From new drug therapies and energy production to computer chip technology science has been the basis for many of the world’s biggest technological innovations. But while innovation is what drives research, business is about making money and keeping shareholders satisfied. Science and business were typically viewed as two separate worlds. The two are interconnected and it is impossible to separate their impact on business from the impact of research.
While businesses are focused on profit, the long-term consequences of its decisions can have significant social, environmental and economic consequences. Science is likewise concerned with the impacts of its actions and its decisions, particularly those regarding resource exploitation and sustainability. A well-run business will, for example exploit a resource to the level which is sustainable. But greedy businesses have led to a frenzied use of natural resources and ecological disaster.
We have coded the desired results and the effects of these strategies. (TL did the initial code and AG coded 20% of papers). We found that corporations employ five macro-level strategies that work collectively to diminish the credibility of unfavourable science and maximize favourable science. These strategies are operationalised through meso-strategies that, over time tend to bias evidence in favor of the industry. This can result in three distal results: to cast doubt about the potential harms that industry products and practices, to encourage policies that favor industry, and to maximise the use, consumption and sales of products and services – thus maximising corporate profits.