The Student Motor Company - Case Study Example

?Case Analysis QUESTION The Motor Company is an auto manufacturing firm with net worth of US$ 7.7 billion. The company was losing its market share because of the high extent of competition from the competitors. Companies such as Volkswagens were capturing the market share through the subcompact cars. In order to regain market prominence, the Student Motor Company launched a subcompact car Zinger. The concept of Zinger was approved and the study was conducted under the supervision of the management to maintain the code of ethics of the business. The research and development and preproduction testing of the automobile usually take 43 months but for Zinger it was just above 24 months. As Zinger was a rush project, design was given more importance than the mechanical aspects which is the major concern of the manufacturing firm. This act of the management demonstrated a lack of research and ignorance of quality. The crash test of Zinger displayed few issues which were to be resolved by the management for the safety of the people. It was noticeable that a moving barrier at 21 miles per hour caused the fuel neck to be torn from the tank which caused fuel leakage. This spilled fuel could enter the driver’s chamber causing fire to ignite, this was because of defect in the engineering design. The crash test demonstrated that the gasoline tank can cause fire and turn the car into flames causing damage to the society. Moreover, the Zinger was not meeting the standard of emission which would pollute the environment and cause severe damage. The company did not follow the ethical practice of the business as it launched the product in the market with manufacturing defeats. The director of the company claimed that the improved design with more safety standards would increase the cost of the car and would not be able to meet the basic requirements of the people. The management knew the facts that the launch of the car could cause death and have a negative effect on the society but to regain its market share it launched Zinger with the lingering defeats. This was an unethical practice followed by the company which caused loss of life and severe damage to the individual in the car due to the fire (Fall 1-4). The stakeholders of the manufacturing firm are Mr. I.M.Good, the Vice President of Car Engineering, Mrs. Lovely the group Vice President of the car engineering and Student Motor’s Product Planning Committee member. The production of the Zinger and the fault were known by the committee member; hence the code of ethics was not followed by the company (Fall 1-4). QUESTION 2 The ethical issues faced by the company created a negative impact in the market. The ethical issues faced by the company could have been resolved by following the basic ethics of the business. The first aspect which the company could have done was to focus more on the research and development of the subcompact car Zinger, before launching it in the market. Furthermore, the design should not have been the main area of concern but the technicality should have been the main focus. The committee member could have stopped the production of the car and stalled its sale in the market, when the preproduction test displayed several issues which could cause death. If the company would have used their ethics and sense of responsibility and stopped the manufacturing of the defective products, the life of succumbed person could have been saved. The management was aware of the consequences of the Zinger car but did not take any preventive measures to stop such unethical practices. The second ethical alternative could have been to maintain the standard of emission as indicated by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The maintenance of the emission level is the responsibility of the manufacturer. The company violated the rule and launched the car without maintaining the standard. This act was a fraudulent act from the management point of view as the people would get to know about the emission after a year. The maintenance of the emission standard would have increased the sales, customer loyalty and facilitated in ascertaining a safe society. In terms of first economic alternative, the company should have followed the government regulations on gasoline tank. This would have enhanced the design of the car and assured greater reliability and cost effectiveness. The reason being the damage caused by the violation of the rules would be more as compared to the cost incurred in the production level. The second economic alternative could have been to increase the cost of production by ensuring the technical aspect. This is because the company was incurring a loss and losing its reputation in an attempt of producing cost efficient car. The management should have increased the cost as the end result would have been profit. The company had to face an associated cost of US$137.5 million and benefit of US$49 million which was a loss and not profit even after violating the norms (Fall 1-2). QUESTION 3 The subcompact car Zinger of The Student Motor Company faced damage because of a lack of quality and improvement. The management might have focused on the quality aspect of car production. The management concept implemented could have been the Total Quality Management (TQM) and Kaizen concept. The kaizen theory refers to continuous improvement in the process of manufacturing and business management. The company should have applied the concept of improvement by considering the research for a required period by considering all the relevant fact. This would have improved the standardized activities associated with Zinger manufacturing (Karkoszka and Honorowicz 198- 200). The implementation of total quality management would have allowed the management to take necessary steps with regard to the quality deliverance. The implementation of TQM concept would have enhanced the quality of product, improved the efficiency and helped in creating a well-planned business structure following all the guidelines which would have been cost effective along with facilitating to augment the credibility of the business. The objective of the concept is to advance the process, prevent defects, along with developing the cause effect relation and assisting in developing checklist. This would help to maintain the quality and make the employees take proper decisions regarding the product (Shiba, Graham and Walden 3-5). QUESTION 4 In accordance with the Student Motor Company perspective, feedforward control will ensure the corrective action. Feed forward control from the consumers and internal assigned authorities would help the company to enhance its quality and ethics of business. It will include taking valuable corrective measures before the incurrence of the issues or problems from the Zinger. The feed forward control from the people would help to enhance the quality and take corrective measures. The feed forward from the concerned authorities would make the management strict and conscious about their efforts to follow all the norms and abide by the code of ethics. This mechanism is important for the sustainability of the company and for profit making with corrective ethical measures in future (Fall 4). Works Cited Fall. “The Student Motor Company.” Final Case Analysis (2013): 1-4. Print. Karkoszka, T., and J. Honorowicz. Kaizen Philosophy A Manner of Continuous Improvement of Processes and Products. Journal of Achievements in Materials and Manufacturing Engineering 35.2 (2009): 197-203. Print Shiba, S., A. Graham, and D. Walden. Total Quality Management. What Is Quality (1993): 1-33. Print Read More