(Ferrel, Fraedrich, & Farrel, 2009) How will the implementation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 prevent future dilemmas in Tyco?

Sarbanes-Oxley increases: the penalties for such actions, limits the role that the board of directors will have with managers, it creates an accounting oversight board and it requires the CEO / CFO to certify under oath that all financial information is correct. This will severe as a deterrent and help to provide mechanisms, to the prevent ways that the fraud was able to be perpetuated at Tyco. (Ferrel, Fraedrich, & Farrel, 2009)

Can the SEC trust Tyco's new board?

Yes. This is because those members who were involved with Kozlowski were purged and none of the current members have committed any acts of wrong doing. These facts along with the Sarbanes-Oxley in place, means, that there is no reason for the SEC not to trust the board. (Ferrel, Fraedrich, & Farrel, 2009)

Firestone: A Reputation Blow Out

To what extent do companies need to make a proactive effort to collect and analyze data concerning possible safety issues?

Companies must be able to identify these different issues early, so that they can be able to understand the problems that are associated with various products that are sold to the general public. (Ferrel, Fraedrich, & Farrel, 2009)

What mistake did Ford, Firestone, and NHTSA each make in their early attempts to handle the crisis?

The mistake that Ford made was: to assume that the overall extent of the problems with...

Firestone failed to disclose the fact that it knew some of its tires had the obvious defect. The NHTSA was under regulating both companies, by not actively monitoring the company records and providing proper oversight, through random inspections. This would allow the problem to become worse. (Ferrel, Fraedrich, & Farrel, 2009)
What are the possible ethical implications of accepting responsibility vs. blaming others?

When a company accepts responsibility for their actions, they will receive negative publicity over the short-term. However, because they admitted that they were at fault and are working to fix the problem, means that the long-term effects will not be as severe. The moment a company begins to blame others, is when questions begin to arise about the company's practices. This is because such tactics make it seem as if management is trying to hide something, which causes investigators to dig even further. (Ferrel, Fraedrich, & Farrel, 2009)

Suggest measures that Firestone could take to improve tire quality in the future.

Several steps that the company could take to achieve this objective would include: improving safety monitoring standards, having increased transparency and improving the overall amounts of design / testing that takes place on the different tires. (Ferrel, Fraedrich, & Farrel, 2009)

Bibliography

Ferrel, O., Fraedrich, J. & Farrel, L. (2009). Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making and Cases. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.