This case study involves the devastating explosions of Ford Pinto's series due to a myriad of issues that caused the fuel system design of the Pinto to be defective. This unsurprisingly led to an impassioned debate revolving around many different issues, the majority of which centered around the use by Ford of a low-cost analysis and the possible ethical violations surrounding the decision not to pursue the recommended upgrades.
This debate led to an important question: Should the manufacturing of a potential dangerous design be presumed off of a risk/benefit analysis? I can see the points of both sides of the argument in this case. On one hand, I understand that it is an extremely economically efficient and safe method, US courts have upheld it on numerous occasions, but juries do not always agree.
It is now known that Ford had the ability to a new manufacture a new design that would drastically lower the odds of an engine explosion. Ford made a conscious decision and chose not to implement the improved design, because it would have cost Ford $11 per car. Even an analysis done by ...
The pinto fire case was one the most controversial cases in the 1970’s. This case focused on the fatalities that occurred because of the fuel tank of a Ford Pinto. The design of this vehicle was flawed and there was a significant risk of rupturing the fuel tank. This case was brought up when three teenage girls died because of the ruptured fuel tank of the 1973 Pinto. The pinto fire case addressed many ethical issues, it addressed many product safety questions, and it addressed the cost-benefit analysis
In 1971 Ford Motor Company decided it needed a way to compete in the small car market that was beginning to be dominated by the smaller, cheaper cars from Japan. The answer Ford came up with has now become synonymous with one of the most debated cases in ethics; production of the Ford Pinto. In this paper we will take a look at Ford’s decision to produce the Pinto under the scope of Utilitarian ethics and ultimately review the lingering question did the ends justify the means? I implore you as the
Set to debut in 1970, the Pinto was Ford’s first attempt in the subcompact car market. The Pinto was a simple, fuel efficient vehicle and performed well against its foreign competitors. Not soon after the Pinto’s release, complaints concerning the car’s rear-end catching fire began to trickle into Ford. After an evaluation of the Pinto, Ford was unable to find a consistent pattern pertaining to the complaints and the topic was dismissed. What brought the Pinto into the public realm was the highly
labels of the correlated risk or inadequate direction. Ford Motor Company is one of the vast majorities of companies that are responsible for their product’s abuse as a result of product’s imperfection. What precautions are needed for Ford Company to be able to prevent product liability lawsuit? It is important for Ford Motor Company to create a safe product for their customers before publicly put it on the market. Factual Background In the 1970s, Ford Motor Company, one of the most rising vehicle companies
Introducing the Pinto Fires Case Jamai Bridger California College San Diego The Pinto Fires Case centers around events that transpired more than 30 years ago. The impact of these events proved extremely important to America business history. Fortune Magazine called it one of the 20 business decisions that “helped create the business world as it is today.” (Managing Business Ethics: Straight Talk About How to Do It Right) The resulting aftermath directly contributed to the development of both
Facts Around 1967 Ford Motor Company decided to design a small size car called the Ford Pinto. The automobile industry at the time (and still is) was highly competitive and very cyclical. In the late 1960's, America began to see the influences of foreign vehicles. Prior to that, cars were bigger and less fuel efficient, allowing the Japanese to gain substantial market share with the smaller, more economical vehicles, and the need to react to this pressure was even greater at Ford. Even though they
The Ford Pinto Case Evaluating the Ford Pinto Case by taking an ethical approach, makes judging the decisions made on a cost-benefit analysis difficult. Cost-benefit analysis puts a price on human life and compares it to the cost of a something else. To judge this case, a look at separate consequences must be made, weighing the good and bad results of an action on everyone affected by it (DeGeorge, 2010, p. 44). Ford’s production of the Pinto was not done in an illegal manner. However, Ford ignored
Case Analysis: Pinto Fires Introduction Greed is the root to evil or at least the motivation behind some corporations making a good, ethical decision. The Ford Motor Company fell into a trap of greed that would cost many human lives. Before the disaster of the Pinto Fires, Ford had a reputation as being the safety pioneer in the automobile industry with additions such as the seat belts. However, as the invention of small cars began to take emerge Ford began to loose market shares to the foreign
Ford Pinto Case The humankind history has probably never known one completely successful product - a product that would never break down or malfunction. "The ideal product is a myth because in reality, there has been and always will be mistakes and flaws in the technology and production. When there are only a small percentage of defective pieces, it is easy to blame the individual product. It is when there is repetitive malfunction of the same system under the same conditions that people begin
Background In the late 1960’s, Ford Motor Company was being pressured by its stockholders and the American public to design and manufacture an inexpensive and efficient compact car to compete with other similar vehicles such as the Volkswagen Beetle and Chevrolet Vega. In response, Ford Motor Company began designing the Ford Pinto, a two-door subcompact car that would take only 25 months to engineer, as opposed to the industry average of 43. Furthermore, engineers discovered during the pre-production
“Ford Pinto Fires Case” is a case study written by Dennis A. Gioia. Dennis was one of the Ford’s vehicle recall coordinator during the time when Pinto fire problem occurred. Pinto is a one of the subcompact car of Ford which came into the market during 1970’s. This paper focuses on why “Ford Pinto Fire Accident” which took lives of three people occurred. Background The Ford Pinto Fire Case took place in Goshen, Indiana on August 10, 1978. It was 1973 Ford Pinto model. Three teenagers were driving
This paper will discuss the concept of utilitarianism and its impact in a prominent engineering ethics case, The Ford Pinto Fires. Utilitarianism determines if an act is morally right or wrong depending on the consequences of that actions. For this theory, consequences are measured based off their impact on pleasure or wellbeing. In the classic definition of utilitarian theory, pleasure is additive and does not have to be distributed among individuals equally to be considered morally right. An
I can recall when my older sister in the 70’s had purchased a shiny new Ford Pinto and pulled it into the driveway. She used at that time what she thought was her best judgment along with an economical price but only to be succumbed by our Dad when he realized what she purchased. Ford Motor Company in the late 60’s were being overtaken by other countries car manufactures in the subcompact market. The Volkswagen Beetle was still formidable, and the VW Rabbit was on the drawing board. Datsun and Toyota
the case of the Ford Pinto, and its relative controversy, through the varied scope of ethical viewpoints, the results might surprise us. From a personal standpoint, as a consumer, the idea of selling a vehicle to the masses with such a potentially devastating flaw is completely unethical. When we consider the case from other directions and other ethical viewpoints, however, it makes it clear that often ethics are a matter of perspective and philosophy. It’s also clear that there are cases where
Analysis of the Ford Pinto” For mankind communication has been a very important issue and with that transportation has also rose to prominence. Not so long ago we were aided by a new invention due to the innovation of a few workaholics and the automobile industry. Along with the Japanese rivals Ford is one of leading companies in the world and run by a family, which controls the major shares in the company. But the company’s fate and history has not been free of controversy and this case mainly deals