Case Study

Management should always use their best judgment when a problem arises, such as a recall for repair or straight recall. The company in question is the company that designs playpens. When launching a product the company's first goal is to make sure the product is safe for consumers. The ethical decision is a straight recall because an infant can possibly lose their life. Products are recalled by the manufacturer due to defects or safety issues. Recalling a product is never a good thing. Recalling is a costly affair and might cause other parties to take legal action against the organization for negligence and for releasing faulty products to the market. The reputation of the organization depends on the quality of the goods that they provide, when products are recalled, the image of the company will directly be placed under a microscope (Unknown 2012). A company must look to the CPSC regulations when structuring a voluntary recall. The goal of a voluntary recall is to get as many products out of the marketplace as possible; to minimize danger to the consumer as well as to minimize the company's exposure to future lawsuits. When deciding how to structure a recall, the seller is not alone and can work with the CPSC to structure the recall. The parameters of the recall depend on the severity of the hazard posed by the product. The most drastic recalls reach through the entire distribution chain and into the consumer's home, requiring the consumer to return the product to the manufacturer/distributor or to the merchant. This type of recall requires the seller to immediately stop selling the product, contact retailers and advise them to stop selling the product. Identify all customers or customer bases that potentially purchased the item, draft a press release, and set up a toll-free number for consumer questions. It also requires the seller to address the logistics of retrieving and disposing of a mass of unusable products from the marketplace (Smith & Russell 2012).

It's the company responsibility is to notify the public about the situation through newspapers, television, radio and the internet. Notifying the public of the situation is important due to several reasons. One is that it is better to admit that there are faulty products and show the public that the organization is doing something about it. Rather than trying to keep it a secret and then once it is discovered, trying to give explanation as to why the public was not notified. The second reason is, controlling the damage that has already been caused. The third is that when the public is notified, the products that have been sold to the consumer can be tracked down, which will decrease the possibility of any one getting hurt due to the faulty product (2012). If the recall is not announced but, the manufacture is contacted along with all other parties to stop making the product, this will minimize the amount of deaths then all products that might be faulty could