Toyota and the Parable of the Pinto, By Whitney Farmer – Un Pop Culture

March 10, 2010 Whitney Farmer 0 Comments

Let’s start with a survival strategy:  TRAIN yourself to shift a car into neutral while it is moving, then engage the regular brakes and/or the emergency brake.  Go to a parking lot and practice the rhythm of these steps.  No matter what the reason or what kind of car you drive, this can save you life.

Public fear is not diminishing as new reports surface about Toyota concerns.  On Tuesday, a runaway Prius incident in San Diego hit the media.  In this case, there doesn’t appear to be an obstruction from the floor mat.  This event is expected to become the focus of an expanding investigation.

What can Toyota do? They are faced with the same choice that we are each confronted with daily:  Doing the right thing, and figuring out what ‘right’ is.

In the September/October 1977 edition of “Mother Jones” magazine, a shattering example was given of what was the wrong thing to do.  The article described how Ford Motors under President Lee Iacocca decided to let an acceptable number of people burn to death instead of paying for an $11 fix in their Ford Pintos. The basis of this decision was a standard business practice called cost/benefit analysis. Through creative and diabolically flawed accounting, Ford decided to pay the surviving kin of these accident victims $200,000 in exchange for a release of liability.  They did this for 7 years, not only leaving dangerous vehicles on the road but having the ability to modify their production process and not selling NEW cars that could be deadly AND CHOOSING NOT TO DO SO. At rear-end impacts of around 25, the cars could explode into flames. At impacts of around 40 mph, the frame would buckle like an accordion and jam the doors, leaving unharmed but trapped occupants to burn to death  The Ford Pinto would come to be known as the “…barbeque that seats four”.

I am a business person, and it enrages me when I hear it used as a justification for evil choices.  “It’s business…” is used as if it grants immunity to a diplomat in a foreign land, or as absolution for crimes of avarice. But business has the power to be a moral teacher and a moral vehicle, not a hall pass.  Reaping what we sow…honest pay for an honest day…treating others as we would like to be treated…These fundamental visions can become reality in the workplace.  Violating them increases the risk of financial failure.  If trust is broken, key relationships cannot be vetted. Poor quality leads to a loss of market share. A lack of diligence leads to lapses in innovation and ultimately obsolescence. And pride definitely comes before a fall.

I remember reading some engineering notes from a team involved in the construction of the incineration chambers in the Nazi concentration camps. They were trying to maximize the efficiency of the combustion in terms of speed as well as fuel utilization, both significant problems due to the sheer volume demanded.  Their solution was in how bodies were stacked. A protocol was established to have the smaller on top of the larger.  In this configuration, the smaller bodies would ignite, then the fat in them would render, dripping down and becoming fuel to assist in the combustion of the larger body beneath…

There are some questions that should never be asked, some answers that are never acceptable.  Some issues are simple, and we are called to make moral choices because they are moral, not because the numbers crunch in the right direction.

Eventually, companies and industries reap what they sow.  The Pinto will forever be a shame to Ford.  And increased regulation rolled into the auto industry because they demonstrated in flagrant style that they couldn’t be trusted to not kill people for profit.

I once had a water bottle roll underneath my brake pedal. When I tried to brake, there was resistance. It was a sickening feeling. What those people must have gone through… I watched Mr. Toyota give his testimony on CSPAN recently, offering apologies and assurances.  If he is an astute business leader, he will mean it and he will fix the problems regardless of the cost.  We have long memories.

Haiti Update

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2010/03/bill-clinton-and-george-w-bush.html?wprss=44

Bill Clinton and George W. Bush put together team to oversee Haiti aid fund

By Philip Rucker
Former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush announced late Tuesday that they have appointed a six-member board of former Democratic and Republican senior government officials to oversee the humanitarian fund the presidents established in the aftermath of the Jan. 12 earthquake that devastated Haiti.

Clinton and Bush have tapped Gary Edson, who served as Bush’s deputy national security adviser and helped establish the anti-poverty Millennium Challenge Corporation, as chief executive officer of the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund.

Edson will be joined by a board of directors made up of longtime advisers and allies of both presidents.

The presidents said more than 200,000 individuals have donated over $36 million to the fund since President Obama asked them to lead the nation’s long-term humanitarian response to the earthquake. The fund has allocated millions to relief groups providing medical care and supplies, mobile clinics, water purification, hygiene kits, education assistance and recovery supplies to quake survivors in Port-au-Prince, Jacmel, Saint Martin and Martissant.

Edson and the board will oversee the fund’s strategy and processes, including fundraising and cash disbursements.

“We are pleased to appoint a board of bipartisan, distinguished leaders whose experience in past disaster recovery and rebuilding efforts will ensure the effective operation of the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund and the strategic allocation of its resources to have the greatest impact on the lives of the Haitian people,” Clinton said in a statement. “Their service and dedication will help President Bush and me continue to support the people of Haiti as they build back better in the months and years to come.”

Bush added: “I am pleased that such a distinguished group of individuals has agreed to serve. I thank them for donating their time and talents to this worthy cause. This group will ensure that our fundraising efforts remain strong, and that the money is spent on successful programs that build a better future for the Haitian people.”

The six board members are:

• Laura Graham, a former Clinton administration official and chief operating officer for the William J. Clinton Foundation, who will serve as a Board Co-Chair.
• Joshua Bolten, former White House chief of staff to Bush and currently a visiting professor at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School, who will serve as a Board Co-Chair.
• Bruce Lindsey, a former Clinton administration official and currently chief executive officer of the Clinton Foundation.
• Dr. Bill Frist, former Republican Senate majority leader, a professor at Vanderbilt University, a partner at Cressey & Company in Chicago, and chairman of Hope Through Healing Hands.
• Henrietta Fore, former administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development under Bush and chairman and chief executive officer of Holsman International, an investment and management company.
• Alexis Herman, former secretary of labor in the Clinton administration and currently chief executive officer of New Ventures, LLC.

Quote of the Blog: From an advertisement booklet that came in the mail: “Replace your breast implants and receive a new pair for half off…and we validate parking!.”

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Whitney runs a rock music venue in L.A. She has an M.B.A. and no one cares.