Website design By BotEap.comSince my first car was a Ford Pinto, I have always been interested in Ford Pinto explosions that were caused by faulty gas tank design, which provides an interesting case study on approaches to ethical decision making. There are three possible approaches to take when making ethical decisions; a consequentialist approach, a deontological approach and a psychological approach. In a consequentialist approach, the decision maker would base his decision by focusing attention on the consequences of his action (Treviño and Nelson, 2005, p. 89). In the deontological approach, the decision maker would base his decision focusing on what is right or wrong based on the common values ​​and rights of individuals and/or groups (p. 91). A decision maker who bases her action on a psychological approach may vary her actions according to the level of her cognitive moral development (p. 115).

Website design By BotEap.comIn the case of the Ford Pinto, a person who took a consequentialist approach could easily take the decision Ford made and produce the car despite the possibility of the gas tank exploding in low-speed rear-end collisions. Also, they would probably agree with Ford that there was no need to recall the car once it was on the market. A decision maker using the consequentialist approach would look at the consequences for as many individuals and groups as possible and make their decision based on causing the least harm and the greatest amount of good to all. Given that the data should indicate that there were no more accidents with the Pinto than with other vehicles and business stakeholders would greatly benefit from keeping costs down and getting the car to market as quickly as possible; they could easily have decided that the greatest benefit would come from going ahead with the design, since there would be many who would benefit and probably no more would be harmed than existing standards allowed.

Website design By BotEap.comOn the other hand, a decision maker using the deontological approach would easily have decided not to go ahead with production and/or to withdraw the car once it was on the market. Since this person would base his decision on a set of moral values ​​and/or people’s rights, he would likely argue that the car should not be built unless the rights of the minority group that would be harmed can be guaranteed.

Website design By BotEap.comThe results of an individual’s decision following a psychological approach would vary depending on their level of cognitive moral development (p. 115). If, for example, they were at a pre-conventional level, they probably would have agreed to go ahead with selling the Pinto and/or not take it off the market because they would have been heavily influenced by others in the company. They would have feared punishment from management or hoped that by supporting the majority opinion they would have been rewarded in some way. Even if the individual was at the conventional level, they may not have decided to redesign Pinto’s tank yet. While they were striving for “good behavior”, they would have been highly influenced by most of the decision makers in the company and would not have gone against their will. They would also have followed the “letter of the law” that supported the case of not needing to make a design change. Only if they had a highly developed level of post-conventional or principled moral development would they have felt the need to buck the trend within the company to defend minority rights “regardless of majority opinion” (p. 115). .

Website design By BotEap.comBy the way, I outlived my 1974 Ford Pinto! Thank God I didn’t get rear-ended!

Website design By BotEap.comReferences:

Website design By BotEap.comTreviño, L. and Nelson, K., (2005). Corporate social responsibility and business ethics. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.