An engineer pointing out unsafe car problems In this case study, Susan is a design engineer in a major auto company who receives two reports concerning engine fires and explosions that occurred in hot weather in the company’s popular economy car. When the engine of this model was approved for production, Susan advised the company that there could be a gas leak. She argued for a modification, but her proposal was turned down. Susan pressed for special testing under excessive heat conditions and urged the company to warn the public and immediately recall all of the cars of this model. However, such a recall probably will cost the company between $500,000 and $1 million, and Susan is told to mind her own business, or she will be fired. In the …show more content…
Even though she was told to drop the topic otherwise she will get fired, she should find an alternative solution to the problem. For instance, recalling the cars in locations with extreme hot weather conditions in which the cars are most likely to catch an engine fire. If the cars are working fine in other locations with a different type of weather, then there is no high risk of engine fires, hence there is no need to recall all the cars in these sectors. This should be a good solution which people should be okay with since they are not in extreme danger and they can have access to a cheap car to …show more content…
They will need to be ready to go to court and defend their position in case someone decides to sue them for negligence in recalling a defective product. Sooner or later somebody will realize about the design flaw and people will stop trusting them and their products generating huge loses to the company. With this said, the company should always be true to its customers and society in general. People acquire different products or services in order to be happier by covering their needs. People do not want to be in troubles with defective products that may put their lives at risk. People are willing to pay money for high quality products that will work safely, in this way the seller will achieve the goal of generating income and the customer needs will be
The first chance a company is a new product may not be what the clienteles want and see it as the necessity. This risk is severe when you base your concepts for new merchandise merely on an impulse, or without conducting sufficient market investigation. Businesses that are not in touch with their clienteles are also likely to issue with the product. One issue that is often met by product designers is determining on what features must be encompassed in the product. There problem that occurs among merchandise because it has too little features and having too much. The second risk is product growth procedure may include mechanical hurdles and functioning risks that must be overcome. The corporation may be developing completely new merchandise that will deliver new and better assistance to clients. The item may also select to adapt its existing product by adding new features that will make it more interesting to the market. The third risk is a financial risk. A new product that you have established may not be able to produce sufficient demand at a price that will transport revenue for the business. The cost of production, as well as the costs of advertising the product, may not be enclosed by the selling value. The company needs first to identify what the risk is how they really will affect everyone involved. The company must do a risk assessment. This assessment will help the company be able to understand the weight of the risk will have on the company. The company will need to prioritize the risk in order of importance. The final step is to mitigate planning, implement, process motoring of the risk that will be affected. The company need create surveys for employees and for customers to see what feature should be offered with the new product. These elements are essential and will show how customer friendly it will be for customers. The company needs to make sure the customers
Recommendations include requiring the Douglas Aircraft Company change maintenance and calibration requirements for all DC-8 stall warning systems, improving the fidelity of the simulators in reproducing the stall characteristics of the airplanes they represent, ensure ABX incorporates the revised functional evaluation stall recovery procedure in its FEF program and developing an advisory circular advising aircrew on correct stall maneuver procedures. Additional requirements were for the FAA to identify operations that require special consideration and require special training and operational guidance. They were also to take a more active role in surveillance of FEF programs for air carriers and modify current operating instructions to clarify airworthiness and operational procedural requirements for conducting FEF’s in transport-category aircraft. The Safety Board also reiterated its standing recommendation to present pilots with angle-of-attack information in a visual format and to train them to use the information to obtain maximum possible climb performance.
If consumers have purchased particular products that have been recalled, consumers have certain rights depending on the way the recall is conducted. Generally, if products consumers have bought get recalled, consumers are entitled for a full refund, a suitable replacement product of the same value, or a modification or repair of the product (Recalls Government Australia, 2013).
In the case, “Facing a Fire” prepared by Ann Buchholtz, there are several problems and issues to identify in determining if Herman Singer should rebuild the factory due to a fire or retire on his insurance proceeds. I believe that this case is about social reform and self-interest. I think that Singer needs to ask himself, what is in the firm’s best economic interests. There are several things to question within this case, what should Herman Singer do and why, should he rebuild the factory or begin retirement, if he rebuilds, should he relocate the firm to an area where wages are lower and what provisions, if any, should Singer make for his employees as well as for the community?
The leveling effect of governmental action is indispensable in producing improvements in product safety and pollution reduction. It does little good to exhort engineers to insist that their ideas on safety or pollution be adopted, if the effect would be to jeopardize their employer’s welfare. If such actions result in damaging their employers, have they properly fulfilled the ethical obligations they accepted when they accepted employment? In return for a salary, there is an implied obligation that an employee will help indulge the employer’s
...being held accountable, the city officials themselves were also held accountable because of improper safety regulations. Showing that the city itself should be at fault for not enforcing safety regulations for such things as fire escapes, that were not in working order. These unprecedented circumstances just lay down the blueprint for what is now the correct way to set regulations for industrial factory conditions.
For this case analysis, I’ve chosen to research the crash of Helios Airways Flight 522, a Boeing 737-300 that occurred on 14 August 2005. Prior to the doomed flight, the ground engineer performed a routine inspection but failed to reset the cabin pressurization system of the aircraft from “Manual” to “Auto”. The flight crew of Helios 522 failed to notice the oversight despite having three opportunities to correct the mistake: the pre-flight check, the after engine start check, and the after takeoff check. During initial climb out, the flight crew was alerted to a malfunction, but mistook several caution alarms for minor takeoff configuration warnings. Before they could determine the cause and correct the issue, the pilot, crew, and passengers
Two tragic incidents, the Challenger Space Shuttle crash of 1986, and the Three Mile Island near meltdown of 1979, have greatly devastated our nation. Both these disasters involved failures of communication among ordinary professional people, working in largely bureaucratic companies. Two memos called the “Smoking Gun Memos,” authored by R. M. Boisjoly, of Morton Thiokol, and D. F. Hallman, of Babcook and Wilcox, will always be associated these two incidents. Unfortunately, neither of these memos were successful in preventing the accidents of the Challenger and the Three Mile Island near meltdown.
...with a return policy’s. Guarantee to their customers. However customers trust both companies.to support the need for high value, operations must be ensure that their production are high of quality and usually undamaged.
Teens need to be taught that driving is a task that is complex and demanding. Parents know how much experience a young driver has, and they know exactly how inconvenient it is when they have to drive with their teen everywhere while they have their permit. Teens tend to cause most traffic accidents in adults’ eyes. They are not experienced yet, and often fail to pay attention to others on the road. They often think of a car as being some type of toy, but they do not know how powerful it really is. The driver education programs must be strengthened in order to make sure that students really have safer habits, behind the wheel experience, and by having a better understanding of all the laws on the road.
This case involves Ford and the Japanese tire manufacturer, Bridgestone/Firestone. The Ford Explorers which were prone to rolling over, came equipped with Firestone defected tires. The tire seemed to have a defect that caused the tread to separate from the whole of the tire and cause the vehicle to flip. Although Firestone knew about such defects, they continued to produce despite knowing the deadly consequences that lay behind their actions. The Explorer also had a bad reputation of rolling over and Ford knew it. As a result, fatal accidents occurred from these two combinations. Since this was a very serious safety issue, Ford and Firestone were ordering the recall of problem tires in Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Asia but not in the United States. So, did the company act ethically in resolving this crisis? No, the companies failed to fix the problem in the United States. According to NHTSA, the tires have caused many deaths and injuries in the United States. In fact, these accidents would have not occurred if both companies have solved the problem immediately. Thus, despite the obvious safety issues, there were also fundamental ethical issues.
Throughout The Road by Cormac McCarthy the father insists that the journey along the road is one he and his son must make alone, for trusting strangers is too risky when they have no way of knowing the good people from the bad. In my essay I will discuss if it is worth risking everything for a chance to make their lives better. I will determine this by examining the kinds of risks taken (and not taken) throughout the book, and by looking at what influenced the decision to take or not take those risks. I will conclude that the father and son must risk contact with others because it is their only hope for changing their current doomed fate.
For consumers, it is important that the company is able to make them feel valued. When they complain, it must not be viewed negatively. The company must be able to address such complaint. When their concern is addressed immediately, the company is able to earn their respect and trust (Perfect Apology). The consumers would also want to hear from the company that it is sorry for the damage it has cause and the latter is willing to take full responsibility of the same.
In most situations’ companies are advised by the recall committees. Recalls due to undeclared
Engineers design, build or maintain applications and systems to solve various societal problems. Their behaviors thus have a non-negligible impact on human development. Oftentimes, however, engineers are faced with the dilemma to choose between compromising their code of ethics and threatening their promising careers. It is important that engineers deem public welfare as a supreme concern and stand their ground so that they will report any observed situations that potentially can harm public safety to their superiors. The Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) case study is a good example of engineers being responsible with society in that they attempted multiple times to inform their supervisors in management about their concerns with the possible imminent system failure of BART. Even though their voices were ignored and they were fired by the company in the end, they made the passengers realize the probable dangers underneath this regional rail service. Consequently, on October 2nd, 1972, as a result of Automatic Train Control (ATC) failure, a BART train overshot the station at Fremont and wounded several people. In order to prevent these tragic accidents from happening, the BART case needs to be further examined for deeper understanding of the problem. This paper will use deontological ethical framework to address the cause of BART train system failure and recommend feasible plans to avert similar tragedies from occurring in the future to BART employees. Therefore, not only engineers, but also managers and board of directors should be educated about ethics and should be familiar with basic technical knowledge regarding their business.