Business 148 Chapter 14,16,17

Chapter 14,16,17 business 148 I forgot two questions in chapter 17

definitions

Tort- a tort is an act that injures someone in some way, and for which the injured person may sue the wrongdoer for damages. It is also defined as a wrong.

Caveat- emptor let the buyer beware basic concept was that the buyer had as much knowledge as the seller regarding what he or she wanted.

Caveat- vendor let the seller take care whereas businesses are held responsible for all products placed on the market.

Punitive Damages- damages awarded as punishment: damages that are awarded by a court to punish the defendant rather than to compensate the victim

Absolute Liability- Courts in several states and certain countries have established a standard that is much more demanding than strict liability.

CPSC- Consumer product safety commission is an independent regulatory agency that was created by the consumer product safety act of 1972. Works to reduce the injuries and deaths from consumer products.

Strict Liability holds that anyone in the value chain of a product is liable for harm caused to the user if the product as sold was unreasonably dangerous because of its defective condition.

Tort Reform- or product liability reform is an act that injures someone in some way, and for which the injured person may sue the wrongdoer for damages

Contractual Theory- focuses on the contractual agreement between the firm and the customer.

Delayed Manifestation Cases- situations in which delayed reactions to products appear years later after consumption of, or exposure to, the product.

FDA- food and drug administration which grew out of experiments with food safety by one man, named Harvey W. Wiley

TQM- Total Quality Management means that all of the functions of the business are blended into a holistic, integrated philosophy built around the concepts of quality, teamwork, productivity, customer understanding, and satisfaction.

Questions

Referencing the articles above, who is "strictly" liable? In other words, who is going to be strictly liable -using the textbook definition of "strict liability"? I think that the manufacturer of the toy is strictly liable. It is their responsibility to make sure that the products that they sell are properly working. When Disney's The little mermaid came out on tape, there is a scene at the end where she gets married, the man in the white robe who is supposed to be a preacher, has an erection. So in that scenario Disney himself did not draw that scene, but Disney is still responsible.

What would you do if your child's crib toy was saying "I Hate You"? Which government agency could you call? I would be ticked off. I would call the bbb. As well as - Consumer product safety commission

Is the quality of the crib toy (above) a social or ethical issue? Explain your answer using your text as a guide. Ethical issue, companies have an ethical responsibility to us the consumer to provide us with quality products and service.

Using the "Top 10 List of Safety Principles" , describe exactly where you think Walmart (or the manufacturer of the crib toy) went wrong. Which safety principle was ignored and/or skipped?

They failed to report defects, failed to test for hazards, as well tracking and addressing the products safety performance. Not that I would say this is a physical safety issue, however it is a mental health issue.

There is a growing concern about product liability. Why? Because of the sheer number of cases involving products that have resulted in illness, harm, or death.

"Some of the most infamous injuries inflicted on consumers were remedied mainly through lawsuits"....Do you think there are too many law suits? Or do you think tort reform is ultimately vital to consumers? Explain your answer. Yes I do think there are too many lawsuits. Seems like people just want a reason to sue You. We see all these commercials about IF YOU HAVE TAKEN PAXIL WHILE PREGNANT, CALL NOW YOU COULD BE ENTITLED TO COMPUSATION. Its ridicules how our country has become a society of "if you upset me, I will sue you."

List the six main responsibilities of the CPSC. After reading the article (above), do you believe the CPSC acts in the best interest of the consumer? Why or why not? Developing voluntary standards with industry, issuing and enforcing mandatory standards, banning consumer products if no feasible standard would adequately protect the public, obtaining the recall of products or arranging for their repair, conducting research on potential product hazards, and informing and educating consumers through the media, state and local governments, private organizations, and by responding to consumer inquiries. I don't think they act on the best interest of the consumer, only because they did not do a nationwide recall. They focused on only a few states.

Explain the importance of Six Sigma Six Sigma seeks to improve the quality of process outputs by identifying and removing the causes of defects (errors) and minimizing variability in manufacturing and business processes. It uses a set of quality management methods, including statistical methods, and creates a special infrastructure of people within the organization ("Black Belts", "Green Belts", etc.) who are experts in these methods. Each Six Sigma project carried out within an organization follows a defined sequence of steps and has quantified financial targets (cost reduction and/or profit increase).

The term Six Sigma originated from terminology associated with manufacturing, specifically terms associated with statistical modeling of manufacturing processes. The maturity of a manufacturing process can be described by a sigma rating indicating its yield, or the percentage of defect-free products it creates. A six sigma process is one in which 99.99966% of the products manufactured are statistically expected to be free of defects (3.4 defects per million). Motorola set a goal of "six sigma" for all of its manufacturing operations, and this goal became a byword for the management and engineering practices used to achieve it.

How can Six Sigma help a company produce high quality products? Recalling the articles about Mattel (chapter 5) as well as the Walmart situation...How could the implementation of Six Sigma make a difference? One of their strengths has been the clarity of the process and the steps companies must take to adopt