Ford Case Essay

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the Ford- Firestone Case — Document Transcript 1. COMM351 Essay Danial Munsoor 3259882 Executive SummaryFord-Firestone case is a unique and an appropriate example of violation ofbusiness ethics by two renowned corporations, Ford Motor Company andFirestone Tire Company, each of which was the manufacturer of a “different”product. This essay talks about as to how the leading car manufacturer Ford, canbe held morally accountable for the various accidents and deaths which occurredin US due to vehicle rollovers of its popular SUV known as the “Ford Explorer”.However, Ford executives some how managed to put most of the blame onFirestone by saying that the accidents and deaths occurred mainly due to tireblowouts, and therefore “it is a Firestone tire problem and not a vehicle problem”.On the other hand Firestone claimed that many of the accidents were mainly dueto the vehicle’s lack of stability and were not due to its tires. Indeed much of theessay is about opposing statements made by the executives of Ford andFirestone. Therefore, in order to have a better understanding of the case, it isimportant to understand the difference between when an item is a “product in itsown right” and when it is a “component of another product”. When thousands ofparts came into a Ford assembly plant, Firestone tires were also like those othercomponents that were acquired by Ford. Therefore it can be presumed that thetires were manufactured in a manner to suit the Ford specifications, and they didbecome a part of the assembly process. At the time of assembly Ford shouldhave checked that whether the tires had the same high quality as othercomponents. Even according to the Utilitarian Approach, the manufacturer of theproduct should be held responsible for the defects rather than the retailer, and itis the duty of every producer to ensure that it produces the safest productspossible.
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