Unethical Research
Edward Sivick
RES/331
June 17, 2013
Professor Tracy Sipma

Introduction Business research is an important tool in business. The process includes planning, analyzing, and distributing relevant data, information, and insights to individuals making decisions. Unfortunately, some companies take business research to the next level and participate in unethical research. The following information about unethical research, injured parties, unethical behavior, and how to avoid unethical behavior are based on the article Cigarettes with “Defective Filters Marketed for 40 Years: What Philip Morris Never Told Smokers” (Pauly, 2002).
Unethical Research According to the article Phillip Morris a major supplier of cigarettes world-wide has been selling filtered cigarettes for over 40 years with some major issues. While the cigarettes are made in the factory some of the micro filaments in the filter break making fragments. When the consumer goes to smoke the cigarette these fragments release when the individual is puffing. The problem with this is cellulose acetate fragments and carbon particles are released; when this occurs the filter is defective. Phillip Morris was aware of this problem naming it “fall-out” but did not disclose this information to the public and alert consumers that the product may be releasing harmful chemicals that are not normally released. Upon further review of Phillip Morris documents 61 documents containing information regarding fall-out were reviewed and the earliest reference to filter fall-out came from 1957 (Pauly, p. 51, 2002). “A 1999 report that details the revisions of the “fall-out” protocol of the Phillip Morris, Inc., and reports the results of tests that measured the discharge of cellulose acetate fibers and silica gel from beta cigarettes with a new type of filter” (Pauly, p. 51, 2002). Results of the tests confirm that cigarettes of all types tested release the same fall-out. “No publications were found in the scientific literature of the “fall-out” studies” (Pauly, p. 51, 2002).
Injured Parties An injured party is someone who suffers from an unfortunate or adverse circumstance and the release of the extra chemicals during the filter fall-out while smoking is just that. In this particular situation the injured parties are the consumers. Phillip Morris and some other cigarette manufacturers were aware of this issue and chose not to release the information to smokers. One party that may not be considered injured at first are those involved in the research. Since the names of those who were involved can be accessed his or her professional name may be damaged in the research community for being involved in the cover-up of important information.
Unethical Behavior
The results of the “fall-out” studies are thought to have been withheld as confidential to Phillip Morris, Inc.” (Pauly, p. 51, 2002). In this case not only were results of studies skewed they were not released to the public. Phillip Morris also destroyed documents that were named “Projects”, “Projects – Administrative”, “Diaries” and other documents initialed by Nancy Ryan but no other documents besides these were ever destroyed by her prior to or after this destruction which makes it appear as a targeted destruction(Pauly, p. 55, 2002).. The destruction of documents stating the problems with the filters also is an unethical practice.

Avoiding Unethical Behavior The actions of Phillip Morris can be called unethical for multiple reasons and in the future they should avoid this practice. In order to avoid the unethical behavior the findings of any and all research completed should have been released for review by the public. If the company does not agree with the results they may choose to test the filters again using an outside research company. Completing research within the company using individuals who are directly paid by the company is not always the best option either since researchers may feel pressure to agree with the opinions of the company or change results. This was not true in this scenario but it did make it easier to bury the results and destroy them. Companies that interact with the public should make all product tests open to the public to maintain transparency.
Conclusion
As a business companies should make an effort to test products and services to help them grow and expand. They should also practice full disclosure of any testing to make sure that the public is aware of all the tests done and what the results are. If a company is unsure if the results are right a second test can be done to confirm or disprove original results but hiding tests to make products appear safer or better is unethical. Proper representation of facts is a critical part of maintaining an ethical organization backed by informed and satisfied customers.

Reference
Pauly J., Mepani, A., Lesses, J., Cummings, K., & Streck, J. (2002, Mar.). Cigarettes with defective filters marketed for 40 Years: What Philip Morris never told smokers. Tobacco Control, Vol. 11, pp. 51-61. Retrieved June 16, 2013, from ProQuest database.