Preview

Ford Pinto Case

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
360 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Ford Pinto Case
FORD PINTO CASE

The Ford management has chosen to be unethical and morally unworthy to be trusted with the lives of its customers. Can you just imagine the number of individuals riding every day in the cars that they produced, who are unaware that they could be in an injury any moment? Ford management has chosen not to follow the safety guidelines and standards in producing such products because at that time, the government is still not that strict in implementing such rules. And because of their eagerness to meet the production schedule, they have reduced the time allotted for the rear-end impact testing just to introduce such product on the market on time. They disregarded their customer’s safety and the possibility of injury or death just for the sake of small profit or share in the market. Ford with its utilitarian perspective, which the decision not to recall such products or even warn its customers, served the greater amount of good to those who are affected, hose who will benefit from the profit it will get. It has also regarded its decision as to having no instinctive value even when it is showing obvious consequences. The cost-benefit analysis that was used by Ford was also to blame. The cost amounting to $137M versus the $49.5M estimated for the cost of injuries, deaths, and car damages has been the deciding factor for Ford not to implement the design changes that would have made the cars safer. Ford used the formula so as not to legally implement the changes. However, just because it is legal doesn’t mean that it is ethical. It is clearly unethical to determine that people should be allowed to die or be seriously injured because it would be too costly to prevent it. Ford had different options in its hand to prevent, minimize, and warn the customers of potential risks and harm associated with the cars they have produced. But despite these options, Ford has chosen not to mention such possible risks or death for its customers. The Ford Pinto case has

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    Ford has argued for over three decades that The Ford Motor Company is not at fault, but rather the other motorists who happened to rear end the Pinto drivers. Many accuse Ford of rushing the Pinto into production without proper testing leaving a faulty fuel system in the car that would rupture with any rear end collision or rollover accident; this resulted in the deaths of over 500 people. Many also accuse Ford of being fully aware of the faults with the Pinto and selling it to the public anyway. Letting the people die because of the Pinto and settling with their families was more economical than recalling the vehicle and fixing the shortcomings of the Pinto.…

    • 1604 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Junk Van CAse

    • 594 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The problem presented in the 1-888-JUNK-VAN case involves the founder of the company Marcus Kingo trying to choose on the best information technology tool that would reduce order entry errors and allow his business to grow.…

    • 594 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ford was primarily motivated by profit and market share, evidenced by their decision to not recall the car and choice to pay lawsuits instead of fixing the gas tank issue. Ford completely disregarded their responsibility to produce a safe product by foregoing the universal safety standards in order to increase profit – this action is not intrinsically valuable as it acts for the good of the company. If this maxim of foregoing car safety in order to increase profit was applied universally, there would be obvious contradiction from the employees of Ford who drove a pinto and would not agree to this rule. This contradiction implies that the maxim to forego safety standards in the interest of profit is not morally valid, and Ford using this maxim to make the decision to not recall the cars is morally…

    • 338 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ford Pinto Case Study

    • 537 Words
    • 3 Pages

    From reading the two assigned papers discussing the Ford Pinto fires, it is easy for someone to judge Gioia’s decisions as fallible before all the factors are in place. For example, the culture of the Ford motor company at the time, Gioa’s mental state. I believe he feels very responsible and that is why he wrote the paper and uses it as a living case study in his MBA classes.…

    • 537 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Three social issues that are in this case are that one, social issue in this case was Ford claimed the reason for the recall of the 1.9 million Ford Pintos was not for safety but for “reputational” reasons. This is a social issue because, after all the evidence was piled up on their company for being unsafe and hazardous, they couldn’t just admit they made a mistake and recall the vehicles to make them safer. No, they had to use the reputation card to help their company’s image in the long run so they wouldn’t lose profit. In this issue, there is no utilitarianism because there mindset in making this decision isn’t for the right reasons. There not doing it to intentionally increase the safety of everybody. One version, rule-utilitarianism, considers that, “a rule or code of behavior is morally right if, by its application, the consequences are more favorable that unfavorable to everyone.” They weren’t being moral when they made this decision. The citizens and people had nothing to do with the recall. It was their own self-pity and arrogance. Another social issue in this case is that in June of 1978, Ford knew that its fuel tank did not meet Federal Safety Standards, yet they didn’t do anything to warn the owners of this. It’s a fact that if people were warned of this issue, thousands and thousands of people wouldn’t want to buy the Ford Pinto. Being that this was a social issue, Ford was all about making a profit and hid crucial information for the public. The third of many social issues in this case are that when Ford was being prosecuted in the courtroom, they defended themselves against negligence by claiming its car was comparable to other subcompacts at that time.…

    • 918 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Ford Pinto Case

    • 937 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In this essay, I will talk about the ford Pinto case, and how the information was withheld from public in order to save company from huge losses and at the same time keep company’s reputation intact. I don’t think the decision of the ford company to with hold the information about the safety-issue of the car for which they were already aware of; was the right thing to do.…

    • 937 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Best Essays

    General Motors (GM) is one of the oldest and largest car manufactures in the United States. As early as 2001, the company began to notice issues with an ignition switch that was to be used in many car models. The problem with this switch was that a driver could “inadvertently knock them to ‘off’ or ‘accessory’ mode while driving” (Plumer, 2014). If this happened, “the engine would shut off and cars would lose their power steering and power brakes” as well as the airbags “wouldn’t inflate in the event of a crash” (Plumer, 2014). Allowing this problem to not be fixed led to many crashes and fatalities across the United States. After several years this eventually led to the recall of millions of cars and thousands of lawsuits for GM. This is an ethical issue because GM was knowledgeable of the problem and made a decision to ignore it which led to the deaths and injuries of many innocent people. In order to evaluate this ethical situation we will…

    • 3185 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    During the trial there were four factors indentified that proved negligence and strict liability by Ford Motor Company. The design of the Pinto fuel system, the knowledge or failed crash tests by the Pinto prior to placing the car in the market, the Ford Motor Company cost benefit analysis, and the management’s decision to go forward…

    • 1441 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    When I read the General Motors Misled Grieving Families on a Lethal Flaw, an overwhelming sadness fell upon me. I was sad that 26 families had to bury family members die to faulty equipment in the Chevrolet Cobalts. The key ethical issue is that General Motors knew that the black boxes in the Cobalts confirmed the potential fatal defect existing in hundreds of thousands of cars (Stout et al., 2014). Another ethical issue was the fact that GM would tell the families of the victims that they had no knowledge of any defects in their cars and once the families wanted to sue they would threaten to come after them or even said they would sue the families. One more issue that is ethical is GM didn’t immediately recall the Chevy Cobalts after the first…

    • 308 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Case of the Ford Pinto

    • 1565 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The Ford Pinto first rolled off the Ford Motor Co. production lines in 1971 and stayed in production in its original state until 1978. The vehicle engineers were tasked to develop the vehicle and put it into production within 25 months, which was nearly half the time in which the average new vehicle is put into production. The Ford engineers were aware that rear-end impact safety tests were pretty standard at the time, but they were not required by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration at that time. The vehicle was rushed into production anyway to compete with foreign compact cars being developed by the Japanese during that time period. Only after the vehicle was made available to the public was the vehicle tested. The Ford Pinto ended up failing the rear safety test, due to the fact that it was susceptible to fire from rear end collisions. Ford engineers determined that the problem could be resolved by installing a baffle, which protected the gas tank from being punctured during rear-end collisions. The part would have only cost between $6.65 and $11 to be install, but the Ford Motor Co. determined through cost-benefit analysis that the cost of lawsuits would be less than the cost of installing the baffle and decided not to install the baffle. Ford Motor Co. also failed to notify customers of the problem and offer them the option to have the baffle installed. Between 1971 and 1978 the Ford Pinto would be involved in thirteen rear-end collisions that caused the vehicle to start on fire. The actions of the Ford Motor Co. were scrutinized for the production of the vehicle. (DeGorge)While the vehicle did meet the safety standards of the time, Ford Motor Co. knew of the problem and did nothing to resolve it. This leads us to the question the ethical actions of the Ford Motor Co. production of the Ford Pinto. After realizing there was a safety issue with the Ford Pinto, was it morally right…

    • 1565 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ford Pinto Case Brief

    • 407 Words
    • 2 Pages

    There was strong competition for Ford in the American small-car market from Volkswagen and several Japanese companies in the 1960’s. To fight the competition, Ford rushed its newest car the Pinto into production in much less time than it usually required to develop a car. The regular time to produce an automobile is 43 months; Ford took 25 months. Before production however, Ford engineers discovered a major flaw in the cars design. In nearly all rear-end crash test collisions, the Pinto's fuel system would rupture extremely easily. The technology was available to make the Pinto a safer vehicle. The best method for improving the safety of the Pinto was to line the gas tank with a rubber bladder. Ford alleged that it would cost $11 per car to add any sort of gas tank fire prevention device. Lee Iacocca, who was in charge of the development of the Pinto, had specifications for the design of the car that were uncompromisable. These specifications were that "the Pinto was not to weigh an ounce over 2,000 pounds and not cost a cent over $2,000." Any modifications, even if it did provided extra safety for the customer that brought the car closer to the Iacocca’s limits were rejected. A report was prepared for NHTSA by consultant; Eugene Trisko entitled "A National Survey of Motor Vehicle Fires." His report indicates that the Ford Motor Company makes 24 percent of the cars on the American road, yet these cars account for 42 percent of the collision-ruptured fuel tanks. Another staggering fact that was discovered was that a large and growing number of corpses taken from burned cars involved in rear-end crashes contained no cuts, bruises or broken bones. They clearly would have survived the accident unharmed if the cars had not caught fire. There was no single event that caused all of the deaths and injuries related to Pinto’s. Ford had many opportunities to limit the damage done by the faulty design of the Pinto. Engineers bowed to pressure from…

    • 407 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Used Car Case

    • 951 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Used car deals for the month of March include low-interest rate financing for an array of mainstream and luxury brands. Shoppers may also find additional incentives available for select certified pre-owned (CPO) vehicles, including complimentary maintenance and roadside assistance. Used car inventories are composed of trade ins and off-lease vehicles for sale in March, with financing coming in as low as 0.9 percent.…

    • 951 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Ford Pinto-Ethics

    • 753 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Procedural steps of the decision making framework was Utilitarian in nature, Ford chose the action that would cause the least amount of harm for the majority involved, therefore allowing the minority to be harmed by death. Apparently, Ford did not care about the type or severity of harm they caused. They chose a lower number of estimated deaths as opposed to a higher number of financial harm. The decision to view death as a viable option was fueled by Egoism. Fords CEO, Iacocca, was an integral part of the Egoism utilized in the decision making in that he viewed Ford’s customers/consumers as morally irrelevant. This was made clear when Iacocca intentionally underestimated/ignored and concealed the fact that the Pinto engine would ignite upon small rear impact. Clearly, Ford could have disclosed the dangers of the Pinto to consumers, thereby allowing consumer consent, but they did not because it would slow or stop him from achieving Ford’s goals. Further, Iacocca did not take people’s values into consideration when rendering a decision on the Pinto safety hazard; instead he projected his own values in the decision-making framework. A true Utilitarian method to determine a course of action is to take an actual vote in which each person affected in the situation votes on the basis of their own values. When others values are not considered, and an Egoist is in charge, there is a high probability that immoral…

    • 753 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    In 1971, Ford Motor Company (FMC), on the advice of then vice-president Lee Iacocca, introduced the first subcompact vehicle, the Ford Pinto. After production had begun and the release of the Pinto in the United States, Ford discovered a defect in the design on the fuel system; the gas tank was placed in the rear of the vehicle. This error could cause the vehicle to explode on low speed rear end collisions due to a bolt puncturing the fuel tank. Ford conducted a risk/analysis to determine whether to recall the vehicles or leave the situation as is and suffer the consequences as they arise. After concluding that the vehicles could be modified for $11 per vehicle, Ford decided not to recall the vehicles. Based on their risk/analysis the cost to recall the vehicles sold would be $137 million, Ford determined that it would be more profitable to leave the vehicles as is and pay out costs in lawsuits because this figure adjusted to $49.5 million, substantially lower than the cost to recall the product. Ethics and morals would prove to be ignored for profit and gain.…

    • 1043 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    ford ka case

    • 606 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Best segment is freedom lovers. The Ford Ka was scheduled for launch at the Paris Motor Show in October 1996. But Brand Manager, Gilles Moynier, needed to decide on the target market for the new product. The car industry was traditionally segmented into size tiers, but Europe’s market for small cars was changing rapidly and even alternative segmentations did not reveal a clear target for the Ka.…

    • 606 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays

Related Topics