Institute of Business Ethics

Background

Established in 1986, the Institute of Business Ethics (IBE) is a charity based in London which aims to “encourage high standards of business behaviour based on ethical values”.¹ The IBE originally had a strong Christian base.² Following the Institute’s reconstitution of its charitable status in 2000, it has fewer religious connections.³
The IBE employed nine people in 2015, and had an annual income of £771,400.⁴
In 2011 IBE reported to have around 120 corporate subscribers, mainly businesses but also professional associations. Members receive access to networking events with talks from experts on ethical issues. These are conducted under Chatham House rules.⁵
In 2017, the IBE’s Director was Philippa Foster Back who has been in post since 2001. ⁶

Relationship with the Tobacco Industry

Membership

In 2017, British American Tobacco (BAT) and Japan Tobacco International were IBE subscribers.⁷
Imperial Tobacco was a subscriber in 2011,⁸ but in 2017 IBE confirmed that Imperial was no longer a subscriber.⁹

Corporate Social Responsibility

Tobacco companies, in particular BAT, first engaged with IBE in the 1990s.¹⁰
This was a time of increased statutory backed tobacco regulation, and the World Health Organization had started negotiations to create the world’s first public health Treaty, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.¹¹¹²
In the United States, Philip Morris became involved in an IBE project aimed at providing “city youth with values and paths of opportunity”.¹³ An internal Philip Morris memo, dated May 1990, outlined the company’s plans to send a representative to the project’s regular business breakfast meetings, and recommended on a broader note “…Philip Morris should be involved in projects that are supported by large New York companies because this reaffirms our commitment to the city”.¹³
In the United Kingdom, IBE tried to gain BAT’s support as soon as the Institute was launched in 1986,¹⁴ but BAT consistently declined requests to donate or join IBE events in the 1980s and early 1990s.^15161718
In the late 1990s, BAT softened its approach toward the Institute. For example, in 1998 BAT shared its Code of Conduct with the Institute and completed an IBE survey on ethics.¹⁰¹⁹
BAT was fully aware that issues around Corporate Social responsibility (CSR) were gaining prominence,²⁰ and was expecting “…renewed attacks on multinational companies”.²¹ Following an endorsement of IBE by the Confederation of British Industry, who referred to the Institute “…the most important external advisory body for UK business on code-related issues”,²² BAT included IBE on a list of potential attendees to take part in BAT “stakeholder dialogue forums” on CSR.²³
BAT’s 2001 CSR report identified IBE’s Executive Director, Ken Rushton, as a potential candidate for BAT’s social reporting audit panel.²⁴²⁵
BAT’s 2003 Social Report was developed “with help from the Institute of Business Ethics”.²⁶

TobaccoTactics Resources

• CSR Strategy

Relevant Link

• Institute of Business Ethics website

TCRG Research

• Corporate philanthropy, political influence, and health policy, G. Fooks, A. Gilmore, PLoS ONE, 2013,8(11):e80864
• The limits of corporate social responsibility: Techniques of neutralization, stakeholder management and political CSR, G. Fooks, A. Gilmore, J. Collin, C. Holden, K. Lee, Journal of Business Ethics, 2013,112(2):283-299