02-17-2013, 08:30 AM
Quote:Let's face it, the bottom line is everything in the corporate world. They saved a few million in update costs, but I'm guessing their losses will be in the billions by the time this is over. Ship cleanup and repairs, refunds, cost of getting passengers home, canceled cruises, lawsuits and lastly, a very tarnished reputation. Let's face it, their response was less than stellar.
Quote:I always question the wisdom of some corporate leaders. Take the Remington 700 rifle. There is a questionable trigger mechanism that can cause the gun to fire on its own. I was watching a program about this a while back and the designer said that a fix would have cost the company about another five cents to implement from the get-go. The didn't do anything and now after a million or more guns sold, they are faced with a series of lawsuits. The spent more on one lawyer than it would have cost to do it right in the first place.
I also remember a while back when one of the auto companies were being sued for something and it was reveled that they had decided early on that it would be cheaper to settle a few lawsuits than fix the problem in the first place.
The number of said item sold = A
The probability of something going awry = B
The average cost of an out of court settlement = C
AxBxC=X
If X is less than the cost of a recall (or update, or modification), there is no recall.
How many cruises is a ship like that good for? How many years do they stay in service? How many ticketed passengers per trip? It is all on a cost vs. risk analysis.
Dave
-Dave