Comm 101
Principles of Responsible Commerce
Tutorial Preparation Week 3 (The Ford Pinto)
1. What moral issues does the Pinto case raise?
The Ford Pinto case in (Shaw, Barry & Sansbury 2009, p97) stated that Ford decided to continue produce the Pinto without making an improvement regardless of consumers’ safety because its prototype tests did not meet the safety requirement of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. They should not put the value of money prioritise than human life. Firstly, they decided to sell it instead of making an improvement. Next, they were dishonest because they did not dispose it out to outside world about the dangerous of the Ford Pinto and tried to keep for secret. Besides, they used their lobby power and influence other car manufacturing to delay the government implementation to improve safety standards. (109 words)
2. Suppose Ford officials were asked to justify their decision. What moral principles do you think they would invoke? Assess Ford’s handling of the Pinto from the perspective of each of the moral theories discussed in this chapter.
The first moral principles they should invoke is egoism. Egoism can be defined as the ethical theory of valuing everything to be morally right only in reference to the most interest an individual get and act selfishness. They have made a decision of sell the Ford Pinto as is without any improvement because they earn even more. The Ford Company thought they were morally right and they suffered even more at the long run (Shaw, Barry & Sansbury 2009). Besides, they invoked the principles of utilitarianism and justified their decision with a cost-benefit analysis. Unfortunately, they never follow the right and actual cost-benefit analysis to make the decision. They do not calculated properly and cost they do not included in the cost when someone died in a
Tutorial Preparation Week 3 (The Ford Pinto)
1. What moral issues does the Pinto case raise?
The Ford Pinto case in (Shaw, Barry & Sansbury 2009, p97) stated that Ford decided to continue produce the Pinto without making an improvement regardless of consumers’ safety because its prototype tests did not meet the safety requirement of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. They should not put the value of money prioritise than human life. Firstly, they decided to sell it instead of making an improvement. Next, they were dishonest because they did not dispose it out to outside world about the dangerous of the Ford Pinto and tried to keep for secret. Besides, they used their lobby power and influence other car manufacturing to delay the government implementation to improve safety standards. (109 words)
2. Suppose Ford officials were asked to justify their decision. What moral principles do you think they would invoke? Assess Ford’s handling of the Pinto from the perspective of each of the moral theories discussed in this chapter.
The first moral principles they should invoke is egoism. Egoism can be defined as the ethical theory of valuing everything to be morally right only in reference to the most interest an individual get and act selfishness. They have made a decision of sell the Ford Pinto as is without any improvement because they earn even more. The Ford Company thought they were morally right and they suffered even more at the long run (Shaw, Barry & Sansbury 2009). Besides, they invoked the principles of utilitarianism and justified their decision with a cost-benefit analysis. Unfortunately, they never follow the right and actual cost-benefit analysis to make the decision. They do not calculated properly and cost they do not included in the cost when someone died in a
References: Leggett, C 1999, ‘The Ford Pinto Case: The Valuation of Life as It Applies to the Negligence-Efficiency Argument’, Accessed 25/8/2012, http://www.wfu.edu/~palmitar/Law&Valuation/Papers/1999/Leggett-pinto.html Harvard Business Review 2011, ‘Ethical Breakdowns’, Accessed 25/8.2012, http://hbr.org/2011/04/ethical-breakdowns/ar/1 Shaw, W.H, Barry, V. and Sansbury, G (2009), Moral Issues in Business, Cengage Learning, Melbourne, Australia. Kingston, K 2012, Topic 2 Rights, Duties & Moral Philosophies, Principles of Responsible Commerce, University of Wollongong.