Recently though, the University of Texas at Austin business school decided to stop taking money from tobacco companies for research and student activities – including career fairs. According to the school, students generally supported the decision.
Imposing an ethical test for company activities is an intriguing but controversial move for a business school. While the health dangers of tobacco are well-known, there are many other businesses that engage in activities that raise serious ethical questions in some people, such as firms that manufacturer products in substandard factories or companies that make weapons. And what about companies that make alcohol, which contributes to highway deaths due to drunk driving? It's very hard to come to general agreement on which industries deserve to be boycotted.
In an essay written for BusinessWeek, ("Saying No to Tobacco Money, http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/feb2008/bs20080210_095845.htm)
Texas' McCombs Business School Dean George Gau makes a strong argument for the tobacco money ban, but even he notes that there were arguments against the decision. As one BusinessWeek reader points out in a comment posted to the essay, since consumers aren't forced to smoke, why are the profits of a tobacco company essentially any different than those of any other company?
There is a concern – as the dean admits – that banning tobacco money begins a difficult-to-control process where schools and other public institutions seek to impose ethical tests on companies. And the ban could impose real hardships on researchers who may have to find substitute sources of funding for their projects, and students who may see sources of funds for student activities dry up. Those hardships have to be weighed against the less clear-cut benefits to society of cutting off the activities of tobacco companies on business school campuses.
Still, the bottom line is that the business community is constantly calling on business schools to do a better job of teaching ethics in their undergrad and MBA programs. What better lesson can there be than an ethical dilemma that takes place right on the school campus?
Phil Mintz is the B-Schools Channel Editor for BusinessWeek.com in New York. He can be reached at [email protected]
