How should we regard a company whose products are clearly harmful, though legal in all countries? Roger Cowe suggests that we exercise some healthy scepticism – but keep an open mind

The entry of British American Tobacco into the field of corporate social responsibility raises important questions, many of which are explored in the following pages. The most fundamental is the extent to which social responsibility can apply to a business whose products are clearly harmful. As the warnings on cigarette packs tell us, tobacco kills. So do rifles and military jets, which are designed to kill, setting them apart from cars and other products that are only deadly if they are misused. Some critics of tobacco have put it in the same category as arms. But if we say that companies supplying such products are outside the pale of CSR, we are saying we don’t care how they go about their business.

It is reasonable to argue that there can be no such thing as responsible killing. That is an argument for banning tobacco. On the other hand, so long as the use of tobacco is legal, its manufacture and supply should be managed as responsibly as possible, and those involved should be held to account for what they do and how they do it.

In terms of British American Tobacco’s moves on CSR, the key question is how seriously the group has addressed its responsibilities. There is little doubt that it has put a huge effort into the process. But is it going about the matter in a rigorous way?

That is normally tested by one of the main elements of CSR – dialogue with stakeholder groups that helps to identify the issues and verifies the thoroughness of the process.

In this instance, the refusal of some significant stakeholders to take part in dialogue with the company has made it hard to be as confident about the process as is usually the case. That is not necessarily a criticism of British American Tobacco, nor of those groups which chose not to participate. But it is a fact of life.

There is a Catch-22 situation here, and it drags the rest of us into the net. Companies can only demonstrate responsible behaviour by engaging with their critics. If the critics send back the invitations, those of us in the outside world are left with a greater responsibility – to make up our own minds. The following pages help us in that direction.

Roger Cowe is a journalist and author specializing in corporate social responsibility. He writes for the Financial Times and The Guardian