In the business world, many view ethics the same as a social responsibility, but as  in Social Responsibility of Business if to increase profits, the book argues that we are a free market society and ethics is not a responsibility, however a business must stay ethical through acting within the law.

Reported are complaints of sudden acceleration of multiple Toyota vehicles. The issue was kept at a low by repurchasing those damaged vehicles. This kept the costumer satisfaction, and eliminated the risk of loosing costumers. Such issue had to be reported as it concerns safety to the driver and third parties. A similar issue occurred at GM Chevrolet India (article of Times of India) this summer of an emission breach and only revealed by the company 8 years later, leading to a recall of 1.14 lakh recall of cars and a rebuild of costumer trust.

It may be suggested to address such issue directly at hand, instead of trying to hide it. Toyota had to deal with lawsuits, a drop of 1.4% in the US market share to 15.2% and a $ 16.4 million fine for a delayed recall. This could be avoided when acting directly within the constraints of law. Responsibility comes with success!

Article- Los Angeles Times:  http://articles.latimes.com/2010/oct/29/business/la-fi-toyota-suit-20101029