Monday, July 21, 2014

Ford - Firestone Case (Tire Controversy)

The case of Ford and Firestone is something I would consider a good eye opener for many businesses. Two important keywords that popped in my mind after the group presented the case - accountability and ownership. On this case, a lot of lives were lost yet the two companies involved seemed to point fingers as to who should take accountability. No one wants to take the responsibility. A key learning point on this case is businesses no matter how big and good they are must recognize the fact that they are responsible to all stakeholders most especially the consumers. A lot of lives were lost because of accidents involving Firestone tires and Ford Explorers. At the first few instance, both Companies should have met and took partnership in resolving the issue instead of pointing fingers and giving reasons to the public and the government. Should they have sat down early on, further accidents and deaths could have been avoided. 

On a CSR viewpoint, companies and businesses must take good care of its consumers even after the sales stage. They must protect the welfare of their customers by ensuring that the products and services purchased from them will not give any harm. I hope that all companies would have the same thinking. I guess taking good care of customer welfare is already a basic CSR initiative a company can carry out. A company might be regularly conducting outreach activities to its community but if it fails to take good care of its customer welfare, then I guess it still fails on the area of CSR. 

No comments: