Degrees of Ethics: E-Cigarettes, Essay Example

While the ethics of the major cigarette companies are questionable at best, the move by them to market e-cigarettes does not worsen the situation.  When the concepts of fairness and honesty, and business relations, are applied, ethics are served.  The process of shifting into the e-cigarette arena reveals that corporate ethics are met by the tobacco companies, because technology alone reduces the harm of smoking and the public is informed of this reality.

The electronic cigarette is not as harmful as the tobacco version, so the companies are acting in fair and honest ways: “E-cigarettes have fewer toxins than regular cigarettes and none of the tar” (Won’t Tell).  There can be no question that the “big three” tobacco companies have long made immense profits from selling products known to be harmful to health, but the new product significantly alters this reality.  The companies employ celebrities to promote e-cigarettes (Dive Into), but this in itself is not removed from fairness or honesty. It is only accepted promotion, and the commercials also relate the facts about the products. If the e-cigarettes are still not good for health, this also does not lessen the importance of the companies as dealing with the public honestly; the facts are presented and the consumer may choose.  A business is ethically obligated, for example, to reveal any information about the harm a product may cause (BACW), and the companies, as required by law, do not conceal how the e-cigarette uses nicotine.  Anti-smoking campaigns have made it necessary that content and risk be made known on cigarettes and, if the FDA has yet to regulate the sale of e-cigarettes (Dive Into), it is inevitable that the same standards of disclosure will apply. The companies are then acting honestly, and meeting a solid ethical need.  There are as well other reasons why e-cigarettes are essentially enhancing the ethics of the industry.  Aside from the reality that the products are less dangerous to health than tobacco cigarettes, they appear to be having an impact in reducing all smoking: “A Gallup survey of former smokers in July found that 3% credited electronic cigarettes with helping them quit” (Won’t Tell).  The consumer as stakeholder then gains the advantage of the option of using a product that will potentially free them from smoking altogether, even as their right to choose is maintained. That these benefits derive from the technology, again, is not the point; what matters is that the companies, in turning to the e-cigarette, are by no means worsening their ethics, and are in fact enhancing them. Those who oppose cigarettes in any form will likely disagree, but bias cannot be allowed to assess the actual ethical conduct of any business.

Then, when business relations are considered, the ethical conduct is further supported.  It is widely acknowledged today businesses have a responsibility to serve the general interests of the society (BACW). At the same time, there is a wide range of interests within this responsibility, including the economic.  The stakeholders involved in the tobacco industry also include the many thousands of people employed by the companies, as well as those who rely on merchandising the cigarettes for income. If tobacco is big business, it is “big” for the society in the way that any other major industry is, and as supporting the economy. This validates the ethics of the companies, then, because the new markets help to maintain the industry as a whole. It may also be said that consumerism, an element of corporate citizenship and the obligation to address the needs and desires of the consumer, are also upheld by the turning to e-cigarettes. This very much goes to business relations as being properly conducted.  No matter the harm caused by any cigarette, and as noted, there remains the factor of the consumer’s right to choose.  Smoking is banned from most public spaces, but this is apart from the individual freedom to enjoy a product that is then not harming others. This being the case, and with the e-cigarette as being less offensive and unhealthy to others, the companies are serving the interests of consumerism by expanding the smoker’s freedom to both choose to smoke and do so in less restricted ways.  In a very real sense, the e-cigarette technology, in lessening the harmful impacts of smoking, then enhances the ethical standing of those providing it.

As the above demonstrates, it is irrational to hold the the e-cigarette market represents an ethical failure on the parts of the tobacco companies. On the contrary, the technology alone translates to improved ethics in the industry. Fairness, honesty, and business relations are attended to, as the economy is served and the consumer has an expanded choice.

Works Cited

Esterl, Mike. “Big Tobacco Is About to Dive into E-cigarettes.” The Wall Street Journal. 29 May 2013.  Web.  4 Feb. 2015. <http://blogs.wsj.com/corporate-intelligence/2013/05/29/big-tobacco-is-about-to-dive-into-e-cigarettes/>

Ferrell, O.C., Hirt, Geoffrey A., & Ferrell, Linda.  Business: A Changing World, 8th Ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010.  Print.

Wieczner, Jen. “10 Things E-cigarettes Won’t Tell You.” The Wall Street Journal. 10 Nov. 2013. Web. 4 Feb. 2015. <http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304448204579184052293918312>