Tobacco giant British American Tobacco (BAT) is launching a
corporate social responsibility initiative to improve relations with
stakeholders and critics.
BAT head of corporate social responsibility Adrian Marshall announced at
the conference that the company would be holding a series of
face-to-face forums across the globe in a bid to establish dialogue with
the firm's critics.
He said BAT was set to stage 13 or 14 forums this year, continuing with
the programme into 2002.
But he admitted that many of the politicians invited to attend had
declined: 'How do you break down the barriers? That's the challenge,' he
said.
Marshall added the move is evidence that 'communications at BAT have
gone from being reactive to being more understanding and
analytical.'
