Business Ethics opinion paper - Essay Example

Business Product Safety In my opinion, all products supplied must meet consumer guarantees and safety. Suppliers and business people should not be allowed to sell banned products or products that will cause harm to consumers. All manufacturers and suppliers have a responsibility of ensuring that their products or services comply with the defined mandatory standards or requirements. Most importantly, they must ensure that their products or product related services confer maximum good to consumers (Pine 59).

This means that producers, manufacturers and suppliers should follow the ethical principles of utilitarianism. According to this principle, proper actions must maximize utility, by reducing suffering and maximizing happiness. I believe that, over the years, consumers have faced challenges with product safety. Consumers have experienced a rise in cases where products have been recalled because they do not meet the required standards. In France, a medical practitioner had to recall breasts implants after safety assessments found that the implants could cause cancers and other medical conditions. In the U.S and Japan, cars, particularly Toyota, have been recalled because they do not meet the required safety standards (Pine 74).

These instances show that consumers face health and safety risks whenever they interact with potentially harmful products. I believe that consumers should receive a refund and compensation in case the products they purchase does not meet the required standards. Suppliers and producers who do not comply with safety standards should face legal actions. Manufacturers, importers and suppliers of substandard products should be held liable because they cannot guarantee customer safety (Pine 107). In order to protect themselves against these liabilities and legal actions, suppliers should ensure that their products meet the relevant safety standards.

Additionally, they should ensure that their products have clear instructions and warnings against misuse. Safe products should have clear instructions on how they are used. Additionally, they must provide warning to users against possible misuse. Safe products must also meet all mandatory and industrial standards. Manufacturers should recall products that do not meet the required safety standards and effectively communicate about the recall. Most importantly, the products design should incorporate safety (Pine 144).

Product improvement is an effective strategy for incorporating safety standards. Manufacturers and suppliers can improve their products by receiving customer feedback. Manufacturers have a duty of protecting their customers. The duty of a manufacture is based on three ethical views. The first view is the contract view, which holds that manufacturers have a duty of providing safe products. This duty is determined by the contract established between a purchaser and manufacturer. The duty requires the manufacturer to provide safe products that do not have additional risks than those expressly communicated by the seller to the buyer.

The second view is the due care view, which holds that manufacturers have a duty to honor the implied and express claims of product safety. This means that manufacturers have a duty of exercising due care in order to prevent consumers and other people from injuries (Pine 150). The third view is the social cost view, which holds that manufacturers should pay any costs arising from injuries sustained through defects in their products. Manufacturers, importers, suppliers, and service providers must ensure that their products and services meet the required safety standards.

These groups of people have a responsibility of ensuring that their products and services give customers maximum happiness, in addition to reducing suffering. The three ethical views that are used to determine the responsibilities of manufacturers, suppliers, importers and service providers with regards to safety are the social cost, due care and contract view. Work Cited Pine, Timothy A. Product Safety Excellence: The Seven Elements Essential for Product Liability Prevention. Milwaukee, Wis: ASQ Quality Press, 2012. Print.