Takata Airbag Recall

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The press releases that Takata first issued stated that propellant chemicals were mishandled and improperly stored during assembly, which supposedly caused the metal airbag inflators to burst open due to excessive pressure inside. However, in July, the company blamed the humid weather and spurred additional recalls. The company's study has yet to reach a conclusion and report the findings to NHTSA.

Ethically Resolving – Product Recall

As marketing manager of Takata with profit and loss responsibility, I would have handled the product failure ethically. First, the company Takata would have issued a public announcement as soon as it became aware of the threat to public safety. As a company, we would take responsibility to help minimize the damage. The public will be in less distress if they have knowledge of the extent of the defect. The company would be transparent through every step of the recall process.

Automobile safety is a highly regulated industry and for a good cause. Human lives are at stake. Takata would not have waited to get the regulatory agencies involved. It is our moral obligation to report and repair defects in the most expedient manner possible. Often government bureaucratic processes can delay consumers and distributors notification.

You need to immediately begin a thorough investigation to determine what went wrong, and how many products are affected so you can set the scope of the recall. 'These need to be very specific measurements,' Gibson says. 'You don't want to over recall because it can be scary, and expensive. But you can't under recall because then it's ineffective (Vanden Bos, 2010).

Finally, remember that the safety of your customers is your number one priority. Bernstein adds, “CEOs need to remember that the public expects them to do what’s right, not just what’s required... Companies like Bridgestone/Firestone, and Merck, learned that lesson the painful way (Male, 2010).”

References

About Takata. (2016, August 13). Retrieved August 13, 2016, from Takata: http://www.takata.com/en/about/history.html

Atiyeh, C., & Blackwell, R. (2016, August 5). Massive Takata Airbag Recall: Everything You Need to Know, Including Full List of Affected Vehicles. Retrieved August 13, 2016, from Car and Driver: http://blog.caranddriver.com/massive-takata-airbag-recall-everything-you-need-to-know-including-full-list-of-affected-vehicles/

Male, B. (2010, March 8). How To Do A Product Recall The Right Way. Retrieved August 13, 2016, from Business Insider: http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-handle-a-product-recall-2010-3

Vanden Bos, P. (2010, June 24). How to Survive a Product Recall. Retrieved August 13, 2016, from Inc.: http://www.inc.com/guides/2010/06/how-to-survive-a-product-recall.html