Product Safety in the Chinese Automotive Industry

Studienarbeit aus dem Jahr 2010 im Fachbereich BWL - Unternehmensethik, Wirtschaftsethik, Note: 1,0, Universität Zürich (Institut für Betriebswirtschaftslehre - Lehrstühl für Organisation und Management), Veranstaltung: Business Ethics in China, Sprache: Deutsch, Abstract: The paper will discuss the phenomenon of European car manufacturers operating outstandingly successful in China without losing their know-how and competitive advantages to Chinese firms, despite being forced to do business in China in joint ventures with Chinese partners. The focus of the thesis will lie on product safety concerns of Chinese cars as well as the existence of European-Chinese joint ventures within the automotive industry in China, especially the cooperation of BMW and Brilliance. Next to the examination of reasons why European manufacturers were able to keep their knowledge in creating better and particularly safer cars than their Chinese counterparts, the author will discuss the question if and how European carmakers should and could help their Chinese business partners to build safer cars from an ethical pointof view.