I. Introduction: Tire Tread Separation Issue
II. Questions for Case analysis
a. What are the ethical and social issues in this case?
b. Who are the stakeholders and what are their stakes? How do legitimacy, power, and urgency factor in? Do these companies care about consumers? Discuss.
c. Conduct a CSR analysis of both Firestone and Ford. How do they measure up in fulfilling their various social responsibilities?
d. Who is at fault in the tire separation controversy? Bridgestone / Firestone? Ford Motor Company? The NHTSA?
III. Conclusion: Final thoughts
In early 2000, trends of accidents started to occur on Ford Explorers equipped with Firestone Tires. The tire treads on these SUV’s separated while driven at high speeds. This incident caused the vehicle to rollover which resulted in consumer lives lost and serious bodily injury. The question is who should be liable for this incident? Is it the manufacturer of the faulty tires, Bridgestone / Firestone? Is it the manufacturer of the Ford Explorer, Ford Motor Company? Or is it the responsibility of (NHTSA) National Highway Traffic Safety Association who should have promptly investigated and taken action in regards to this issue?
The case of Bridgestone / Firestone and Ford Motor Company began when numerous people coincidently began to experience accidents on Ford Explorers. These vehicles where equipped with Bridgestone / Firestone tires. The people were involved in these accidents due to the treads on the tires suddenly ...