112 ◾ Dennis A. Gioia
7.3.2 Epilogue: Pinto Case
Subsequent to my departure from Ford in 1975, reports of Pinto res escalated,
attracting increasing media attention, almost all of it critical of Ford. Anderson
and Whitten (1976) revealed the internal memos concerning the gas tank problem
and questioned how the few dollars saved per car could be justied when human
lives were at stake. Shortly thereafter, a scathing article by Dowie (1977) attacked
not only the Pinto’s design, but also accused Ford of gross negligence, stonewall-
ing, and unethical corporate conduct by alleging that Ford knowingly sold “re-
traps” after willfully calculating the cost of lives against prots (see also Gatewood
and Carroll 1983). Dowie’s provocative quote spec ...