Preview

Ford Pinto Ethics Essay

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1672 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Ford Pinto Ethics Essay
Ford Pinto Case: The Invisible Corporate Human Pricetag

In this essay, I will argue that Ford Motor Company’s business behavior was unethical as demonstrated in the Ford Pinto Case. Ford did not reveal all the facts to consumers about a harmful gas tank design in the Ford Pinto. They tried to justify their decision to sell an unsafe car by using a Cost-Benefit Analysis which determined it was cheaper to sell the cars without changing to a safer gas tank. The price of not fixing the gas tanks is human injuries and fatalities. By choosing not to make the Pinto a safer vehicle Ford placed a price on the head of every consumer. Ford’s primary concern was to maximize profits. Ford had a duty and ethical responsibility to customers to stop production once they knew of the evident dangers and take the necessary measures to eliminate them by redesigning the gas tank. I will discuss the Ford Pinto Case and the harm Ford Motor Company (FMC) caused by its inability to make decisions that competently respect the wellbeing and rights of people.

“Pinto crashes have caused 500 burn deaths to people who would not have been seriously injured if the car had not burst into flames. The figure could be as high as 900.” Ford was not obligated legally to change the unsafe gas tank design. However, acting legally doesn’t mean the behavior is ethical. Ford was ethically responsible either to inform consumers of the probable harm or stop production when they knew of the apparent danger to buyers and take the necessary actions to eradicate them by redesigning the gas tank. Ford withholding valuable product information that violated the moral rights of others, and exchanging human life for company gains and profits is not only unethical but egregious.

In the late 1960s the idea for the Ford Pinto came about as a result of the influences of foreign auto manufacturers. As a response to the pressures of competition for developing a more fuel efficient and smaller car,

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    1. Ford developed a new model, later to be known as the pinto, changing the design drastically.…

    • 747 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    General Motors (GM) is one of the oldest and largest car manufactures in the United States. As early as 2001, the company began to notice issues with an ignition switch that was to be used in many car models. The problem with this switch was that a driver could “inadvertently knock them to ‘off’ or ‘accessory’ mode while driving” (Plumer, 2014). If this happened, “the engine would shut off and cars would lose their power steering and power brakes” as well as the airbags “wouldn’t inflate in the event of a crash” (Plumer, 2014). Allowing this problem to not be fixed led to many crashes and fatalities across the United States. After several years this eventually led to the recall of millions of cars and thousands of lawsuits for GM. This is an ethical issue because GM was knowledgeable of the problem and made a decision to ignore it which led to the deaths and injuries of many innocent people. In order to evaluate this ethical situation we will…

    • 3185 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    Three social issues that are in this case are that one, social issue in this case was Ford claimed the reason for the recall of the 1.9 million Ford Pintos was not for safety but for “reputational” reasons. This is a social issue because, after all the evidence was piled up on their company for being unsafe and hazardous, they couldn’t just admit they made a mistake and recall the vehicles to make them safer. No, they had to use the reputation card to help their company’s image in the long run so they wouldn’t lose profit. In this issue, there is no utilitarianism because there mindset in making this decision isn’t for the right reasons. There not doing it to intentionally increase the safety of everybody. One version, rule-utilitarianism, considers that, “a rule or code of behavior is morally right if, by its application, the consequences are more favorable that unfavorable to everyone.” They weren’t being moral when they made this decision. The citizens and people had nothing to do with the recall. It was their own self-pity and arrogance. Another social issue in this case is that in June of 1978, Ford knew that its fuel tank did not meet Federal Safety Standards, yet they didn’t do anything to warn the owners of this. It’s a fact that if people were warned of this issue, thousands and thousands of people wouldn’t want to buy the Ford Pinto. Being that this was a social issue, Ford was all about making a profit and hid crucial information for the public. The third of many social issues in this case are that when Ford was being prosecuted in the courtroom, they defended themselves against negligence by claiming its car was comparable to other subcompacts at that time.…

    • 918 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Ford Pinto Case

    • 937 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In this essay, I will talk about the ford Pinto case, and how the information was withheld from public in order to save company from huge losses and at the same time keep company’s reputation intact. I don’t think the decision of the ford company to with hold the information about the safety-issue of the car for which they were already aware of; was the right thing to do.…

    • 937 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    When I read the General Motors Misled Grieving Families on a Lethal Flaw, an overwhelming sadness fell upon me. I was sad that 26 families had to bury family members die to faulty equipment in the Chevrolet Cobalts. The key ethical issue is that General Motors knew that the black boxes in the Cobalts confirmed the potential fatal defect existing in hundreds of thousands of cars (Stout et al., 2014). Another ethical issue was the fact that GM would tell the families of the victims that they had no knowledge of any defects in their cars and once the families wanted to sue they would threaten to come after them or even said they would sue the families. One more issue that is ethical is GM didn’t immediately recall the Chevy Cobalts after the first…

    • 308 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ford Pinto is the worst car ever made and it was discontinued in 1980. The car was available as in three models, hatch, wagon, and coupe, whose design was not appealing. However, the main problem was the fuel system that was faulty and Ford had ignored designs to fix it. The poor design led to ignition and explosions of the fuel tank after minor rear or front collisions. The fuel tank was placed behind the…

    • 503 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Pinto Fires Case Study

    • 530 Words
    • 3 Pages

    After watching this video where Danny Gioia talks about his time at Ford and listening to these students pick his brain about his experience with the Pinto Fires scenario. Overall, after reading the case and Gioia’s personal memoir about his experience and how he grew, I felt strongly connected to his case. After writing my ethical dilemma paper, I found myself falling into scripting my unethical behavior and also not fully being aware of their ethical situation. I knew that something felt weird about my situation, but I did not explicitly acknowledge it as an ethical dilemma with multiple values in conflict. I understand how after working at Ford for a while, and falling into automated actions that…

    • 530 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Becker, P. A. (Vol.1 No.1 2008 ). The Ethical Challenges for Enterprise and Risks to Consumers of Large…

    • 1468 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Case 30

    • 701 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Whirlpool’s decision to close the manufacturing plant in Evansville, Indiana was a business decision the company made in response to poor sales. The decision most likely pleased shareholders but had social and ethical implications. The plant closure impacted the lives of an entire community. According to the mayor of Evansville, 10,000 jobs will be lost due to the plant closure. Since business ethics is concerned with morality and fairness in behavior, actions, and practices that take place within a business context, this case is a prime example of Whirlpool’s operating strategy of Immoral management. They exploited an opportunity for corporate gain.…

    • 701 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Fast Food Nation

    • 2285 Words
    • 10 Pages

    This book addresses some forms of bad corporate ethics and in terms of business and the social environment. For example Companies going as far as closing down an entire fast food restaurant or meatpacking plant to avoid the creation of unions is wrong. Also the treatment of workers in meatpacking plants is unacceptable. The story of Kenny Dobbins, an extremely loyal Monfort employee was injured at work, and on top of not paying his medical bills, Monfort tried to get rid of Kenny by making his work so unpleasant that he’d hopefully quit. As for Business and the Social Environment, the smell coming from IBP’s slaughterhouse one in particular in Dakota City, was so bad it violated the Clean Air Act because it forced people in the community to inhale toxic emissions. Approximately one ton of hydrogen sulfide was released into the air every day, causing respiratory problems and headaches at such high levels causing permanent damage to the nervous system. It is also very…

    • 2285 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    When the modern car was invented in Britain, the government enacted the Red Flag Act that required three people at all times to operate the vehicle: a driver, a person to fuel up the vehicle, and someone to stand in front of the car and wave a red flag. The government was worried that cars would endanger civilians, and enacted a two mph limit in urban areas. Soon after, the commercialization of vehicles shifted to the United States, and Henry Ford would initiate Ford, the car company, in 1903. Without having to be concerned with regulations similar to the Red Flag Act, Henry was able to create vehicles that traveled up to forty-five mph. This more efficient method of traveling would later on prove to be disruptive for the horse and buggy industry, causing the number of horse to decline tremendously over the course of forty years. Nonetheless, the invention of the horse-less carriage was an easy target that acquired multiple technological problems in the process of development. Even more true, past supporters of the Red Flag Act had a reason to worry because cars were dangerous, and in today's times, they are the leading cause of accidental deaths. However, despite such worries, Ford did not have to be rules of the horse and buggy business trying to stifle the emergence of…

    • 875 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Ethics Essay

    • 369 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The similarities between the three are that they determine good and bad traits about a person, and with the determination of their actions, it also determines the characteristic of the person which is virtue ethics. Utilitarianism is similar that finds the good in a person. One issue is that it avoids finding the bad in a person. With the deontological ethics the product of the action is good not bad. It holds acts that are morally obligatory for consequences made by human actions. The differences between the three ethics are, utilitarianism is an act that focuses on consequences. Virtue ethics is the character of a person not the actions of a person. Deontological ethics is a reflection of a person’s morality, which is ultimately a combination of that person’s attitude.…

    • 369 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Business Freedom

    • 1676 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Bibliography: Barry V. & Shaw W. (2004) Moral Issues in Business. (9th Edition). “The Ford Pinto Case Study” pg.84. Wadsworth: Holly J. Allen…

    • 1676 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ford was primarily motivated by profit and market share, evidenced by their decision to not recall the car and choice to pay lawsuits instead of fixing the gas tank issue. Ford completely disregarded their responsibility to produce a safe product by foregoing the universal safety standards in order to increase profit – this action is not intrinsically valuable as it acts for the good of the company. If this maxim of foregoing car safety in order to increase profit was applied universally, there would be obvious contradiction from the employees of Ford who drove a pinto and would not agree to this rule. This contradiction implies that the maxim to forego safety standards in the interest of profit is not morally valid, and Ford using this maxim to make the decision to not recall the cars is morally…

    • 338 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mustang vs Camaro

    • 1652 Words
    • 7 Pages

    In 1961, the vice president and general manager of Ford, Lee Iacocca had a dream. He envisioned the Ford Mustang. It took several months to get approval for funding to go towards the Mustang through multiple discussions, meetings and market surveys. The funding was granted in 1962. The Mustang’s parts were mainly borrowed from the Falcon to help keep the costs of production low. The car offered a variety of options for the exterior, interior, etc. Buyers were able to choose if they wanted their mustang to be fast, fancy, economical or plain. Ford wanted the Mustang’s design to appeal to everyone and anyone. It was advertised as “the car to be designed by you”.…

    • 1652 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays