Microsoft Hatred FAQ

[Antoon Pardon]

Op 2005-10-19, Roger Blake schreef <rogblake10 at iname10.com>:
> In article <slrndlc55k.9v5.apardon at rcpc42.vub.ac.be>, Antoon Pardon wrote:
>> A company figures out something is wrong with one of their new models.
>> They have two options. They can repair the problem or they can leave
>> it as is and brace the laswsuits that will likely follow. An analysis
>> shows that the first option is likely to cost more than the second.
>
> What you are desribing is the Ford Pinto. (As you may recall, Ford
> determined that it would cost less to settle the lawsuits of charbroiled
> customers and their families than to fix the poor engineering of the
> gas tank on that car.)
>
>> As far as I understand you, the company should ship the faulty model.
>
> That is what Ford did for years with the Pinto.

And as far as I understand David Schwartz that was the right decision
of Ford.

> They failed to take into account that beyond the short-term profit
> numbers, there is an effect on the company's reputation and profitibility
> when shipping faulty products in a competitive marketplace. Today's
> U.S. automakers are still suffering from poor reputations they earned
> decades ago.

But that is aftersight. If is always possible that you overlooked
something in your analisis or that some information is unavailable.
So you are forced to take a decision based on the information then
available. Whether or not the problem involves ethics in trading
doesn't change that.

-- 
Antoon Pardon