Corporate Social Responsibility of Tobacco Companies Paper Example

Introduction

Cigarette Smoking and general tobacco use have been proliferated in many countries around the world. The social, psychological and physical harm associated with cigarettes cannot be underestimated. According to West (2017), more than 10 million cigarette packs are smoked every year. The revenue gained by the manufacturers and distributors is immense. The harmful effects on the environment have constantly been addressed in many articles. Despite the concerns raised, many cigarette and tobacco processing companies have done very little to address the concern of tobacco and its compounds in the atmospheric air all human beings inhale. It is critical to approach the issue from a broader perspective. Discouraging cigarette smoking should be a global effort. As an organization, the management should play a role to sensitize society on the dangers of tobacco. This essay presents a managerial case for funding to run an anti-smoking campaign.

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The Need to Sensitize on Tobacco

It is necessary to commit funds to sensitize on tobacco smoking. Peacock, Leung, Larney, Colledge, Hickman, Rehm & Ali (2018) assert that at least 10 percent of the world population actively engages in cigarette smoking. A further 30% is exposed to cigarette fumes and other risk factors associated with tobacco consumption. It is safe to say that more than 50% of the world population has inhaled tobacco smoke at some point in their lives, either actively or passively. Discouraging smokers is an efficient way to ensure that fewer cigarettes get to the public domain and that less carbon dioxide is emitted from these cigarettes. While it may not be possible to attempt a global effort to flush out tobacco processing and sale, it is possible to get the number of smokers lower every year. Every organization has either been affiliated or associated with a cancer patient at some point. A good number of carcinogens can be traced to the consumption and sale of cigarette products indiscriminately around the world.

Corporate Social Responsibility

The Board of Directors is the final decision committee in any organization. Running a consistent campaign to discourage cigarette smoking requires consistent support from all functions in the organization. The departments in the company such as human resource, marketing, accounting, and information technology need to come on board and develop a task force to collaborate on a smoking campaign. It is only possible to do so with proper authorization from the board of directors. The campaign would be a welcome move in corporate circles and would mean a lot of publicity for the company as well. The board should back efforts to promote communication between these departments on the best strategy to employ is developing a strong message that would appeal to the multitudes of people (West, 2017). Tobacco effects have caused suffering in many homes and loss of lives to people as well. It is time for the organization to advance efforts in fighting the scourge.

Conclusion

The appeal to the board of directors is from both corporate and social perspectives. The company needs to master all its humanity and lend a voice in the fight against tobacco consumption. Cigarette smoking is the most common application of tobacco drugs (Peacock, et al., 2018). Fighting cigarette use by discouraging the consumption at the workplace can be a good start. Regardless, it is not practical to simply say 'no' to the issue, it may be important to consider other channels such as media and corporate functions to address the issue. Getting the full backing of the board will make the social effort to fight tobacco use a success.

References

Peacock, A., Leung, J., Larney, S., Colledge, S., Hickman, M., Rehm, J., & Ali, R. (2018). Global Statistics on Alcohol, Tobacco and Illicit Drug Use: 2017 status report. Addiction, 113(10), 1905-1926. Retrieved from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/add.14234

West, R. (2017). Tobacco Smoking: Health Impact, Prevalence, Correlates, and Interventions. Psychology & health, 32(8), 1018-1036. Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08870446.2017.1325890