KI activity 5 - Social Responsibility module: Product liability
General background
Product liability refers to a manufacturer or seller being held liable for placing a defective product into the hands of a consumer. Responsibility for a product defect that causes injury lies with all sellers of the product who are in the distribution chain. When a product has an unexpected defect or danger, the product cannot be said to meet the ordinary expectations of the consumer [1].
Frequently companies, especially in tech industries, make products that may not meet the liability requirements expected by the customer. Earlier this year, Apple announced in a statement that all iPhones, iPads, and Macs are affected by chip flaws. The problems found in the chips could allow hackers to get access to passwords and other sensitive data stored on personal computers. More importantly, according to the Washington Post, the findings on the vulnerabilities published by researchers at Google's Project Zero, academic institutions, and private companies show the flaws were discovered last year [2]. Now the question is, what is Apple's responsibility towards its customers in such a situation? More importantly, if they knew about the flaw a year ago, was it ethical to withhold the information from customers hoping to find a solution to minimize their financial loss?
Apple is not the only company facing liability issues with their product. About a year ago Samsung went through a rather similar situation where several of their cell phone devices caught fire unexpectedly. Samsung blamed battery design and manufacturing problems for the Galaxy Note 7 failure. In a news conference, Samsung and outside experts said batteries made by two suppliers contained flaws that allowed the phones to overheat and in several cases catch fire [3]. According to CNN, Bryan Ma, vice president of device research at IDC said "Samsung is a very aggressive company. Was something happening in the decision-making process that contributed is the lingering question in my mind. They still could have taken on more blame themselves. For now they've done the least of what they should be doing" [4] . According to company officials, there was haste in having an earlier release date for Galaxy Note 7 compared to iPhone 7. Samsung was also trying to catch up with Chinese cellphone makers such as Huawei and Xiaomi, by adding new features to its products [3]. The question that arises in this case is, should Samsung have taken more responsibility in this case rather than blaming the battery manufacturing companies? What preventive strategies can be implemented to minimize the possibility of such issues?
Scenario
Assume you are a production line engineer working in a company that designs and manufactures batteries. Right now you are in charge of quality control of the batteries for a new cellphone. Your workers are in charge of finding the defective batteries. Either the defective batteries must be sent back for repair or they must be thrown away. Your line is the final inspection stage just before the products are encased in molding compound for final packaging.
You realize that your workers are finding more defective batteries than usual. You know that the company had to somehow rush the production of this specific item in order to keep the contract with the cellphone company. Moreover you personally believe that the design requirements from the cellphone company for this specific product have not been realistic, which is probably the reason for so many defective items.
Your manager, Bob, informs you that your line is repairing/throwing away too many batteries. He believes it would be more beneficial to allow defective batteries to go out the door. When you ask what about customers complaining about the defective ones, he replies, the company has a return department that will replace them as customers complain. Bob further estimates that allowing defective batteries on the market will yield a profit for the company.
Questions
Now please answer each of the following questions in one or two sentences.
1. What are the concerns involved in following Bob's recommendation? Is it acceptable to follow his suggested course of action?
2. If you have a differing opinion, how could you present your case to Bob?
After some research, you realize the defects with the batteries might be more serious than you realized. The irregularly sized batteries might cause overheating of the device which might lead to health risks to the customers (similar to the Samsung case).
3. How does this additional information influence your responses to question 1 & 2?
References
[1] Thomson Reuters, "What is Product Liability?," 2018. [Online]. Available: http://injury.findlaw.com/product-liability/what-is-product-liability.html. [Accessed 14 1 2018].
[2] H. Shaban, "Apple says Spectre and Meltdown vulnerabilities affect all Mac and iOS devices," The Washington Post, 4 1 2018. [Online]. Available: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2018/01/04/tech-companies- work-to-patch-major-computer-vulnerabilities-meltdown-and- spectre/?utm_term =. 4aedfc65fdd3. [Accessed 14 1 2018].
[3] P. Mozur, "Galaxy Note 7 Fires Caused by Battery and Design Flaws, Samsung Says," 22 1 2017. [Online]. Available: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/22/business/samsung-galaxy- note-7-battery-fires-report.html. [Accessed 15 12 2017].
[4] S. Pham, "Samsung blames batteries for Galaxy Note 7 fires," 23 1 2017. [Online]. Available: http://money.cnn.com/2017/01/22/technology/samsung-galaxy-note-7-fires-investigation- batteries/index.html. [Accessed 10 1 2018].
