In the world of business, does ethics and social responsibility really play a factor in decision making processes? Only in a purely idealistic world, will all businesses no matter big or small turn down profitable opportunities for ethical reasoning. A good example of this resonates in the CVS Caremark and their decision to ban the sale of tobacco products at their stores. On the surface, CVS did a great public service to the community by removing the opportunity to purchase harmful health damaging products at their stores. Is this a result of the so called “social responsibility” that a business has? I don’t think so. In my opinion, this move by CVS revolves more around a business prosperity standpoint rather than societal improvement. By removing tobacco related products, CVS rebrands their reputation into more of a health care provider than a simple large retail business. Yes, CVS may lose approximately $2 billion dollars in profit, but that amount is nowhere close to the staggering $123 billion sales recorded in 2012.

Is CVS giving up a lot by removing tobacco sales? No.

Will CVS be regarded in a better light in comparison to other leading drug store competitors? It will certainly help, especially towards the more health oriented target market.

The point I’m getting at is that there is a certain capitalistic motivation behind every “ethically” or “socially” driven implementation by a company. In the Stakeholder’s Theory, it states that ” for any business to be successful, it has to create value for [all stakeholders]”(Edward Freeman). If CVS wasn’t the powerhouse drug chainstore it is now, rather just a simple startup company, will they make the same decision? I don’t think so. For their business to even survive, creating value for their suppliers, financiers, employees and consumers takes precedent over creating value in the community. As a startup company, will you really make the decision of removing the sales of tobacco related products when they are so popular and other major drug store chains also sell the same products?

Money comes first, ethics come second. Perhaps the sad truth.

SOURCE:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/06/business/cvs-plans-to-end-sales-of-tobacco-products-by-october.html?_r=0