Analyzing Ethical Issues: Big Business Tobacco's Asian Expansion

This case study examines the ethical implications of Big Business Tobacco's (BBT) decision to expand into Asian markets, particularly China, with a new cigarette product. The core issue revolves around whether BBT should include health warnings on cigarette packs destined for Asian markets, even if not legally required. The analysis applies various ethical decision-making models, including the PLUS model, and ethical principles like respect for autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice. It identifies key stakeholders and explores the ethical conflict between prioritizing shareholder profits versus the health and well-being of the broader community. The case study also discusses the public relations manager's role in advocating for ethical practices and considering the long-term consequences of the company's decisions, highlighting the importance of balancing business objectives with ethical responsibilities.

FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING

INTRODUCTION
• The main purpose of this assessment is to analyze the business decision which is made by Big
Business Tobacco (BBT) which is considered to be on of the big companies which is mainly
operating in Australia
• The management of the company is of the opinion that there is lot of potential for business in
certain areas of China and some other developing countries in Asia. The management of Big
Business Tobacco (BBT) wants to launch that will be sold in packs of 40.
• The assessment deals with various ethical models which are applicable on a business and also
analyzes the decision which is taken by the management in terms of ethical standards and
regulations which are applicable.

OVERVIEW OF ETHICAL DECISION-
MAKING MODELS
• Business Ethics can be described the rules and regulations which are followed by individuals in
business environment while carrying out the course of operations of the business.
• Ethical decision-making models are closely followed by management of companies for
ensuring that a level of ethics is maintained in the business.

GUIDELINES TO BE
FOLLOWED FOR ETHICAL
DECISION MAKING• Take time to Define the Problem: In this case, the problem is regarding whether to
issue a statutory warning on the packets of cigarettes even if the law does not make in
mandatory. The marketing head is against the idea of issuing a statutory warning along with
packs of cigarettes and the managing director of the company also supports such a notion.
• Consult others and seek resources: The management of the company needs to
consult the co-workers and other executive directors to ensure that the decision which is taken is
ethical in nature
• Think about the Lasting Effect: The decision which is to be taken by the
management should be taken considering the long-term impacts of the decision which is to be
taken by the management (Kolk 2016).

GUIDELINES TO BE FOLLOWED
FOR ETHICAL DECISION MAKING
(CONTINUED)
• Consider any regulations: The management of the company also needs to consider
the regulations which are place in the country where the operation is to be carried out.
• Taking Decisions: The final step is to appropriately take decisions relating to conflict
which has arisen and the same needs to be taken considering all aspect of the business.

PLUS ETHICAL DECISION-MAKING
MODEL
The letters which is included in the PLUS stands for the follow filters which is to be considered
before appropriate decisions can be taken by the management of the company.
• Policies and Procedures: The decision which is taken by the management should not be in line
of the policies and procedures which are set out by the management.
• Legal: The management needs to consider whether the conflict would affect the legal
parameters of the country (Status Guides 2018).
• Universal: The decision which is taken by the management of the company needs to be
consistent with the core values and ethics which is followed by businesses

PLUS ETHICAL DECISION-
MAKING MODEL (CONTINUED)
 Self: The policies which are to be formulated by the management of the company needs to be
taken consideration and should be according to the principles of fairness and justice.

OVERVIEW OF THE ETHICAL
PRINCIPLES
There are certain ethical principles which must be followed by businesses while taking any
decisions which is relating to the operations of the business (Pearson 2017). The principles are
stated below:
• Principle for Respect of Autonomy: The term autonomy is derived from a Latin word which
means self-rule. The principle states that the one should respect autonomy of other individuals
and also respect the decisions which are taken by other individuals. This principle is also
known as the principle of human dignity (Web.mnstate.edu. 2019).
• The Principle of Beneficence: The principle of beneficence states that the operations which
are undertaken by businesses must bring about good in the actions.

OVERVIEW OF THE
ETHICAL PRINCIPLES
(CONTINUED)• The Principle of nonmaleficence: This principle is an extension of the previous principle and
the same effectively states that activity should be undertaken in such a way that no harm comes
to anyone. In any case, if a product is harmful that the business must take all the necessary
steps to minimize the harm.
• The Principle of justice: The principle states that the individuals should get what they deserve
and it is in the obligation of businesses to provide the best quality of services to the business
for ensuring that the principle of Justice is upheld.

MAJOR STAKEHOLDERS OF THE
BUSINESS
• The activity which is undertaken by the management of the company is against the ethical code of
nonmaleficence and also Beneficence which clearly states that no harm should be intended to others
and businesses would try their best to reduce the harm (Grace and Cohen 2015).
• In the case study which is provided, the management of the company is only thinking about the
interest of shareholders and not the stakeholders of the business.
• The business is brining the entire general community at risk and harm which is against the ethical
code of conduct.
• The definition of the stakeholders also identifies the entire community in which the company
operates and therefore the management needs to consider the interest of the entire community
before taking any policies which is related to the business.

MAIN ETHICAL ISSUES IN
BBT
• The main ethical issues which is associated with the case study is that the management needs to
maintain health standards and should consider the concerns of the society and also consider the
interest of all stakeholders of the business.
• There is an ethical issue that violates the principle of nonmaleficence and also Beneficence
which requires business to minimize the harm which is associated with the activities of the
business and ensure that the business should effectively take decisions considering the ethical
issues.

OPTION FOR PUBLIC RELATION
MANAGER
• The public relation manager of the business needs to convince the management regarding the
long-term strategies. The public relation manager needs to effectively present the long-term
strategy of the business.
• The public relation manager is of the opinion that statutory health warning should be given in
cigarettes packs as this would show that the business is actually taking care of the health of the
public.

CONCLUSION
• The case study shows that the ethical standards which are to be maintained by business
organizations and the same also affects the decisions which are to be taken by the management
of the company.
• The assessment also considers the responsibilities of the company towards the shareholders and
other stakeholders of the business.

REFERENCE AND
BIBLIOGRAPHY
• Crane, A. and Matten, D., 2016. Business ethics: Managing corporate citizenship and sustainability in the age of globalization. Oxford University Press.
• Grace, D. and Cohen, S., 2015. Business ethics.
• Kolk, A., 2016. The social responsibility of international business: From ethics and the environment to CSR and sustainable development. Journal of World
Business, 51(1), pp.23-34.
• Ni, A. and Van Wart, M., 2015. Corporate Social Responsibility: Doing Well and Doing Good. In Building Business-Government Relations (pp. 175-196). Routledge.
• Pearson, R., 2017. Business ethics as communication ethics: Public relations practice and the idea of dialogue. In Public relations theory (pp. 111-131). Routledge.
• Prado, A.M. and Woodside, A.G., 2015. Deepening understanding of certification adoption and non-adoption of international-supplier ethical standards. Journal of
Business Ethics, 132(1), pp.105-125.