Utilitarian Analysis for Ford Motor Company

Running head: UTILITARIAN ANALYSIS
UTILITARIAN ANALYSIS
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1UTILITARIAN ANALYSIS
The theory of Utilitarianism supports the activities, which results in happiness and
rejects the harm causing actions. Utilitarian analysis is used for the betterment of the society
by assessing the social, political as well as economic decisions of an
individual/group/company (Raam 20). In this paper, the Utilitarian analysis will be carried
out for Ford Motor Company. The essay will discuss on the utilitarian approach for the
assessment of an issue pertaining to the company’s decision followed by a moral judgement
regarding a particular action. The essay tends to argue on the morality attached in the
production of the Ford Pinto.
Utilitarian approach reflects the act of involving in an action, which can benefit for
most number of people. An action is analysed in regards of its outcomes by using Utilitarian
approach (De George and Richard 9). The approach aims at attaining ‘the greatest good for
greatest number’, which restricts the consequences of harming anyone (Boutilier et al. 190)
The action, which will be analysed under the frame of Utilitarianism, is the morality intact in
the production of Ford Pinto by Ford Motor Company. Ford Motor Company manufactured a
subcompact car, Ford Pinto. It was manufactured for the mass as it was planned to be an
affordable car option by Ford to compete with the Japanese imported cars.
One of the ethical flaw of Ford Motor Company was that the model Ford Pinto was
not tested for rear-end impact before the production in spite the engineers knowledge about
the safety standards, which requires testing. They focused solely on the period of production
for an affordable car by reducing the usual time. Ford Motor Company presented a target of
25 months of introducing the car line shifting form a usual of 43 months. The business
managers of the company prioritized the impact of competing with an affordable option in the
automobile segment than concentrating on manufacturing a safe as well as valued product.
Analysis through Utilitarianism can reflect that the safety of the target market, which is the
‘most’ in this case, was not prioritized over the urge of acquiring market share by early
production.