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The Ford Pinto case : a study in applied ethics, business, and technology

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Journal of International & Interdisciplinary Business Research (2014-2019)

Home > Journals > JIIBR > Vol. 5 (2018)

When Making Money Is More Important Than Saving Lives: Revisiting The Ford Pinto Case

Stuart Strother , Azusa Pacific University Follow

10.58809/SAJH3330

Despite a long tradition of ethics training in business colleges, managers commonly make unethical business decisions. This paper reports a five-year study of ethical decision making of business students ( n = 192). In an undergraduate microeconomics course, students were presented with financial data from the infamous Ford Pinto case where defective engineering, coupled with unethical management behavior, resulted in a number of fiery fatalities. Facing the decision to repair the cars or pay the estimated costs of lost wrongful death lawsuits, 56.8% of students chose to pay for the deaths. This paper describes the classroom experiment and uses logistic regression to compare the characteristics of the group choosing the correct ethical decision (repair the cars), with the group choosing the incorrect ethical decision (pay for the deaths).

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Strother, Stuart (2018) "When Making Money Is More Important Than Saving Lives: Revisiting The Ford Pinto Case," Journal of International & Interdisciplinary Business Research (2014-2019) : Vol. 5, Article 11. DOI: 10.58809/SAJH3330 Available at: https://scholars.fhsu.edu/jiibr/vol5/iss1/11

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Then vs. Now: How The Ford Pinto Case Changed The Legal Landscape

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Ford Pinto Case Study

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• Patrick T. Hester 4 &
• Kevin MacG. Adams 5  

Part of the book series: Topics in Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality ((TSRQ,volume 33))

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This text has discussed a real estate-focused case study throughout in disparate pieces. The aim of this chapter is to provide a cradle-to-grave case study which illustrate the entire multimethodology developed in the text. The case study focuses on the Ford Pinto and the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration.

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Engineering Management and Systems Engineering, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, USA

Patrick T. Hester

Information Technology and Computer Science, University of Maryland University College, Adelphi, MD, USA

Kevin MacG. Adams

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Hester, P.T., Adams, K.M. (2017). Ford Pinto Case Study. In: Systemic Decision Making. Topics in Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality, vol 33. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54672-8_17

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A study in applied ethics, business, and technology.

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Table of contents

Ethical Analysis of Case Studies

PART I: THE PINTO CONTROVERSY

Introduction: The Pinto Controversy Douglas Birsch

1. Pinto Madness Mark Dowie

2. Ford Rebuts Pinto Criticism and Says Article is Distorted The National Underwriter

3. The Pinto Documents Lee Patrick Strobel

4. The Pinto Fuel System West's California Reporter

5. Motor Vehicle Safety Standard, Part 571; S 301

6. Investigation Report, Phase I: Alleged Fuel Tank and Filler Neck Damage in Rear-End Collision of Subcompact Passenger Cars

7. Pinto Fires and Personal Ethics: A Script Analysis of Missed Opportunities Dennis A. Gioia

PART II: COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS

Introduction: Cost-Benefits Analysis

8. Cost-Benefit Analysis: An Ethical Critique Steven Kelman

9. Defending Cost-Benfit Analysis: Replies to Steven Kelman James V. Delong; Robert M. Solow; Gerard Butters, John Calfee, and Pauline Ippolito; Robert A. Nisbet

10. Product Safety, Cost-Benefit Analysis, and the Ford Pinto Case Douglas Birsch

11. Fatalities Associated with Crash-Induced Fuel Leakage and Fires E. S. Grush and C. S. Saunby

PART III: WHISTLE BLOWING

Introduction: Whistle Blowing

12. Ethical Responsibilities of Engineers in Large Organizations: The Pinto Case Richard T. De George

13. Commentary on "Ethical Responsibilities of Engineers in Large Organizations: The Pinto Case" Hart T. Mankin

14. Whistle Blowing, Ethical Obligation, and the Ford Pinto Case Douglas Birsch

PART IV: PRODUCT LIABILITY

Introduction: Product Liability

15. Marketing and Product Liability: A Review and Update Fred W. Morgan

16. Strict Products Liability and Compensatory Justice George G. Brenkert

17. Grimshaw v. Ford Motor Company West's California Reporter

PART V: THE REGULATION OF BUSINESS

Introduction: The Regulation of Business

18. Profits vs. Safety Francis T. Cullen, William J. Maakestad, and Gray Cavender

19. Five Moral Imperatives of Government Regulation Peter Barton Hutt

20. Regulation: A Substitute for Morality Alasdair MacIntyre

21. The Ethics and Politics of Automobile Regulation John H. Fielder

Appendix: Abbreviated Ford Pinto Chronology

Bibliography

Description

This book brings together the basic documents needed for reaching an informed judgment on the central ethical question in the Pinto case: did Ford Motor Company act ethically in designing the Pinto fuel system and in deciding not to upgrade the integrity of that system until 1978? The five parts of this book cover the case, cost-benefit analysis, whistle blowing, product liability, and government regulations.

Douglas Birsch , Associate Professor of Philosophy is an instructor at Villanova University. He is co-author of The DC-10 Case: A Study in Applied Ethics, Technology, and Society , also published by SUNY Press. John H. Fielder , Professor of Philosophy, is an instructor at Villanova University. He is co-author of The DC-10 Case: A Study in Applied Ethics, Technology, and Society , also published by SUNY Press.

"The Ford Pinto case is mentioned in most Business Ethics texts as an example of Cost-Benefit analysis, yet in those formats any appreciation of the complexity surrounding the issues of such decisions is overly simplified. As a thorough study, this book provides material that enriches the entire idea of using a particular case as an avenue of learning about Ethics, Business, Society, Technology, and Government Regulation. Rather than as a mere reference tool for educators and other professionals, this book could be successful in the classroom in a way that no other anthology or collection of short case studies could be. " — Greg Pasquarello, Neumann College

Take Note: The Ford Pinto Case with Denny Gioia

He’s been called Mr. Pinto.  Denny Gioia was the Ford Motor Company’s Recall Coordinator in the early 1970s when a field report about one of the company’s top-selling cars landed on his desk.  It was one of more than a hundred case files. At issue was whether the Ford Pinto’s fuel tank posed a serious fire hazard if struck from behind. The case would result in a series of devastating lawsuits against Ford, a recall of 1.5 million vehicles and charges of reckless homicide. It would also become a case study in business ethics classes and the poster child for corporate greed.   How did it happen and what did we learn from the Ford Pinto case?  WPSU's Patty Satalia talks with Denny Gioia, now the Kline Professor of Management and the Chair of the Department of Management and Organization in Penn State’s Smeal College of Business. 

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Financial Management (Case study on Ethics of the Ford's Pinto and The Value of Life

The Ford motor company had many ethical issues. For one, it did not make a commitment to social responsibility. People were dying in the automobiles created by ford which could have been prevented if the fuel tank had either been redesigned or had a few dollars spent on it to make the fuel tank safer. Ford was aware of the fuel tank design problem before the car hit the market. Another ethical issue is that once Ford was aware of the rear-end collisions and people dying in preventable explosions, the company still refused to do a recall. It was not until June 1978, that a complete recall was initiated. Ford began to recall Pintos manufactured from 1970 until 176 because of pressure from the media, the government, pending court cases, and the potential loss of sales. During the 1960's the demand for sub-compact cars was rising on the market. Ford Motor Company, in competition with the foreign market, decided to introduce the Ford Pinto. The Ford Pinto was going to be the new wave for the Ford Company, but it was soon discovered that numerous problems existed. In May of 1968, the Ford Motor Company, based upon a recommendation by then vice-president Lee Iacocca, decided to introduce a subcompact car and produce it domestically. In an effort to gain a large market share, the automobile was designed and developed on an accelerated schedule. During the first few years sales of the Pinto were excellent, but there was trouble on the horizon. The cases involving the explosion of Ford Pinto's due to a defective fuel system design led to the debate of many issues, most centering around the use by Ford of a cost-benefit analysis and the ethics surrounding its decision not to upgrade the fuel system based on this analysis. There are arguments both for and against such an analysis. It is an economically efficient method which has been accepted by courts for numerous years, however, juries may not always agree, so companies should take this into account.

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