The Ethical Issues and Social Responsibility of Corporate Management Research Paper

The Ethical Issues and Social Responsibility of Corporate Management at Ford - Research Paper Example Since its production, people have been curious and apprehensive about this Ford Pinto model as it has low capacity and safety measures, catching fire, particularly after a rear-end collision. The specific case of the three teenagers received media attention primarily because the company was charged with criminal conduct and murder, not simply negligence. Connected to this case were the several other pending civil cases against Ford for this particular problem. Larger of the problems that Ford faced was that of corporate social responsibility where ethical concerns included conducting successful and people-oriented business in today’s time (Ethics and the Individual, n.d). The paper talks about this ethical concern that Ford faced and the ethical decisions it took to cater to this issue at hand. Furthermore, the paper also discusses the various alternative actions that the company could have taken to cater to this ethical dilemma at hand. The Ethical Issues in the Case and the Approach used by Coordinator The various ethical concerns at hand that this case identifies include the launch of Ford Pinto with complete knowledge that the product was faulty and prone to problems such as the fuel tank catching fire after a slow rear-end collision with any other car. This ethical concern is magnified by the forty or so civil and one criminal case against Ford Motor Company based on this problem identified in the car. The cars had specifically been tested to evaluate whether the fuel tank was faulty and it was discovered that out of eleven cars, eight cars had ruptured fuel tanks which caught fire. This problem is complicated further by the fact that Ford decided to launch its Ford Pinto in two years, which is one year and six months earlier than the regular time span it took for the product to be put in the market, from a conception of the product. The product was out in the market and it implies that the coordinator had a clear idea on the failures of the product and yet launched it in the market with this explicit knowledge (The Revised Trevino & Nelson 8-step model, n.d). In the ethical case elucidated above, the philosophical approach that the coordinator used in this case was the justice or fairness approach. This approach implies the principal taught by Aristotle that equals are to be treated equally while unequal should be treated unequally. In this respect, the moral question is that whether the actions taken by the coordinator were fair and whether these actions treated everyone similarly or in a similar manner or not. The case indicates that the coordinator launched the product despite knowing its faults and problems, thus showing discriminatory behavior towards the other stakeholders of the product (Andre, Meyer, Shanks & Velasquez, 1996). The Stakeholders for the Dilemma It is pertinent to study the various stakeholders and their relationship to the case as it will help us in evaluating which stakeholders had the most negative ef fect from the launch and running of Ford Pintos in the market. The first and foremost were the users of Ford Pinto who either drove the Ford Pinto or were passengers in the car. The negative effect for them was that any small accident particularly involving the rear end of the Ford Pinto, would result in a ruptured fuel tank and possibly a fire which could be dangerous to these stakeholders.