Case (The Ford Pinto) There was strong competition for Ford in the American small-car market from Volkswagen and several Japanese companies in the 1960’s. To fight the competition, Ford rushed its newest car the Pinto into production in much less time than is usually required to develop a car. The regular time to produce an automobile is 43 months but Ford took 25 months only (Satchi, L., 2005). Although Ford had access to a new design which would decrease the possibility of the Ford Pinto from exploding
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
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
“Legal and Ethical 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
Trinh Bus/Phil 186-07 Professional and Business Ethics Spring ‘15/Dr. Williamson February 23, 2015 The Ford Pinto Companies that ignore the safety of their consumers in order to push a product to meet its deadline while saving some money are acting immorally. Ford knew their new automobile, the Pinto, had serious consequences to human welfare, yet ignored it and sold the product as is anyway. The Pinto did not meet the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s proposed standard for rear-impact
their 1973 Ford Pinto, led to the first time an American corporation had been charged for a criminal crime in a court case. Even though the women were involved in a rear-end collision, it was believed that a flaw in the vehicle, a gas tank rupture, was the cause of their deaths. After District Attorney Michael Cosentino presented his argument, a grand jury returned a criminal homicide charge, indicting the Ford Company for three counts of reckless homicide. This case, State of Indiana vs. Ford Motor
design of the Ford Pinto. Ford professionals would have to adapt the passenger cars to meet greater federal safety standards. In testing during production, collision reports ensured design flaws. In which the fuel tank would rupture in a crash above 25mph and at the same time the front doors would usually jam shut, the vehicle would explode with occupants still inside. Internal documents show that eleven of the tests averaging thirty one miles per hour were performed before the Pinto went into production
Ford Motor Company (“Ford”) began initial planning for the Ford Pinto in the summer of 1967. It was approved by Ford’s Board of Directors in January 1969 and hit the market on September 11, 1970 under the tagline The Little Carefree Car. (Wikipedia—“Ford Pinto”) The vehicle was built as a response to subcompact car imports that were popular with consumers of the time. Ford President Lee Iacocca directed the organization to produce a 1971 model that weighed less than 2,000 pounds and cost less
A Brief Introduction on the Ford Case When a decision is made in a business organization, the internal stakeholders, the organization, and the external stakeholders are either affected positively and negatively. In "a who-why situation", two important questions are asked. The first question is who does the decision affect? The second question raised is how can the decision made, made to be ethical. In this case, Ford decided not to repair the defective fuel tank that posed a great danger to the people
In the summer of 1967, Ford Motor Company began the development of a new car that would place it in the small-car market (Mark Dowie, 1977, p. 1). This automobile was named the Ford Pinto and would grow to become its biggest-selling subcompact vehicle (Mark Dowie, 1977, p. 2). Back in the mid-1960s, Ford’s then president had been involved in a collision that resulted in his car’s fuel tank bursting into flames (Mark Dowie, 1977, p. 1). With this occurrence, one would have imagined that the company
The Ford Pinto was first introduced in 1971 and built through 1980, by the Ford Motor Company. The little carefree car became a focus of a major scandal when it was alleged that the car's design permitted its fuel tank to be undoubtedly damaged in the event of a rear-end collision. (Ford Pinto) This flaw resulted in deadly fires and explosions through early production of the model. A number of critics have claimed that the Ford Motor Company acted unethically in producing the Ford Pinto; knowing
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
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
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
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
be the Ford Pinto case. When gas prices were rising in the United States, people started to search for economical cars. Fords president wanted to make a car that fitted the American demands, so he made the Pinto which had the price of 12,000 dollars in todays capital measurement. Everything was set, and Ford made some tests, and that is when the company realized that the design placed the gas tank in a vulnerable place. Now, we all know that no car is one hundred percent safe, but the Pinto unwillingly
“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
Henry Ford II, CEO of the Ford Corporation, was creating a competitive automobile to rival the foreign vehicles, he labeled the project a high priority. To launch the design and manufacturing of this automobile, Mr. Ford turned to his company president, Lido Anthony Iacocca aka “Lee: the father of the mustang”. The Fords Engineers staff, pressured by the upper management were rushed into completing the project
Indiana. The two sisters and cousin were headed to practice for their church’s volleyball team. They had just refueled their 1973 Ford Pinto and were attempting to pull over and check the gas cap. The vehicle behind them was a van weighing over 400 pounds that was modified with a rigid plank for a front bumper. The van’s driver, Robert Duggar, was distracted and hit the Pinto at about 50 MPH. Duggar said in testimony, “Before I could think, the car was on fire…I wanted to help but everything was burning
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