1. What are the major and minor ethical issues involved in this case?
2. Who are the stakeholders and what are their stakes? How do legitimacy, power, and urgency factor in? Do these companies care about consumers? Discuss.
3. Conduct a CSR analysis of both Firestone and Ford. How do they measure up in fulfilling their various social responsibilities?
4. Who is at fault in the tire separation controversy? Bridgestone/Firestone? Ford Motor Company? The NHSTA?
5. Do you think Firestone has an ethical responsibility to pay Ford $3 billion (or $600 million) for the tires it replaced on its own because the company did not think they were safe?

It is often tricky to know when an ethical or social issue really begins. Does it begin before it is “recognized” or “identified” as an issue? Does it begin when an isolated manager recognizes an incident or a trend and reports it via a memo to his superiors? Does it begin once the media get hold of information and the frenzy begins? Such questions arise in the case of the Firestone–Ford tire tread separation debacle that began dominating business news in the fall of 2000, with implications for passenger safety that continue today.