What Is The Ford Pinto Framework For Business Ethics

When considering the Ford Pinto case, I don’t believe that Ford’s decision not to repair the defective design complies with the who-how (WH) framework for business ethics. Under this ethical framework, the guideline for the decision asks two basic questions: Who are the relevant stakeholders? And how do we make this ethical decision?
The relevant stakeholders are the people whom the decision affects. Once a decision has been made it will impact the stakeholders either in a positive or negative way in varying degrees. In this case the stakeholders include the consumers and their families, shareholders in the company, the general public, employees and the organization itself. Ford failed to fully consider the value of human lives that were lost, the suffering of those …show more content…
Ford’s decision gave the appearance that a human life was not worth $11 out of their pockets. While their decision was legal, it was not moral or socially acceptable. Ethics are not the same as morals, but our society expects businesses to operate ethically and morally. Businesses have a social responsibility to conduct themselves in a manner that their consumers expect and can trust. In my opinion, Ford’s decision to ignore the hazards associated with the defective fuel tanks was not ethical and broke the trust of countless consumers. I believe that it could have been an ethical situation if Ford had been honest about the vehicle having a defective fuel tank and actually notified the consumer that the vehicle would possibly cause a fire if it was rear-ended. Also if Ford would have publicly disclosed that they were willing to only pay for those that were injured, killed, or having vehicles that caught fire from being