Discuss the three basic approaches to ethical behavior and T

Discuss the three basic approaches to ethical behavior and Takata airbag and Volkwagen situation.

Solution

The three basic approaches to ethical behavior are:

Takata airbag scandal-

Takata is an automotive parts company which manufactures seatbelts and airbags. Many automotive companies were affected due to the supply of defect bags by Takata company. Many fatalities occurred. However, the car manufacturer Honda and Takata denied to accept the fault. Takata’s salvaged airbags were investigated after working hours and it was found that the airbags were not of good quality. Takata covered up the evidence and an out of court settlement was made for a huge sum. Ethical dilemmas for Takata was “Did Takata know about the default airbags prior to recalling them to safeguard their company?”; “Does the delay was intentional to avoid any negative criticism to the company”.

Volkswagen situation-

The Volkswagen emissions scandal happened in 2015 wherein the German car manufacturing company Volkswagen was issued a notice for violation of “clean air act” by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. The agency found that the company has intentionally used Turbocharged Direct Injection (TDI) which was programmed in such a way that only some emission controls was emitted by the car during lab testing. However, in reality the Volkswagen cars emitted about 40 times more of Nitrogen Oxides which were harmful for the people. It was also found out that Volkswagen has fixed these TDIs in about 11 million cars.