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ethical issues in automotive industry
ethical issues in automotive industry
ethical issues in automotive industry
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Toyota issues in automotive industry resulted from a lack of moral and ethical obligations to loyal customers. In fact, people encounter ethics at one time or another. A business expectation is to act in manner upholding society values. According to authors Trevino and Nelson, (2004) states, “a set of moral principals or values, or the principals, norm, and standards of conduct governing a group or individual.” On the other hand, three ethical criteria determined in this discussion like obligation, moral ideas, and consequences which this article highlights an ethical dilemma with automobiles makers.
According to Steve Gorman of Thomson Reuters, the world’s largest international multimedia news agency, 40 consumers, and businesses filed legal claims against Toyota. The claims involved financial losses including diminished vehicle principles steaming from complaints of Toyota cars racing out of manage (Gorman, S. 2010). An international company memo cited that a reliable (brake override) option in 2007, three years prior to the safety feature made standard.
Toyota failed to address complaints involving impulsive unintentional acceleration starting in 2002. During this time, a new electronic throttle control system replaced the standard equipment in Toyota vehicles (Gorman, 2010). According to Steve Gorman, Toyota insists that the defective vehicles sped out of control because of the floor mats and sticking gas pedals. Both issues were addressed by safety recalls. Gorman states that many unintended acceleration cases stem from driver inaccuracy (Gorman, 2010).
The Toyota Motor Corporation’s ethical issues stem from not reporting the sticking gas pedal of the Toyota Camry and Prius vehicles. Because of not reporting the issue...
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...ge James Selna for pretrial proceedings (Gorman, S. 2010). Because the Toyota Corporation may have been unethical in its business practices, the corporation suffers the loss, and now has a faulty reputation.
Works Cited
Abide, M. (2010). Toyota to agree $15.4 million dollar finance, Retrieved from http://techstop.abidshafiq.com/ 2010/04/ap-source-toyota-to-agree-to-16-4-million-fine/
Connor, M. (2010), Toyota Recall, Retrieved from http://business-ethics.com/2010/01/31/2123-toyota-recall-five-critical-lessons/
Kidder, R, M., (2010), Center for corporate Ethics, Institute for Global Ethics, retrieved on August 08,2010 from www.globalethics.org/ reserve reading from ethics news line
Treviño, L. K., & Nelson, K. A. (2007). Managing business ethics: Straight talk about how to do it right Fourth ed., Retrieved on July 30, 2010 from www.ecampus.phoenix.edu
In the media there are a lot of concerns about ethical standards in marketing and advertisements in corporations and businesses. Cumming’s marketing and advertisements strategies follow strict policies based on ethics that rest on a fundamental belief in people's dignity and decency. Cummins is committed to quality, innovation and integrity. This commitment is possible because each member of Cummins follows the highest standards of ethical conduct. These standards are embodied in the Cummins Code of Business Conduct. Individual integrity and strong corporate culture are the best assurances that this Code will be followed.
Ferrell, O.C., Fraedrich, J., & Ferrell, L. (2009). Business ethics: Ethical decision making and cases (7th ed.). South-Western College Pub;
Ferrell, O.C. "Business Ethics." Ethical Decision Making and Cases. Michele Rhoades, Joanne Dauksewicz. Mason: South-Western Cengage Learning, 2011. Print.
Fieser, J. & Moseley, A. (2014). Introduction to Business Ethics. San Diego, CA Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
The quality, the happiness, the good thing that you can give the consumer is the end, your sense of duty to do these things is the means. Looking at things from this perspective, Fords actions were unethical. The Kantian idea causes me believe that Ford should have put the potentially life-saving part into the Pinto, not because they have a moral obligation to produce safe vehicles, or because they want praise for looking out for the safety and well-being of their consumers, but because it’s the right thing to do. Clearly, Ford didn’t do that. Based on the case study and the information presented, they allowed financial data and projections to dictate the decision, whether morally right or
The main question is who is helping Toyota create malfunctioning cars? According to British Broadcasting Corporation, Toyota has agreed to a $1.2 billion deal with the United States safety probe. The problem with this deal is that Toyota is helping its origin country, Japan, conceal their master plan against the United States. This master plan is a big problem that will affect not only the citizens of the United States, but also the future generation. The main problem is that Toyotas has been manufacturing defect cars in the U.S. Over the past four years, American car regulators have been investigating on these defective cars and safety issues. Based on their research, Toyota has recalled over ten million cars over issues with brakes, accelerator pedals and floor mats. In addition, Toyota has intentionally concealed information about the defective cars, according to Attorney General Eric Holder. “This has been the largest criminal penalty yet imposed on a carmaker in the US” states Attorney General Eric Holder. This brings up the question, why did Toyota purposefully manufacture malfunctioning cars?
In today’s global society, a Code of Ethics policy is used to label established, acceptable behaviors among that industry’s business associates, potential investors, and the corporation’s executive officers and employees, and most important, the consumer (Ethics Resource Center, 2003). In an attempt to promote an increased efficiency and productivity potential level, among employees and prospective clients, a corporation’s standard Code of Ethics should guide its members toward a more in-depth examination of their personal moral activity, and how these actions affect the people or acquaintances they encounter. A company should utilize this strategy as a model for the professional behaviors and responsibilities of its constituents, and proves the occupational advancement of that business. Ethics are important in every level of a corporation, but specifically in the day-to-day actions of its members, and the image the company broadcasts to its associates is fundamental in building a stable business foundation. These pledges are a vital communication tool used to covey the firm’s standards for business operations, and predominantly, its relationships with the surrounding communities (Ethics Resource Center, 2003).
Volkswagen, a well-known German automaker, has continuously been highly regarded for their commitment to producing safe, reliable, and relatively inexpensive vehicles. However, the Volkswagen emissions scandal dramatically changed the world’s perception of the highly rated company. The vastly publicized scandal included the company fraudulently deceiving the United States government in regards to the compliance with pollution emission standards. Volkswagen should be held responsible for the legal, spiritual, and ethical
Toyota allegedly is accused of 'Unintended Acceleration' of some of their model cars. The Prius and the Lexus HS has known safety issues of possible faulty breaking systems and a recall is issued. Further, in 2010 the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) ordered Toyota Motor Corporation to issue a recall on several other motor vehicles for known issues such as the sticky accelerator pedal. Toyota states that the sticky accelerator was due to factory installed floor mats that the company issues with each of their new vehicles and Toyota stated for the consumer to remove the floor mats to fix this problem. Conversely, investigators from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) found no link between the unintended acceleration and flaws of electronic throttle. Investigators instead, blamed driver error or floor mats to be the cause.
Business ethics are the moral principles that describe the way a business behaves. Because businesses are treated as “persons”, it can be said that the same principles that determine an individual’s actions can also apply to business. Making ethical choices involves distinguishing between right and wrong, and then making the right choice; and while it can be easy to identify unethical business practices, such as using child labor or not paying employees properly, good ethical practice can be harder to define simply because what is deemed right is not always universally accepted. In other words, everyone has a unique moral compass, and can see black and white as different shades of gray. In the face of this, every business holds corporate social responsibility to act fairly for their employees’, stakeholders’, and sometimes even the earth’s sake. However, whether or not the business adheres to this ethical paradigm varies.
Companies that ignore the safety of their consumers in order to push a product to meet its deadline while saving some money are acting immorally. Ford knew their new automobile, the Pinto, had serious consequences to human welfare, yet ignored it and sold the product as is anyway. The Pinto did not meet the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s proposed standard for rear-impact collisions and failed every crash-test. This posed a serious safety concern considering that the Pinto represented a serious fire hazard when struck from the rear; even at low speed collisions. Even with this knowledge, Ford decided to push the product as is and ultimately ended up harming many people. Therefore, Ford acted immorally.
Seawell, Buie 2010, ‘The Content and Practice of Business Ethics’, Good Business, pp. 2-18, viewed 22 October 2013, .
Norman, W., & MacDonald, C. (2004). Getting to the bottom of the "triple bottom line". Business Ethics Quarterly, 14(2), 243-262. http://dx.doi.org/10.5840/beq200414211
From November 2009 till 2010, the company recalled about 9 million vehicles worldwide. In March 2014, the company paid a fine $1.2 billion for covering up the the issues of safety behind the recalls.
Ferrell, O. C., Fraedrich, J., & Ferrell, L. (2013). Business ethics: Ethical decision making and cases: 2011 custom edition (9th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.