Potentially Defective Business Products

Abstract

From automotive, to toys, to everyday household products and beyond, manufacturing companies are always concerned and worried of the possibility of placing in the market products that turn out to be defective. It will always be in the company's best interest to be able to determine if their products are completely safe before it gets into the hands of the consumers as the credibility of the company can be damaged by the news media by means other than the manufacturer himself thereby creating a negative view of the manufacturer. The importance of having strict manufacturing and ethical guidelines is an integral part of any business structure in order to maintain a proper venue of communication between all levels of staff in order to be able to uphold a company's integrity and commitment to its consumers. In the event that a potentially dangerous product has been placed in the market everyone in the company should be made aware of the company's views and regulations regarding those issues.

Potentially Defective Business Products

Becoming aware of potentially defective products being sold to customers, the opportunity arises where it will be possible to share this knowledge with the new company's CEO and other executives in an upcoming meeting. The problem facing this opportunity is that there is no sign that others in the company are aware of this issue and, to make matters more difficult, I cannot locate any details of the organization's ethical guidelines due to lack of communication. Care must be taken when presenting this issue, so it will be important to research the situation and obtain proof of the defect involved and also of the potential dangers that will be faced by our customers if the problem is not corrected. The company could face serious legal issues if steps are not taken to protect the consumers.

According to John Dalla Costa (1998), an ethical orientation needs to be put in practice in order to have a tangible benefit and have an enduring impact, therefore personal understanding and a genuine involvement of attention to detail is imperative as serious consequences do result when operating without binding ethics. With the information obtained from the research on the potentially defective product, I would proceed with my presentation in a straight forward, direct to the point approach. CEO's, directors and managers of any corporation are aware of the damages and severe financial impact that their company will be faced with if defective products bring harm to human lives, so it is important that they not only be made aware of the situation as soon as it is detected and, immediately look for solutions to correct the problem. These officers know that undetected defective products can harm the reputation of the company, lead to product litigation liability. Section 5 of The Consumer Product Safety Act of 1972 indicates that the Commission maintains "an Injury Information Clearinghouse to collect, investigate, analyze, and disseminate injury data, and information, relating to the causes and prevention of death, injury, and illness associated with consumer products", so it will best for the company to initiate its own investigation and initiate a solution before any potential injuries occur. Also, Section 15(b) of this Act mandates that the Commission be informed with 24 hours of the discovery that a product poses a safety concern to the public (Product Recall Program, 2007). The product needed to be completely tested to verify if a complete recall of the product was necessary or the replacement of the defective part was the best solution for the company and the consumers.

Once the CEO and other company officials are made aware of the potential safety issues, it will be imperative for the company to verify how many and to where these defective products were delivered, and manufacture of the defective product or part must be stopped immediately to prevent further distribution; if it became necessary to order a mass recall of the defective product steps would be taken to immediately start the process.