...THE FORD PINTO CASE: THE VALUATION OF LIFE AS IT APPLIES TO THE NEGLIGENCE-EFFICIENCY ARGUMENT Christopher Leggett Law & Valuation Professor Palmiter Spring, 1999 Abstract Text of Paper Abstract The cases involving the explosion of Ford Pinto's due to a defective fuel system design led to the debate of many issues, most centering around the use by Ford of a cost-benefit analysis and the ethics surrounding its decision not to upgrade the fuel system based on this analysis. ISSUE Should a risk/benefit analysis be used in situations where a defect in design or manufacturing could lead to death or seriously bodily harm, such as in the Ford Pinto situation? RULE There are arguments both for and against such an analysis. It is an economically efficient method which has been accepted by courts for numerous years, however, juries may not always agree, so companies should take this into account. ANALYSIS Although Ford had access to a new design which would decrease the possibility of the Ford Pinto from exploding, the company chose not to implement the design, which would have cost $11 per car, even though it had done an analysis showing that the new design would result in 180 less deaths. The company defended itself on the grounds that it used the accepted risk/benefit analysis to determine if the monetary costs of making the change were greater than the societal benefit. Based on the numbers Ford used, the cost would have been $137 million versus the $49.5 million...
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...ACG 6805 Accounting Theory Fall 2015 Professor: Greg Trompeter Office: 323 BA I Phone: 407.823.2150 Office hours: Tuesday before class; as announced in class; and by appointment. Required texts: Readings available as noted below. • Trueblood cases from Deloitte. Available at: http://www.deloitte.com/view/en_US/us/About/university-relations/Deloitte-Foundation/0ac1264f0b0fb110VgnVCM100000ba42f00aRCRD.htm • FASB codification—password to be handed out in class. You may log in at http://aaahq.org/ascLogin.cfm Objectives This course examines: • How accounting principles are established and monitored by standard setters. • The strengths and weaknesses of various accounting methods and how applications of such methods affect decisions of users and preparers of financial statements. • Current issues facing standard setters and the profession. Grades will be determined as follows: 1. Class participation 45 possible points 2. Financial reporting timeline 5 possible points 3. Mini-cases (Trueblood, FASB, HBS or similar) 35 possible points 4. Problem sets and discussion question write-ups 30 possible points 5. Group presentation 10 possible points 6. Research paper 20 possible points 7. Final exam 5 possible points 150 possible points NOTE: I assume that you should plan to invest—at a minimum—three...
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...Business School Press Boston, Massachusetts 2 Copyright © 1997 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College All rights reserved The Library of Congress has catalogued the hardcover edition of this title as follows: Christensen, Clayton M. The innovator’s dilemma : when new technologies cause great firms to fail / Clayton M. Christensen. p. cm. — (The management of innovation and change series) Includes index. ISBN 0-87584-585-1 (alk. paper) 1. Creative ability in business. 2. Industrial management. 3. Customer services. 4. Success in business. I. Title. II. Series. HD53.C49 1997 658—DC20 96-10894 CIP ISBN 0-87584-585-1 (Microsoft Reader edition) 3 Contents In Gratitude Introduction PART ONE: WHY GREAT COMPANIES CAN FAIL 1 How Can Great Firms Fail? Insights from the Hard Disk Drive Industry 2 Value Networks and the Impetus to Innovate 3 Disruptive Technological Change in the Mechanical Excavator Industry 4 What Goes Up, Can’t Go Down PART TWO: MANAGING DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE 5 Give Responsibility for Disruptive Technologies to Organizations Whose Customers Need Them 6 Match the Size of the Organization to the Size of the Market 7 Discovering New and Emerging Markets 8 How to Appraise Your Organization’s Capabilities and Disabilities 9 Performance Provided, Market Demand, and the Product Life Cycle 10 Managing Disruptive Technological Change: A Case Study 11 The Dilemmas of Innovation: A Summary The Innovator’s Dilemma Book...
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...GROUP INTERACTION JOURNAL ARTICLES Compiled by Lawrence R. Frey University of Colorado at Boulder Aamodt, M. G., & Kimbrough, W. W. (1982). Effects of group heterogeneity on quality of task solutions. Psychological Review, 50, 171-174. Abbey, D. S. (1982). Conflict in unstructured groups: An explanation from control-theory. Psychological Reports, 51, 177-178. Abele, A. E. (2003). The dynamics of masculine-agentic and feminine-communal traits: Findings from a prospective study. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 768-776. Abele, A., Gendolla, G. H. E., & Petzold, P. (1998). Positive mood and in-group—out-group differentiation in a minimal group setting. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 24, 1343-1357. Aberson, C. L., Healy, M., & Romero, V. (2000). Ingroup bias and self-esteem: A meta-analysis. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 4, 157-173. Abougendia, M., Joyce, A. S., Piper, W. E., & Ogrodniczuk, J. S. (2004). Alliance as a mediator of expectancy effects in short-term group psychotherapy. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 8, 3-12. Abraham, A. (1973a). Group tensions as measured by configurations of different self and transself aspects. Group Process, 5, 71-89. Abraham, A. (1973b). A model for exploring intra and interindividual processes in groups. International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, 23, 3-22. Abraham, A. (1974-1975). Processes in groups. Bulletin de Psychogie, 28, 746-758. Abraham, A., Geffroy, Y., & Ancelin-Schutzenberger...
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.... Organization Theory Challenges and Perspectives John McAuley, Joanne Duberley and Phil Johnson . This book is, to my knowledge, the most comprehensive and reliable guide to organisational theory currently available. What is needed is a text that will give a good idea of the breadth and complexity of this important subject, and this is precisely what McAuley, Duberley and Johnson have provided. They have done some sterling service in bringing together the very diverse strands of work that today qualify as constituting the subject of organisational theory. Whilst their writing is accessible and engaging, their approach is scholarly and serious. It is so easy for students (and indeed others who should know better) to trivialize this very problematic and challenging subject. This is not the case with the present book. This is a book that deserves to achieve a wide readership. Professor Stephen Ackroyd, Lancaster University, UK This new textbook usefully situates organization theory within the scholarly debates on modernism and postmodernism, and provides an advanced introduction to the heterogeneous study of organizations, including chapters on phenomenology, critical theory and psychoanalysis. Like all good textbooks, the book is accessible, well researched and readers are encouraged to view chapters as a starting point for getting to grips with the field of organization theory. Dr Martin Brigham, Lancaster University, UK McAuley et al. provide a highly readable account...
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