The Ford-Firestone Tire Crisis - 3404 Words

CONTENTS CHAIRMAN SUMMARY 2 INTRODUCTION 3 THE CASE AT A GLANCE 3 BACKGROUND 4 RULES THEORY 5 LEVELS OF CONTEXT 6 THE FORD-FIRESTONE CRISIS FACTS 8 CONCLUSION 12 REFRENCES Error! Bookmark not defined. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FIGURES Figure 1. Network Setting of Ford-Firestone Crisis 5 Figure 2. Levels of Context 7 EQUATIONS Equation 1. Primitive Form of Constitutive Rule 6 Equation 2. Primitive Form of a Regulative Rule 7 CHAIRMAN SUMMARY In the late 1990’s and early 2000’s several accidents were reported of Ford Explorers equipped with Firestone tires rolling over as a consequence of tires’ failures. By the end of 2000 the death toll was estimated at more than 250, and some†¦show more content†¦Long-term relationships, it is believed, are more likely to overcome problems. However, there can be occasions in which changes in the environment or external incidents motivate the parties to behave in unusual ways, thereby diminishing the value of relationships as if the only thing that counts is independent survival. Such occasions, in an entangled network setting bring to the scene new players, whose only contribution may only be to make the situation even more confusing. The study of the â€Å"Ford – Firestone Tire Crisis† is to understand how companies can act and re-act in complex, threatening situations and how such acts might lead not only to unexpected but also highly undesirable outcomes. Using Rules Theory represents the study of changes in the network position of both companies as well as changes that occurred to their relationship and the network context in which they operate. THE CASE AT A GLANCE Ford Motor Company and its close ally Firestone Tires faced a serious crisis when many Ford Explorers equipped with Firestone AT/ATX tires rolled over as a consequence of tire failures. In 1999 the first fatalities occurred in Saudi Arabia and not much later similar accidents were reported in Venezuela. Ford immediately reacted by blaming the weather and vehicle owners for under-inflating their tires. However, Ford also began replacing tires. It was not until March 2000 when a Ford Explorer rollover in Texas USAShow MoreRelatedCase Study : The Firestone Complete Auto Care1429 Words   |  6 Pagesespecially a good crisis plan, should be implemented to be able to handle any sorts of problems. Manufacturer companies also need to be ready to communicate to the stakeholders and let them know that they are their priority. However, when a plan is not firmly established, completely ignored or do not take the responsibility for the crisis, the company can jeopardize not only their reputation, but also loose financially, the way Firestone/Bridgestone and Ford Company had to undergo. The Firestone CompleteRead MoreCase Study : The Firestone Complete Auto Care Essay863 Words   |  4 Pagesreasons. Still a plan, especially a good crisis plan, should be implemented to be able to handle any sorts of problems. Manufacturer companies also need to be ready to communicate the stakeholders and let them know that they come first. However, when a plan is not firmly established or is completely ignored, the company can jeopardize not only their reputation, but also loose financially, the way Firestone/Bridgestone and Ford Company had to undergo. The Firestone Complete Auto Care is a company thatRead MoreFirestone : A Recall Revisited1695 Words   |  7 PagesCase 8-3 Firestone: A Recall Revisited There had been more than 200 deaths in Ford Explorer rollovers by November 2011. The reason was believed to be the faulty tires which was supplied by Ford’s main supplier, Bridgestone/ Firestone. The first ones to witness those tragedies were the consumers, via videotapes and still images. They didn’t know who they should point fingers at, but there were ample lawsuits and investigations. What happened in August 2000 was not the first crisis involving Ford MotorRead MoreCase Study - Ford and Firestones Tire Recall: the Costliest Information Gap in History871 Words   |  4 PagesCase Study #1 Ford and Firestones Tire Recall: The Costliest Information Gap in History 1. Briefly summarize the problems and major issues in this case. To what extent was this crisis an information management problem? What role did databases and data management play? Answer: These are the problems and major issues that I found in this case: †¢ 46 deaths and more than 300 accidents †¢ A confidential memo sent by Firestone to Ford claiming that everything was fine †¢ Ford recall in 16 countriesRead More The Ford/Firestone Case Essays1121 Words   |  5 Pages The Ford/Firestone Case This case involves Ford and the Japanese tire manufacturer, Bridgestone/Firestone. The Ford Explorers which were prone to rolling over, came equipped with Firestone defected tires. The tire seemed to have a defect that caused the tread to separate from the whole of the tire and cause the vehicle to flip. Although Firestone knew about such defects, they continued to produce despite knowing the deadly consequences that lay behind their actions. The Explorer also had a badRead MoreCase Analysis #231022 Words   |  5 PagesCase 22 Analysis Firestone and Ford; The Tire Tread Separation Tragedy 1. What are the major and minor ethical issues involved in this case? The major ethical issue is Ford and Firestone’s negligence of the technical problems. They knew that something was wrong yet they did not do anything about it and therefore ignored their consumers’ safety and health. They used a utilitarian decision model where they were looking to accomplish the greatest good for the greatest number. Another majorRead MoreFirestone and Ford: the Tire Tread Separation Tragedy2032 Words   |  9 PagesFirestone and Ford: The Tire Tread Separation Tragedy Business Ethics November 8, 2011 Executive summary. Firestone/Bridgestone and Ford companies caught public negative attention in the end of 1990s because of their relation to tire tread separation cases, which caused numerous car accidents not only in US, but also abroad. Because they did not take proper actions to eliminate the number of this cases and remove all dangerous products from the market timely, even if they knew that somethingRead MoreFirestone and Ford: the Tire Tread Separation Tragedy5367 Words   |  22 PagesCase 30 Firestone and Ford: The Tire Tread Separation Tragedy I t is often tricky to know when an ethical or social issue really begins. Does it begin before it is â€Å"recognized† or â€Å"identified† as an issue? Does it begin when an isolated manager recognizes an incident or a trend and reports it via a memo to his superiors? Does it begin once the media get hold of information and the frenzy begins? Such questions arise in the case of the Firestone–Ford tire tread separation debacle that began dominatingRead MoreMgt/426 Essay791 Words   |  4 Pagesunethically. Firestone, for instance had a recall of over six million of their tires. This was considered a crisis for the organization. The company decided to do things in an unethical nature, and used crisis management change strategies. The change strategies they used were mortification, correction action, bolstering, denial, and shifting the blame. The used mortification whenever they apologized to the families who had members killed. Corrective action was whenever Firestone recalled overRead MoreFirestone Case Danger on the Highway: Bridgeston/Firestons Tire Recall2747 Words   |  11 PagesFirestone Case Danger on the Highway: Bridgestone/Firestone ¡Ã‚ ¦s Tire Recall Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc., based in Nashville, Tennessee, has been in the business of making tires since 1900, when Harvey Firestone founded the Firestone Tire Rubber Company in Akron, Ohio. Firestone was acquired by Bridgestone USA, Inc., a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Bridgestone Corporation, in 1990 for $2.6 billion. Today, the company markets 8,000 different types and sizes of tires, and a host of other products. The