since the birth of our nation, and has continued to thrive as a multi-billion-dollar industry – despite several setbacks. During the 1990’s and the 2000’s, the tobacco industry faced several lawsuits as well as increased government regulation, as many believed that companies should not be allowed to profit off of a product that kills people. The discussion over the ethics of the tobacco industry a long list of pros and cons. Currently, the tobacco industry is a legal substance, and fosters hundreds of thousands of jobs. In...
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...British American Tobacco in this part of the world can be traced back to 1910. Beginning the journey as Imperial Tobacco 100 years ago, the Company set up its first sales depot at Armanitola in Dhaka. After the partition of India in 1947, our company was established in 1949. It then became Bangladesh Tobacco Company Limited in 1972 immediately after Bangladesh’s independence. In 1998, the Company changed its name and identity to British American Tobacco Bangladesh Company Ltd. Our shareholders We were one of the first companies listed on Dhaka and Chittagong stock exchanges. The British American Tobacco Group holds 65.91% of the shares in British American Tobacco Bangladesh. Other shareholders are the Investment Corporation of Bangladesh, Shadharan Bima Corporation, Bangladesh Shilpa Rin Shangstha, Government of People’s Republic of Bangladesh, Sena Kalyan Shangstha and other members of the public. Our contributions British American Tobacco Bangladesh is one of the largest multinational companies in Bangladesh. Consequently, we are also the largest private sector tax payer in Bangladesh. In 2010, we contributed Tk 46.27 billion in the form of Supplementary Duty, Value Added Tax (VAT) and other taxes to the national exchequer. Over time, we have successfully established ourselves as the company contributing to economic, social and human resource development. We continue to move forward to deliver higher promises. Our beliefs At British American Tobacco Bangladesh, we strive...
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...Introduction: Recently, there has been a new trend in the tobacco industry in Australian society due to the increased prices of cigarettes, mainly for the reason that “with more than 3.1 million people still smoking today, tobacco still being the leading cause of death by a wide margin… “ (Scollo & Winstanley, p.xiii, 2008). Therefore, this report will illustrate the market structure of Australia tobacco industry, and then make analysis about the price chances on the demand and supplies for cigarettes. The third and the fourth part of the report are about the impacts of this change and some government policies for the tobacco industry, respectively. The market structure: Table 1: Tobacco companies operating in Australia: summary table for 2006-07 | BATA | PMA | ITA | Total revenue ($m) | 1476.7 | 623.3 | 386.5 | Net profit after tax ($m) | 410.7 | 172.6 | 2.7 | Shareholders’ funds ($m) | 632.6 | 403.4 | 25.1 | Total assets ($m) | 2962.1 | 627.5 | 176.7 | Number of employees | >110019 | 691 | 299* | Approximate market share in Australia (%) | 4619 | 34* | 1820 | * Figure for 2006 ** Figure assumed on the basis of market share reported by BATA and ITA, and assuming that a small percentage of the Australian market is accounted for by imported brands. Source: The BRW 1000, BAT website, BATA website, Imperial Tobacco Group Website. The tobacco industry in Australia has been considered as a subset of the global industry and its market is defined to be mature, per capital...
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...Examining the Application Business Ethics and Laws in the Tobacco Industry Abstract “Ethics is not something exterior to the economy…rather, ethics is and interior principle of the economy itself, which cannot function if it does not take account of the human values of solidarity and reciprocal responsibility.” (Pope Benedict XVI) I agree with Pope Benedict. Ethics deals with values that relate to the nature of human conduct and values associated with that conduct. In today’s business environment it is critical to understand the relationship between ethics and business law as ethical behavior and corporate responsibility are more important than ever. It has been argued that good ethics within an organization equate to good business, although good ethics are not required to be successful in business. This examination will put a spotlight on the role of ethics in the business environment, with a particular look at the application of ethics in the tobacco industry. Keywords: ethics, business ethics, natural law, tobacco Examining the Application Business Ethics and Laws in the Tobacco Industry “Business transactions are completed through a combination on values of the parties and the laws that reflect those values and the importance of ones word in business.” (Twomey & Jennings, 2014, p. 33) Business ethics examine an organizations ethical principles and potential moral and ethical dilemmas. In a general sense, business ethics is the application of moral and...
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...Topic: CONSUMERS’ PERCEPTION ON PRODUCT QUALITY AND BRAND DILUTION ON VARIOUS SEGMENTS OF TOBACCO INDUSTRY IN BANGLADESH - AN EMPIRICAL STUDY TO IDENTIFY THE SCOPE OF IMPROVEMENT FOR BATB Abstract: Now a day’s quality of the products is the primary concern for the customers. Customers value their money and always prefer the quality product. Tobacco industry is a potential industry and its growth is also related with national GDP. About one percent of our GDP is used in consumption of tobacco product that’s why it becomes a huge market for the competitors of tobacco industry. As the cigarette is both competitive and controversial product so marketing of this product is very difficult. There are many tobacco companies in Bangladesh. Among them British American Tobacco Bangladesh (BATB) is a pioneer and leading multinational cigarette manufacturer followed by local manufacturer Dhaka tobacco. This paper tried to find out the relation with quality and brand dilution and brand dilution occurs broadly in FMCG industry. Brand dilution is the weakening of a brand though its overuse. This frequently happens as a result of ill-judged brand extension. Price cutting that increases sales volumes but moves a brand down-market can be similarly damage a brand. Brand dilution is an ever present risk for companies that rely on a strong brand for high margins. A company that owns a strong brand obviously wants to leverage it to sell as much as possible, but the very strategies used to purse...
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...Richmond came into being during the 17th century, during the time of colonization. As colonizers invaded the land, they began to build up an economy around the trading and exchanging of cash crops, one being tobacco. From that point on, tobacco began to influence and shape Richmond and what later came to be known as Church Hill. Throughout the 17th, 18th, and 19th, the tobacco industry was the main source of income and after the Great Depression, the importance of the industry, as a whole, only increased. From then to present day, the tobacco industry has been able to remain a prominent source of income and continues to influence companies around Richmond and play a large role in the current problems present in Church Hill. With the presence...
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...this case cigarette manufacturer Altria Group (MO) had no choice. The Food & Drug Administration, which as of last year regulates tobacco products, banned the use of the words "mild," "light," or "low tar" on packages effective on June 22. The agency says such cigarettes are just as harmful as regular ones. Before Altria made the switch, it used the old packs to tell smokers that while the look of Marlboro Lights would change, the "cigarette stays the same." That got the FDA's attention. The agency argues many consumers will continue to assume Marlboro Golds are safer than regular smokes and has ordered Altria to hand over market research showing why it used the tactic. "What we're concerned about is that it is potentially perpetuating this untruth that these products are somehow less harmful," says Dr. Lawrence R. Deyton, the agency's top tobacco regulator. Altria spokesman Bill Phelps says the company will cooperate with the agency. Pharmaceutical companies frequently skirmish with the FDA, and Big Tobacco is widely expected to do the same. Altria was the only cigarette maker to support FDA oversight, says Phelps, because it wanted consistent rules of the game for the entire tobacco industry. Still, this is the second time Altria has clashed with federal regulators in recent months. In March it challenged the membership of an FDA tobacco science panel studying the health risks of menthol cigarettes, which account for more than a quarter of U.S. cigarette shipments. If the...
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...The Altria Group, Inc. Often referred to as “the house the Marlboro Man built”, The Altria Group, Inc. is the world’s largest tobacco company. Altria operates its cigarette business through the companies known as Phillip Morris USA and Philip Morris International, both of which sell Marlboro – the world’s largest selling cigarette brand since 1972 (“The Altria Group,” n.d.). This company controls about half of the US tobacco market. This is also the parent company of Kraft Foods. I chose to do a paper on this particular company because of the practices of lies and deceit that it has followed for many years. Some of the behaviors that I find socially and ethically irresponsible are that the company continually down plays the addictiveness and severe risk to health that their product can cause. Over the years the company has been under scrutiny for many different things including the practice of employing under age children to hand out cigarettes, falsifying legal and medical documents, and the paying off of political and legal leaders to accomplish the things that it wants done. This corporation has also been listed in the Wall Street Journal as Number 1 in a list of the top 10 worst places for a woman to work because of the fact that there are no women in any upper management positions and they employ nearly 75,000 people in the Philip Morris US plant alone (“Unethical Companies,” n.d.). At the annual shareholders meeting in 2011, Philip Morris International celebrated...
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