Dennis Gioia “The Ford Pinto Fire” Essay

In 1968, cut across Motor Company made plans for a car that would be inexpensive, small, and appeal to all car buyers. The planned enter was to meet the 2000/2000 rule, meaning that the Pinto could weigh no more than 2,000 pounds, and monetary evaluate no more than $2,000. This rule was instituted be take a leak of the extreme competition from foreign car makers much(prenominal) as Toyota and all of the automotive companies at the age. However, the 2000/2000 rule left designers with peculiar(a) ability to design a car the way it should be designed. The Pinto was brought into fruit faster than any other car had ever been produced twenty quintuplet months from the inception of the idea of the Pinto to production when the industry average at the prison term was forty-three months. The engineers had to cut corners in the design and were rushed building the Pinto, which later on resulted in many mistakes that were overlooked. The first Pinto was put on the market in 1971.The Pi ntos problems originated with placement of the gas cooler. It was customary to place the gas ice chest between the hook axle and the bumper to give the vehicle more truck space. However, on the Pinto the gas army tank was only nine inches away from the rear axle and on the rear axles enthral case were bolts that stuck away facing the rear bumper of the vehicle. When the Pinto was rear stop, the gas tank would be forced up to the rear axle, and the transfer case bolts would puncture the gas tank. Also the fuel filler shrill was poorly designed and could easily become detached in a rear end collision, causing gasoline to spill over the ground. This was the cause of the numerous large fires and the gas tank tendency to explode. Explosions of the gas tank occurred at any collision at or above 30 one miles per hour. The doors on the Pinto would tend to jam shut when rear ended at high speeds, causing victims to burn alive if non killed on impact.Due to the serious defects and the numerous deaths involved with the Pinto, there were many lawfulness suits against Ford Motor Company. Dennis Gioia, an engineer and MBA graduate, was involved in the last non to call up the vehicles. Ford came up with a Cost Benefit analysis. The benefits accounted for clxxx burn deaths prevented,180 serious burn injuries prevented, 2,100 burned vehicles prevented. If those number be multiplied by $200,000 per death, $67,000 per injury, and $700 per vehicle, the final benefit to society, or get of money Ford would have to pay if they did non recall any of the their vehicles, was $49.5 million. Compared to the cost to recall 11 million cars and1.5 million light trucks, at $11 per vehicle would equal $137 million on recalls. Ford believed they were justified in not recalling the cars due to the amount they would spend on recalls far out-weighed the amount they would spend to compensate customers for death, injury or harmed cars.ANALYSIS OF GIOIAS conclusionFord eventually agreed to recall the Pinto on June 10, 1978. They sent out the recall notices on August 22, 1978. Ford originally gave four reasons why they did not want to recall the Pinto1) Ford had based an earlier advert campaign around safety, which failed. 2) The bad publicity involved with a recall would be too much negative publicity to overcome. 3) At the time of the product designs and crash tests, the law did not require them to redesign the fuel system. 4) It was customary in the automotive industry to place the gas tank between the rear axle and bumper. We will evaluate Gioias earlier termination to choose not to recall the vehicles based on the reasons noted above. Dennis Gioia had started as an advocate for homophile rights and protection, prior to his appointment to the position at Ford Motor Company. He was aware of the design defects with the Pinto, however, he succumbed to the corporate grandiloquence of buyer risk and consumer demand as keen for the decision to economize the Pinto on the market.Generalization analyzeGeneralization possibility A rational choice must be generalizable , the reason for a certain follow up should be consistent with the assumption that everyone who has the equivalent reasons will act the same way. The decision to keep the Pinto on the market passed the generalizations test1. The Cost epitome used was acceptable in the production market2. The vehicle met relevant safety laws at the time of production3. The placement of the gas tank was in compliance with car production standards4. Consumer demand for the vehicles increased remuneration5. The recall would reduce profits and negatively impact the company . consumption TestThe decision also passed the utilization TestUtilitarian theory We all have some ultimate end that is called utility. An action is good only if no other available action creates greater replete(p) utility.1. A greater number of consumers were happy with the vehicle than were injured or killed2, Re calling the cars would create more financial loss than keeping them on the market with the defects3. The cost to make the cars safer would have increased the cost of production and not meet the 2000/2000 concept mandated by the corporate leaders4. The delay in production would have deceased the companys ability to compete in the small car market and decrease profits,Value TestValue ethics theory virtue is a part of our union and help describe who we are The decision not to recall the Pinto failed the value test.1. A rational person with virtue and concern for human rights would not place a arbitrary price on the value of human life as opposed to profits.2. Although a corporation is not a person it is an entity that relys of the people to value and purchase the products or services it provides3. The decision to put an obviously flawed vehicle on the market and exempt it by placing the responsibility on the consumer to accept the risk is irresponsible and wretched for any entity to adopt as a marketing strategy.4. There is no virtue in a corporation or its management, that would routinely submit profit over human safety and death, when they know it can be rectified.