Ethical Considerations in Accounting and Financial Management: BBT

This report analyzes the ethical issues surrounding Big Business Tobacco (BBT), a major tobacco manufacturer, focusing on a debate concerning health warnings on cigarette packs. The report examines the perspectives of key stakeholders, including the marketing and public relations managers, and the ethical considerations related to corporate social responsibility, legal compliance, and potential impacts on sales. It identifies the ethical issues, such as the impact of health warnings on brand image and the legal requirements for health warnings in different markets. The analysis also considers the broader implications of BBT's actions on public health and its ethical obligations to its consumers and stakeholders. The report concludes by discussing the potential consequences of different courses of action, highlighting the complexities of balancing profitability with ethical considerations in the financial management of a tobacco company.

Running head: ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
Accounting and Financial Management
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:
Course ID:

1ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
Table of Contents
Answer to Question 1:.....................................................................................................................2
Answer to Question 2:.....................................................................................................................3
References:......................................................................................................................................5

2ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
Answer to Question 1:
Based on the case study, it has been found out that Big Business Tobacco (BBT) is a
large manufacturer of tobacco products in Australia and it is the leading firm in relation to sales
of cigarettes. In addition, China has been identified as the progressing nation, in which the
organisation could seek opportunity in diversifying its business for enhancing the overall sales
margin. Due to this, a debate about the health-related warnings has taken place in relation to
printing on the cigarette packs. Henceforth, the major stakeholders involved in the debate are
discussed briefly as follows:
Marketing manager:
It has been identified that Mary Bender, the marketing manager of BBT, has been
associated with designing the cigarette packs, which would be initiated in the market of
Australia. In this regard, Jondle, Ardichvili and Mitchell (2014) advocated that it is of utmost
need for the marketing manager of an organisation to assure the initiation of a specific product in
the target market. However, Dinnie (2015) argued that if the marketing manager of an
organisation lacks in relevant knowledge and pertinent skills, it might lead to loss of the overall
sales revenue of the firm. From the perspective of the marketing manager of BBT, the primary
business target is to ensure profits for raising the overall shareholders’ wealth. Hence, including
health-related warning on the cigarette packs might minimise the projected volume of sales of
the firm in the market of Asia.
Public relations manager:

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As observed from the case study, Randall Hedges, the public relations manager of BBT,
is involved in designing the packet of cigarettes along with collaborating with Mart Blender.
However, the personnel has laid down a perspective, which has been contradictory with the
proposed strategy of the marketing manager. In the words of Zadek, Evans and Pruzan (2013),
one of the significant stakeholders of an organisation is the public relations manager, as the
personnel could be able to monitor the planned activities related to the campaigns and tasks of
publicity. From the perspective of Randall Hedges, it is necessary for BBT to include the health
warning on the packets of cigarettes, since it is compulsory to comply with the Australian
regulations. This because with the help of such display of health warning, the organisation could
ensure progress in the long-run, as it would improve its disclosures related to corporate social
responsibility and concern for the consumers.
Answer to Question 2:
There are several ethical issues, which have been associated with the debate according to
the given case study and they are described briefly as follows:
Normal health-related warning on the packet of cigarettes:
It has been assessed from the provided case that the public relations manager associated
with BBT has enhanced the issue related to health-warning message on the packet of cigarettes
to be initiated in the market of Asia. In this context, Locke, Alcorn and O’Neill (2013) remarked
that adding such warning on the cigarette packs would enable in raising the brand image of BBT.
Due to this, the customers could be made aware of the negative effects of smoking on their
overall physical health. This would help in raising the corporate social responsibility of BBT as
well (Weiss 2014). Based on the modern medical findings, it is anticipated that smoking would

4ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
result in eventual death because of smoking in the future, particularly in the developing
countries. This could be adjudged as the main ethical issue in the debate.
Conformance to the legal needs:
From the case study, it has been found out that the main objective of BBT is to enhance
the profit margin, which would enable in increasing the shareholder value. Moreover, in
accordance with the legislations of Australia, the addition of health-related warning on the
packets of cigarettes is necessary for a tobacco producer for conducting the overall business
operations. Even though such warning has no negative impact on the performance of the
business and this has been evident over the period (Zhu, Sun and Leung 2014). On the other
hand, if the health-related warning is taken into account in the packets of cigarettes in the Asian
market, BBT might not be able to expand its market share.
Instead, it might lose considerable market share in contrast to its competitors. However, it
would take into account the same in relation of amendments to the laws of Asia. This would help
the organisation to attract new investors for raising additional funds in order to improve the
business operations further in the market. Moreover, such disclosure would help the organisation
in winning the overall trust and confidence of all the stakeholders in the nation, which, in turn,
would ensure steady future growth and progress of BBT in the market. Therefore, this could be
considered as another ethical issue, which has been raised in the debate.

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References:
Dinnie, K., 2015. Nation branding: Concepts, issues, practice. Routledge.
Jondle, D., Ardichvili, A. and Mitchell, J., 2014. Modeling ethical business culture:
Development of the ethical business culture survey and its use to validate the CEBC model of
ethical business culture. Journal of Business Ethics, 119(1), pp.29-43.
Locke, T., Alcorn, N. and O’Neill, J., 2013. Ethical issues in collaborative action
research. Educational Action Research, 21(1), pp.107-123.
Weiss, J.W., 2014. Business ethics: A stakeholder and issues management approach. Berrett-
Koehler Publishers.
Zadek, S., Evans, R. and Pruzan, P., 2013. Building corporate accountability: Emerging practice
in social and ethical accounting and auditing. Routledge.
Zhu, Y., Sun, L.Y. and Leung, A.S., 2014. Corporate social responsibility, firm reputation, and
firm performance: The role of ethical leadership. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 31(4),
pp.925-947.