Business Ethics: Why Being a Good Corporate Citizen is Good Business By Stan Ridgeway Recently, the Rainforest Alliance honored Chiquita Brands International for its commitment to environmental and social sustainability in its business practices. To one who is familiar with the company's past, this may come as a surprise. Chiquita evolved from the United Fruit Company, which was known for its dominance of Latin American countries. In Guatemala, for example, Jorge Ubico guaranteed United a tax-free environment and a workforce that by law could earn no more than fifty cents per day. United was so pleased with this arrangement that when a reform-minded leader overthrew Ubico the company appealed to the US government, which directed the CIA to engineer a coup that returned another corporate-friendly dictator to power. Given its background, why has Chiquita adopted a more ethical approach? While one would like to attribute the change to a growing social awareness, a more likely reason is that corporations such as Chiquita now recognize that ethical practices are good business. In today's business climate, enlightened corporations realize that they operate under intense scrutiny from activists, socially conscious investors, and the media. A poor record on human rights or the environment, for example, can generate bad publicity and that can prove expensive, either due to litigation or in lost sales and declining stock prices. (Any representative of the tobacco industry will confirm these facts). Chiquita, then, has done what effective corporations have always done: it has responded to a new mindset among consumers and investors. In contrast to a previous era, today's market may punish a company by refusing to buy its product. On the other hand, a corporation that is perceived as having a positive record by investors, consumers, and activists can use its image to increase its profits. That the primary motive for ethical behavior among companies like Chiquita is related to the "bottom line" could be a cause for dismay but it would be overly idealistic to expect a corporation – which is created to make a profit – to behave otherwise. In their quest for profits, corporations will continue to seek competitive advantages. Rather than decrying the motives behind ethical business practices, then, one should appreciate the results and welcome the fact that, increasingly, being a good corporate citizen is seen as a means to help a company achieve its goals.