Essay on Are Profits the Only Business of Business?

The Ford automobile company began producing the Ford Pinto line up in 1968. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at the time of the pinto production was Lee Iacocca. The reason for the decision to mass produce the pinto in a short amount of time is because American automobiles were losing market share to smaller Japanese imports. Lee Iacocca wanted his engineers to design and manufacture a compact car that weighed less than 2,000 pounds and cost less than 2,000 dollars. Because of this monumental task from Lee Iacocca, that meant the ford pinto automobile would have to be built within 25 months instead of the typical 43 months. There are many safety test that is mandated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration before a vehicle

The provision and use of personal protective equipment could include using gloves, glasses, earmuffs, aprons, safety footwear, dust masks.

There are many different cases where people have been critically injured or have died from burn-related injuries from the ruptured the Pino gas tank. This case study specifically discusses the 1978 untimely deaths of Lynn Marie Ulrich, Dana Ulrich, and Judy Ann. Between 1971 and 1978, the Pinto was responsible for a number of fire-related deaths. It was the death of these teenagers that lead brought the controversy of the Ford Pinto’s faulty gas tank placement to a climax resulting in criminal homicide charges for the automaker. Ford’s CEO Henry Ford II and Ford’s new president Lee Iacocca were responsible for the launch of the Ford Pinto. To stay ahead of the growing competition, The Pinto was not to weigh over 2,000 pounds and not costs not to exceed $2,000. Ford officials knew that the Pinto represented a serious fire issue when struck from the rear, but were desperate to expedite the vehicle’s release, the Pintos timing was set just under 25 months. Tooling has already been kicked off, so when crash tests revealed a serious defect in the gas tank, it was too late for any design modifications. The tooling was well underway. Therefore, Ford’s president decided it would be too costly to make changes in the Pinto’s gas tank location pushing ahead with the original design which went unchanged for six years. Any changes to the low-cost Ford Pinto would result in an increased price, thus possibly making it less desirable by small car buyers. Iacocca understood that people shopping for compact cars were watching every dollar, One Ford engineer explained, “the process of elasticity on these subcompacts is extremely tight. You can price yourself right out of the market by adding $25 to the production cost of the model”.

There are many different paths people can take throughout their lives. In the novel, Fifth Business by Robertson Davies, the main character, Dunstan Ramsey, takes the path of the Canadian hero. There are many different steps to be taken by the hero and Dunstan Ramsey follows his path by completing each step.

This variability can apply to both sides in the Demand and Supply equation – the customer and the provider, hence the necessity sometimes for the introduction of regulations within the market to impose rules of rationality and reasonableness upon the parties and achieve market equilibrium (Mankiw & Taylor; 2006).

The Grand Jury initiated a case against Ford after a tragic accident occurred on 10th August 1978 along U.S. Highway 33 near Goshen, involving a 1973 Ford Pinto car that was struck from the rear by a van. On board of the 1973 Ford Pinto there were two sisters (Judy and Lynn Ulrich) and their cousin Donna Ulrich who succumbed to burnt injuries after Pinto’s gas tank ruptured and got into flames in the process.

A similar ethical concept to Utilitarianism is that of Rawl’s Theory of Justice. Within his theories he states that for something to be both ethical and just it must not infringe on the basic rights and liberties of a person, nor give advantage to any one group but to all with positions and offers available to all equally. In reference to the Ford Pinto, the second statement is upheld. The Pinto being a relatively cheap car which was often a starter vehicle, and as long as a person had the funds and a driver’s license, they could own the vehicle. So the design process general design itself was both fair and ethical to Rawls when regarding the second of his two theories of justice. The first theory can be up to interpretation. The only rights or liberties that might have been infringed upon are those of safety

Majoring in business is a really interesting and popular major to choose. You learn a lot of new things as growing into the business areas. You discover the employment opportunities, which is seeing what skills you are into and what are you more interested in. For example, some employment opportunities would be a retail trade, manufacturing, and wholesale trade. There are different types of business areas, which are

There was strong competition for Ford in the American small-car market from Volkswagen and several Japanese companies in the 1960’s. To fight the competition, Ford rushed its newest car the Pinto into production in much less time than is usually required to develop a car. The regular time to produce an automobile is 43 months but Ford took 25 months only (Satchi, L., 2005). Although Ford had access to a new design which would decrease the possibility of the Ford Pinto from exploding, the company chose not to implement the design, which would have cost $11 per car, even though it had done an analysis showing that the new design would result in 180 less deaths. The company defended itself on the grounds that

Starting a business is the latest trend. Just take a look at Instagram. Several profiles have the caption ‘Entrepreneur’. At this very moment, there is someone, somewhere working on an idea, a business plan or launching a startup. Entrepreneurship is on the rise like never before. The flexibility and independence that comes with being one’s own boss is attractive and worth taking the leap in starting a business. However, most people don’t know that being an entrepreneur is a grueling journey that can be very lonely and stressful at times. According to the Small Business Administration (SBA), 50% of businesses fail during the first year. Starting a business can be a scary task, but the

Ford wanted the price of the Pinto to be below $2,000 and the vehicle to be less than 2,000 pounds in weight. Fulfilling these benchmarks of profitability for the organization was deemed to be more important than showing concern for customers' lives. The organizational culture at Ford created a sense of tunnel vision, focusing only on numerical goals and figures, rather than encouraged executives to think about the human lives behind the numbers. Apparently, dissent from the 'party line' was not tolerated or encouraged, since no one seemed to strenuously object amongst Ford's upper-level

Business plays a major role within our society. It is a creative and competitive activity that continuously contributes to the shaping of our society. By satisfying the needs and wants people cannot satisfy themselves, businesses improve the quality of life for people and create a higher standard of living.

Sri Lanka has immense economic opportunity for aspiring entrepreneurs. The route that I would personally take if I lived in this country would be the venture into the Information technology industry. Sri Lanka is a developing country and with that IT can be a promising venture for any entrepreneur. According to the CIA, only 32.1% of the population are internet users and this could convey a possible business opportunity to inspiring entrepreneurs. A business startup that targets this market could bring immense value. The allocation of resources to achieve this could be a troublesome matter, but it could be done with hard work. There is competition in this industry, but an entrepreneur could set themselves apart from

The issue which "led to major lawsuits, inconclusive criminal charges, and a costly recall of all affected Pintos" (Corporate Narc.com. N.D. PP. 1); was due to a structural design that in "rear-end collisions would rupture the Pinto's fuel system"¦leading to a serious fire hazard" (Dowie, M. September/October 1977. PP. 1). This design flaw has been linked "by conservative estimates to have caused 500 burn deaths to people who would not have been seriously injured if the car had not burst into flames" (Dowie, M. September/October 1977. PP. 1). Beyond engineering schematics however, the Ford Pinto saga unveiled the importance of Corporate Social Responsibility and the connected relationship between customers and business.

Michael Lewis (2000: pages 256-257) scoffed at the whole attempt to formalize the definition of business models when he wrote that “ “Business Model” is one of those terms of art that were central to the Internet boom: it glorifies all manner of half baked plans. All it really meant was how you planned to make money.”