Chapter 14

Front 1

Absolute Liability

Back 1

Strict liability, sometimes called absolute liability, is the legal responsibility for damages, or injury, even if the person found strictly liable was not at fault or negligent. Strict liability has been applied to certain activities in tort, such as holding an employer absolutely liable for the torts of her employees, but today it is most commonly associated with defectively manufactured products.

Front 2

Contractual Theory

Back 2

An ethical theory based on the duty that informs our understanding of the ethical dimensions of quality. Contractual Theory focuses on the contract between the firm and the customer.

Front 3

Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)

Back 3

An independent regulatory agency that was created by the Consumer Product Safety Act of 1972. Works to reduce the risk of injuries and deaths from consumer products

Front 4

Delayed Manifestation Cases

Back 4

Situations in which delayed reactions to such products appear years later after consumption of, or exposure to the product.

Front 5

Due Care Theory

Back 5

An ethical theory based on the duty that informs our understanding of the ethical dimensions of quality. Due Care theory focuses on relative vulnerability of the customers, who has less information and expertise than the firm, and the ethical responsibility that places on the firm.

Front 6

Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

Back 6

Grew out of experiments with food safety by one man--Harvey W. Wiley--cheif chemist for the Agriculture Department in the late 1800's. Resides within the Health and Human Services Department and engages in three broad categories of activity: 1) analysis, 2) surveillance 3) correction

Front 7

Market Share Liability

Back 7

An extensions of strict liability. Market share liability originally was devised in the 1980s to allow recovery by the victims of the generic miscarriage preventative diethylstilbestrol. market share liability be predicated on three requirements: (1) uniform products must pose risk in a uniform manner and to a uniform degree; (2) it must be impossible, as a practical matter, for a victim to trace the harm-causing product back to its specific manufacturer; and (3) courts must be able to ascertain each manufacturer’s market share with a reasonable degree of accuracy. Market-share liability has been one of the most controversial doctrines in tort law, with a strong plurality of courts rejecting the doctrine on the ground that it radically departs from the fundamental principle of causation.

Front 8

Product Liability Reform

Back 8

Known as Tort Reform which refers to the idea of changing the rules applicable to the law of tort. The Product Liability Reform Act of 1997 overhauls an unfair and inefficient liability system for the benefit of American consumers and entrepreneurs. Perhaps most importantly, product liability reform will decrease product costs to consumers.

Front 9

Six Sigma

Back 9

A development in total quality management that has become a way of life for many corporations. In many organizations Six Sigma simply means a measure of quality that strives for near perfection. Strength has been the clarity of the process and the steps companies must take to adopt it.

Front 10

Social Costs View

Back 10

An ethical theory base on the concept of duty that informs our understanding of the ethical dimensions of quality. Suggests that, if a product causes harm, the firm should pay the costs of any injury, even if the firm had met the terms of the contract, exercised all due care, and taken all reasonable precautions. serves as the underpinning for strict liability and it extension into absolute liability.

Front 11

Strict Liability

Back 11

Strict liability is a legal doctrine that makes a person responsible for the damage and loss caused by his/her acts and omissions regardless of culpability (or fault in criminal law terms, which would normally be expressed through a mens rea requirement; see Strict liability (criminal). Strict liability is important in torts (especially product liability), corporations law, and criminal law.

Front 12

Tort Reform

Back 12

Also known as Product Liability Reform. Tort reform refers to the idea of changing the rules applicable to the law of tort. Tort deals with compensation for wrongs and harm done by one party to another's person, property or other protected interests (e.g. reputation, under libel and slander laws).

Front 13

Total Quality Management (TQM)

Back 13

All of the functions of the business are blended into a holistic, integrated philosophy built around the concepts of quality, teamwork, productivity, and customer understanding and satisfaction.