7/29/2019 How Does Organizational Culture

1/1

How does organizational culture/ethics influence individual decisions with respect to Ford case?

As we practice resolving dilemmas we find ethics to be less a goal than a pathway, less a destination

than a trip, less an inoculation than a process. Ethicist Rushworth Kidder

The vast majority of managers mean to run ethical organizations, yet corporate corruption is widespread.Part of the problem, of course, is that some leaders are out-and-out crooks, and they direct these

happenings from the top. But that is rare. Much more often, we believe, employees bend or break ethics

rules because those in charge are blind to unethical behavior and may even unknowingly encourage it.

There are times when an employee knows that the company is taking a wrong step and is being

unethical, however are under the pressure of their bosses and need to practice the same.

The most common example of organizational culture influencing decision is the Ford Pinto case. It is a

perfect example of the top-down corruption. The Ford Pinto, a compact car produced during the 1970s,

became infamous for its tendency in rear-end collisions to leak fuel and explode into flames. More than

dozen people were killed or injured in Pinto fires before the company issued a recall to correct the

problem. Engineers had discovered the potential danger of ruptured fuel tanks in preproduction crash

tests, but the assembly line was ready to go, and the companys leaders decided to proceed. This

showcased that the organization was ready to roll out the production, even when the engineers of the

production line discovered the danger. There are times when an individual would not like to follow the

unethical practices followed by the employer, but needs to follow them due to some personal

weaknesses. If we look at the management which controls the decisions, they would purely consider it as

a business decision rather than an ethical one.

They took an approach which was quite rational in terms of company taking a decision, they conducted a

formal cost-benefit analysisputting dollar amounts on a redesign, potential lawsuits, and even lives

and determined that it would be cheaper to pay off lawsuits than to make the repair. This highlights the

organizational culture and showcases the ethical behavior of the company towards the public.

Even after the discovery of the issue in the cars no one informed Lee Iacocca, then a Ford executive VP

who was closely involved in the Pinto launch. When the potentially dangerous design flaw was first

discovered, no one informed him otherwise that person would have been fired. Safety wasnt a popular

subject around Ford in those days. The core problem is, even if an individual wants to be ethical in

whatever he does, the organizations culture or ethics come in between.

An organization can only become ethical if they answer a simple question are we being honest with our

customers?' (Or) 'We are involved in something that is killing people.'