Skill Building, Research Paper Example

Bridgestone’s CEO Matoshi Ono said that he accepted full responsibility for the dangerous and poor condition of the Firestone Tires. He went on to say that 6.5 million ATX and Wilderness tires fitted mainly to Ford Explorers would be recalled. He further stated that he Company could not find any serious defects in these tires and that Firestone’s Executive blamed consumers for not taking proper care and maintenance of their tires.  This despite the fact that the tires are attributed to be the prime cause of the death of 88 Americans. Evidence later showed that Firestone had been logging the history of problems for over 3 years and Ford was receiving complaints data through its warranty program, including a memo raising suspicion about safety concerns from Bridgestone. (Naughton, 2000). This was clearly unethical and irresponsible behaviour by both Ford and its’ supplier.

Given the memo evidence and the fact that both parties knew about this for a considerable time, a potential early ‘whistle-blower’ is hardly like to have stirred either parties into a responsible action.  Both turned a blind eye to this for a considerable lengthy of time and without extensive media coverage and the reported deaths this may have lingered further.  It is clear that a professional code of ethics for both parties, if legally and contractually enforced, may have prevented some of the tragic deaths and accidents that had occurred.

The key to the ethics statement must rest in the feedback from the Ford Warranty system and ensuring an immediate investigation is carried out to recall the faulty products. This would need to be a legally binding contractual consideration, consider ” Congressional investigators also believe Ford ignored trends in its own warranty data indicating that it had a tire problem on its Explorer. Even though Ford doesn’t warranty tires–that’s Firestone’s responsibility–the automaker received “hundreds” of claims for defective tires between 1991 and 2000″ (Naughton, 2000).  Firestone also need to recognize their responsibility in selling a product that is a potential risk to Ford. ” “For some reason, a Firestone tire on a Ford Explorer is a deadly combination.” (Joann Muller., 2001).

Principles that may be written into a code of ethics statement might be:

Any reported serious faults disclosed from the Manufacturers Warranty (Ford) will be immediately investigated and taken up with the supplier (Firestone). In the event that defects are detected the goods will be recalled and an investigation will be conducted by an independent arbitrator. This may result in a complete recall of all faulty goods and suitable new trusted replacements found.  Cancellation of this and future Orders may be an option and the right to award a new contract to an alternative supplier.

Works Cited

Joann Muller., N. S. (2001, 6 11). Ford vs. Firestone: A Corporate Whodunit . Retrieved 6 27, 2010, from Bloomsberg Business Week: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/01_24/b3736073.htm

Naughton, M. H. (2000, 9 18). Ford vs. Forestone. Retrieved 6 26, 2010, from Newsweek: http://www.newsweek.com/2000/09/17/ford-vs-firestone.html