A Grim Reality: The Practice of CSR by Tobacco Company

Scientific evidences show that tobacco product is harmful to smokers and those who are exposed to second-hand and third-hand smoke. Although tobacco products are legal, they are lethal and killing millions of people worldwide. Every year, second-hand smoke kills more than 600,000 people globally, including 165 thousand children. Nevertheless, tobacco industry continues their operation without significant threat to their legitimacy for over the years. The emergence of corporate social responsibility (CSR) as industry on its own right provides mechanisms for corporations that faced legitimacy crisis to publicly espouse their CSR commitment. The industry voluntarily produces codes of conduct and increasingly reports their engagement in CSR-related initiatives.

This study examines CSR-related initiatives and activities of British American Tobacco Malaysia (BAT) through qualitative analysis of corporate reports, documents and webpage. The aim is to understand the BAT’s CSR efforts with regards to the issue of health, socio-economic and environmental costs due to tobacco consumption and tobacco farming. The ‘legitimacy crisis’ faced by BAT might explain the concerted efforts undertaken in social reporting which centred on three main issues; philanthropic giving, youth smoking prevention and combating illegal cigarettes. The analysis also showed contentious issue with regards to health, socio-economic and environmental costs as a result of tobacco consumption and tobacco farming.