Science has been the basis of many of the significant technological advances across the globe. From the latest drug treatments and energy production to computer chip technology. While innovation is the driving factor behind science business, it’s all about profit and keeping shareholders happy. Traditionally, the two fields of business and science have been thought of as separate entities. Both are interconnected and it’s impossible to separate their impact on business from that of research.
While the business world is mostly focused on earning money, its longer-term effects can be significant for the environment, social and economic implications. Science is also concerned about the consequences of its actions in particular its decisions about resource exploitation and sustainability. A smart business will, for example, exploit a resource at the level that scientists consider sustainable. However, greedy businesses have led to a frenzied use of natural resources and ecological catastrophe.
We have categorized the different methods corporations employ to influence science at the macro and meso scales and have coded the expected outcomes and effects of these strategies (TL carried out the initial code-coding, AG second-coded 20 per cent of papers). We found that companies employ five macro-level strategies in order to lower the perceived credibility of unfavourable scientific findings and maximize favourable research findings. These strategies are enacted by meso strategies that in time, can skew the evidence base in favor of industry. This has three effects to discredit the harms that could be caused by industrial products and practices; to push policies that favor industry; and to maximise the consumption, sales and use of products from industry.
