The Ethical Issues and Social Responsibility of Corporate Management at Ford - Research Paper Example

?Introduction to the Case The case revolves around an automobile accident that took place in 1978 where three teenage girls passed away by burning inthe car which was a 1973 model of Ford Pinto. Their car was struck by a van from behind and its fuel tank caught fire after an explosion. All three of the teenagers died from severe burns and this case became extremely famous in the future years, particularly in the decision whether production for Ford Pinto should be continued or not (Ethics and the Individual, n.d). Various accidents have been noted with people burning to death, involving the Ford Pinto. Since its production, people have been curious and apprehensive about this Ford Pinto model as it has low capacity and safety measures, catching fire particularly after a rear end collision. The specific case of the three teenagers received media attention primarily because the company was charged with criminal conduct and murder, not simply negligence. Connected to this case were the several other pending civil cases against Ford for this particular problem. Larger of the problems that Ford faced was that of corporate social responsibility where ethical concerns included conducting successful and people oriented business in today’s time (Ethics and the Individual, n.d). The paper talks about this ethical concern that Ford faced and the ethical decisions it took to cater to this issue at hand. Furthermore, the paper also discusses the various alternative actions that the company could have taken to cater to this ethical dilemma at hand. The Ethical Issues in the Case and the Approach used by Coordinator The various ethical concerns at hand that this case identifies include the launch of Ford Pinto with complete knowledge that the product was faulty and prone to problems such as the fuel tank catching fire after a slow rear end collision with any other car. This ethical concern is magnified by the forty or so civil and one criminal case against Ford Motor Company based on this problem identified in the car. The cars had specifically been tested to evaluate whether the fuel tank was faulty and it was discovered that out of eleven cars, eight cars had ruptured fuel tanks which caught fire. This problem is complicated further by the fact that Ford decided to launch its Ford Pinto in two years, which is one year and six months earlier than the regular time span it took for the product to be put in the market, from conception of the product. The product was out in the market and it implies that the coordinator had a clear idea on the failures of the product and yet launched it in the market with this explicit knowledge (The Revised Trevino & Nelson 8-step model, n.d). In the ethical case elucidated above, the philosophical approach that the coordinator used in this case was the justice or fairness approach. This approach implies the principal taught by Aristotle that equals are to be treated equally while unequal should be treated unequally. In this respect, the moral question is that whether the actions taken by the coordinator were fair and whether these actions treated everyone similarly or in a similar manner or not. The case indicates that the coordinator launched the product despite knowing its faults and problems, thus showing discriminatory behavior towards the other stakeholders of the product (Andre, Meyer, Shanks & Velasquez, 1996). The Stakeholders for the Dilemma It is pertinent to study the various stakeholders and their relationship to the case as it will help us in evaluating which stakeholders had the most negative effect from the launch and running of Ford Pintos in the market. The first and foremost were the users of Ford Pinto who either drove the Ford Pinto or were passengers in the car. The negative effect for them was that any small accident particularly involving the rear end of the Ford Pinto, would result in a ruptured fuel tank and possibly a fire which could be dangerous to these stakeholders. The next large stakeholder in this case is Ford Motor Company which launched its product in the market with the explicit knowledge that the product was faulty and not tested completely (Ethics and the Individual, n.d). Moral Awareness and its Demonstration by the Coordinator The philosophical ideology that the coordinator utilized in this case was the Duties, Obligations, and Principles philosophy, which indicates that the coordinator was more concerned about getting the product in the market to cater to the consumers against its German competitors, while failing to evaluate and take into consideration the issues that Ford Pinto had; thus neglecting the consequentialist theory. This shows that the coordinator did not take moral considerations into account and was not morally aware enough to take the correct direction and decision which would pertain to the consequentialist theory (Ethics and the Individual, n.d) Possible Solutions and Alternative Actions for the Case One possible solution and alternative action that the coordinator could have taken was not to launch the car before thorough testing of the product and ensuring that all problems have been removed from the cars before their launch. However, failing to do that, the next action that would have added to the element of corporate social responsibility for Ford Motor Company was recalling all cars from the market and giving some form of compensation to the consumers so that goodwill could be built. Good will would have been built when the organization had focused on making peace with its consumers after the various civil and criminal cases that had arisen over the years after people had used the Ford Pinto. The philosophy in this case that would have been employed would be consequentialist theory as it implies that the coordinator would have thought about the consequences and the problems that could have arisen with the launch of the product. This is unlike the actual launch of the product and the problems that the company has faced after the Ford Pinto’s launch (Ethics and the Individual, n.d). References Ethics and the individual. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://media.wiley.com/product_data/excerpt/67/EHEP0017/EHEP001767-2.pdf Andre, C., Meyer, M., Shanks, T., & Velasquez, M. (1996).Scc.edu. Retrieved from http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/decision/thinking.html The Revised Trevino & Nelson 8-step model. (n.d.). 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