Introduction The unfortunate tragedies involving the explosion of Ford Pinto's due to a design defect led to a main debate regarding the use of a cost-benefit analysis and the ethics revolving around the company’s decision to go further with the initial, defective prototype. Ethical Dilemma Ford was completely aware of the safety issues the prototype was facing, but solving the issue would cause great disadvantage for the company: production schedule had to be modified, resulting in delays
Words: 1860 - Pages: 8
Executive Summary for Pinto Case In the automobile industry, the Pinto case is a reminder of how business decisions can cause people to act unethical when money and social pressures arise. The Ford Motor Company (Ford) sought to compete with foreign car manufacturers and expedite the production of vehicles even if it meant disregarding red flag signals. Your gut can still be useful in alerting you that something might be wrong—that you’re facing an ethical dilemma—in the first place (Trevino &
Words: 1656 - Pages: 7
case, I ran across documentation referencing Ford Motor Company’s manufacturing of the Ford Pinto the early 1970’s. Petersen and Farrell discuss the ethical dilemmas faced by engineers highlighted by the 1980 Winamac, Indiana trial of Ford Motor Company (1986, p.3). The Pinto was created as a response to the Japanese competition emerging in the US. Due to competition, Ford was eager to get the subcompact car released in 1971. Changes were made, and Ford was able to reduce the lead time of production
Words: 744 - Pages: 3
Tracy Davis LSTD3253 CST Final Project Ethical Dilemmas in Business It is almost impossible to pick up any American newspaper and avoid reading an article dealing with the unethical and possibly even illegal conduct of those who run our businesses. Whether it is insider stock manipulation, off balance sheet partnerships, questionable accounting practices, dumping of environmental contaminants, the stories continue to appear. The ethical conduct of U.S. businesses will be examined
Words: 2015 - Pages: 9
Pinto Fires and Personal Ethics: A Script Analysis of Missed Opportunities Dennis A. Cioia ABSTRACT. This article details the personal involvement of the author in the early stages of the infamous Pinto fire case. The paper first presents an insider account of the context and decision environment within which he failed to initiate an early recall of defective vehicles. A cognitive script analysis of the personal experience is then offered as an explanation of factors that led to a decision
Words: 8142 - Pages: 33
Ford Pinto Case Ford Pinto Case If we were involved in the Ford Pinto dilemma we would have used Deontological Ethical reasoning to decide whether or not to disclose the danger that the Pinto posed and/or use that reasoning to determine whether or not to install the part(s) that would make the Ford Pinto safer. Our decision would be to do what is morally right and avoid doing what is morally wrong, regardless of the consequences. True enough Ford was not obligated by government regulation
Words: 1015 - Pages: 5
that is used to prescribe morally acceptable behaviors, and including a wide range of moral and ethical principles, providing methods and guidance for the distinguish between right and wrong. "Ethics is important for managers involved with Management Control Systems (MCS) because ethical principles can provide a useful guide for defining how employees should behave." [Management control-related ethical issues and analysis] It is important for an organization to have good ethics as unethical behaviors
Words: 2445 - Pages: 10
I. Introduction II. Ethical Dilemmas A. The Layoff III. Prescriptive Approaches to Ethical Decision Making in Business A. Focus on Consequences (Consequentialist Theories) B. Focus on Duties, Obligations, and Principles (Deontological Theories) C. Focus on Integrity (Virtue Ethics) IV. Eight Steps to Sound Ethical Decision Making in Business A. Step One: Gather the Facts B. Step Two: Define the Ethical Issues C. Step Three: Identify
Words: 4227 - Pages: 17
Utilitarianism and Business Ethics INTRODUCTION Welcome to philosophicalinvestigations - a site dedicted to ethical thinking (rather than one page summaries!!! Though I'm afraid I do add those at exam time - market pressures!). I hope you enjoy this case study which also has a powerpoint that goes with it. There's plenty of other useful material on this site - case studies, handouts, powerpoints and summaries, and also I have written a number of books including best-selling revision guides and
Words: 2307 - Pages: 10
we can say it is at best amoral and it is beyond the normal moral considerations. In order to better discuss the statement of the question, it is necessary for us to define the meaning 'sales ethics'. Sales or business ethics is the application of ethical values to business behaviour or sales function. When the first trade happened the argument of sales ethics (business ethics) has had drown a great attention (i.e. the Code of Hammurabi, created nearly 4,000 years ago, records that Mesopotamian rulers
Words: 1698 - Pages: 7
