Business Ethics - The Ford Pinto Case

Introduction

Although Ford had get access to a new conceive which would decline the likelihood of the Ford Pinto from blowing up, the business chose not to apply the conceive, which would have cost $11 per vehicle, even though it had finished an investigation displaying that the new conceive would outcome in 180 less deaths. The business kept protected itself on the surrounds that it utilized the acknowledged risk/benefit investigation to work out if the monetary charges of producing the change were larger than the societal benefit.

 

Arguments against Negligence-Efficiency

 The ethical issue in The Ford Pinto Case was whether a corporation only has a legal responsibility to meet government safety guidelines for its products or does it also have a moral responsibility and obligation to see to the welfare and safety of the consumers of their product regardless if the net overall effect results in a less than favorable product price point and subsequent reduced profit margin to the stockholders. (Douglas 1994, 312)

Ethics

Taking an ethical set about to the Ford Pinto case makes acknowledging the risk/benefit investigation presented by the Ford Motor Company difficult. In producing what appears to be the correct conclusion founded on figures, Ford is essence taken up a principle of permitting a certain number of persons to pass away or be hurt even though they could have stopped it. When taken on a case-by-case cornerstone the conclusion appears to be a blatant disregard for human life. (Birsch & Fielder, 1994)

 

An ethical perception of Pinto production

Ford inevitably focused on the short-term and acknowledged only the limited subset of stakeholders. The company had a traditional view which originates at the pre-conventional and the conventional levels of moral development. Ford would have fixed the Pinto if they cared about victims injured by this car. Thus, the ...