1

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

UNIVERSITY OF HAIL

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING كلية الهندسة

College of Engineering

Research Proposal Template

Please structure your Research Proposal based on the headings provided below, use a clear and legible font

and observe the page/word limit.

Research Project Title:

Motor Vehicle Safety Defects and Recall System: An Empirical Study in Saudi Arabia

Student Details:

Student Name

Student ID

Email Address

Date of Submission

Research Project

Serial No.

Supervisor Name Supervisor Signature Start Date

Only for College Officials Use

College Approval

Master of Quality Engineering and Management

Research Proposal

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Master of Quality Engineering and Management 2020-2021

كلية الهندسة College of Engineering

1- Research Title

Provide a short descriptive title of your proposed research (max. 20 words)

Motor Vehicle Safety Defects and Recall System: An Empirical Study in Saudi Arabia

2- Research Summary

Summarize the aims, significance and expected outcomes of your proposed research (max. 250 words).

It is to set the mechanism for recalling vehicles with manufacturing defects that affect in

one way or another the safety of vehicles and their users, and this is done by linking a

unified system in which the defective vehicle data is added and called in the system to

the maintenance centers of the concerned vehicle agencies. Workmanship defects are

classified as: (1) Basic defects, which are considered to have a serious and direct impact

on the safety of the vehicle and its users, and the inspection process cannot be passed

until after the defect is fixed. (2) Warning defects, which are considered a defect in the

product, but the effect of the defect does not threaten the safety of the vehicle and its

users pass the examination process and the defect is added as a warning only.

This research proposal aims to find the most effective way to reach every defected

vehicle and the effective way to deal with the vehicle owner to do the necessary changes

especially if it's related to safety in a systematic way. The purpose of the project is to

develop a new business model that was never used everywhere in the world and Saudi

Arabia will take the lead to publish this model to the rest of the world. Ensuring that the

practice will be used is the most effective practise as enabling to force the defected car

owner to have their vehicles fixed and the defected was solved.

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Research Proposal

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Master of Quality Engineering and Management 2020-2021

كلية الهندسة College of Engineering

3- Introduction

This section should provide a description of the basic facts and importance of the research area – What is the research

area, the motivation of research, and how important is it for the industry practice/knowledge advancement? (max. 200

words).

As technology and economy have developed, the problem of public and industry safety caused by

defective products has become more serious. Identifying the faults in a product is the primary focus of

strict liability. Nonetheless, there are many issues that remain, such as outdated standards, no

quantification of liability assessments, and inadequate scrutiny of design defects under the product

liability system. We should change the method of notifying product defects from only telling the first

owner of the vehicle about the issue to relying on a risk-benefit analysis to decide what is unreasonable

risk and how to force the customer to make the necessary change. Performance-based standards should

be introduced to solve the problem that standard could not catch up with the development of

technology.

Because we rely on these products every day, people's safety and health are closely related to the safety

of many kinds of products. By statistic, unsafe products caused 22,000 deaths and 29.5 million injuries

every year in the United States. Recent years have seen a number of product defect-related accidents

attracting the attention of the public. It is not only the everyday life of the typical consumer that is

affected by product safety, but also the production of the industry as a whole. In order to prevent

product defects, it is important to study the problem of product safety. We must think about how to

prevent accidents and let relevant parties be responsible for product safety before an accident occurs.

From contact liability to strict liability and negligence liability, the doctrine of product liability has

changed. The work core of product safety has moved from after the event liability to beforehand

liability. Modern product liability based on strict liability centers around the defect in the product.

Defects have a large impact on both the plaintiff and the defendant.

The ministry of commerce administrate on recalls defected product such as vehicles and motor cycles

oversees safety recalls of motor vehicles as well as tires, When one of these products experiences a

safety-related defect or is not compliant with Motor Vehicle Safety Standard, manufacturer and

suppliers are in charged with ensuring public safety. Although almost all recalls are undertaken

voluntarily by manufacturers, they may be strongly encouraged by The ministry of commerce as part of

an ongoing safety defect investigation, or advocated for by individuals or consumer groups who can

petition The ministry of commerce to open an investigation into a particular defect. Rarely, The

ministry of commerce will order an automaker or other supplier to conduct a recall. For a weekly

update of the newest recalls, follow our #RecallRoundup via Twitter or Facebook. To check a vehicle.

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Research Proposal

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Master of Quality Engineering and Management 2020-2021

كلية الهندسة College of Engineering

3-1 Problem Statement

Provide a clear and concise description of the issues that need to be addressed (max. 100 words).

Defects on car products cause many people to lose their lives every year. Additionally, the method of

dealing with the owners of defective vehicles is not effective, so they might not be willing to accept the

idea of changing any part of their vehicle, especially if they believe that their vehicles are in good

condition. One of the major issues we face regarding recalls that it is hard to reach every vehicle owner

as the car has been transferred from one owner to another over the years, it is necessary to locate the

current owner.

3-2 Research Questions

This section should explain the research question and may include the hypothesis (max. 150 words).

This study tends to answer the following 4 research questions:

1. Do people know much about the recalls?

2. Why is it necessary to fix the defected vehicles?

3. How to reach every defected vehicle in the kingdom?

4. How can this system be effective and systematic?

3-3 Research Objectives

Provide a list of goals that will be achieved through the proposed research – (max. 150 words).

The main objective of this research is to find the most effective way to reach every defected vehicle,

and the effective way to deal with the vehicle owner to do the necessary changes especially if it's

related to Safety in a systematic way. Which means that we are going in this research to have a new

business model that was never used everywhere in the world and Saudi Arabia will take the lead to

publish this model to the rest of the world. Ensuring that the practise will be used is the most effective

practise as enabling to force the defected car owner to have their vehicles fixed and the defected was

solved.

4- Literature Review

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Research Proposal

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Master of Quality Engineering and Management 2020-2021

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Provide a brief review of the significant literature and current research in your field to place your own proposed research

in context and to establish its potential contribution to the field (max. 500 words).

Statistics show that the United States accounts for 22,000 deaths, approximately 29.5 million injuries,

and approximately 700 billion dollars in losses due to the unsafeness and defect of its products (Xiuli,

Baozhi, and Hanqing 2012). A defective product, according to Europa (1985), is one that fails to

deliver the safety an individual is supposed to get from every product he or she purchases, while taking

the following factors into account:

1-The way the product is presented

2-Use of the product

3-Time taken to circulate the product.

William M. Lindsay and James R. Evans (2005) define a defect as a characteristic that is abnormal with

respect to the quality of a manufactured item. In Crosby (2005)'s definition of defects, it is defined as

when manufactured products do not conform to the expected or accepted standards of quality. This

does not necessarily mean that that product has failed. As part of its assessment of "*defects**", the

European Union (EU 2010) divided them into three categories: "*minor defects**, "major defects" and

"dangerous defects". In accordance with the VOSA (2013), a vehicle is considered defective if a

component of its design or manufacture is likely to cause a significant risk of death or injury to the

user. The United States Code for Motor Vehicle Safety (Title 49, Chapter 301) defines “defect” as

every form of deficiency associated with the construction, component and performance of automobile

or automobile equipment (Safercar.gov 2010).

Minor Defects (As defined by the EU 2010)

1-When there is no significant impact on the well-being of a passenger or automobile 2-When a reassessment is not essentially vital.

Major Defects

1- May affect the safety of the automobile, as well as put other road users at risk with extensive non-

adherence.

2- Making use of the affected automobile will subject to limitations pending when it passes a technical

Audit. Dangerous Defects

1-Dangerous defects puts road users at instant danger

2-Automobiles under this cartegory should be taken off the road

Such vehicles even if repaired has to be properly re-examined, and must must pass a technical audit

before been put back on the road.

Defects in Automobiles Leading to Recall

The recall of automobiles by manufacturers has been attributed to one form of „defect‟ or another;

vehicle recalls can pose a serious problem for manufacturers (Kumar and Schmitz 2011). This has left

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both regulatory agencies, customers and the media al a loss. Manpreet et al. (2011) describes product

recall as the withdrawal of a product from the market as it was manufactured and sold to the customer.

Their research went further to state that recalls which are undertaken as a result of dearth in safety,

implies that the product stands as a possible danger to the user, and companies make announcement

advising customers to discontinue usage of such products. In an earlier research carried out by Dawar

and Pillutla (2000:215) product „defects‟ was defined as product harm tragedy, that are discrete in

nature, having good publicity in which products are found to be „dangerous‟ and „defective‟. The FDA

U.S defines product recall as the correction or removal of a marketed product.

General Motors (1971): Over 6.7 million vehicles recalled

during 1965-1970. The recalls were as a result of separated motor mount which permit s the car engine

to elate and cloud thereby making the throttle of the car to increase momentarily. Initial reports of a

"defect" were denied by company officials. Consumer advocate Ralph Nader wrote to GM Chairman

informing him about the motor mount failure, which resulted in jamming of the accelerator, shifting of

gears, and brake and steering system failure.

 During the Ford Motor Company's (1999-2009) recall of speed control system related issues, the

report of the recall outlined that it could lead to under-hood fires in three different models

manufactured between 1992 and 1993. Five million, two hundred thousand SUVs and pickup trucks

were recalled in 2005 because of speed control deactivation problems. Other recalls followed in 2006,

2007 and 2008.

 Volkswagen (1972): In conjunction with NHTSA, Volkswagen recalled 3.7 million cars as a result of

the loosening of the screws securing car windshield wipers of model manufactured from 1949 to 1969,

which made drivers to struggle during snowy conditions and rainstorms.

Ford (1972):As a result ofseat belt webbing braking from its connection Ford Motors recalled over four

million vehicles for fixing. The resultant result of this „defect‟ is that driver will not be able to lock in

the shoulder harness as a result of brakage of the grommet. This recall affected vechile models

manufactured in Fords factory lines in the U.S. from 1970 to 1971.

 In 1973 G.M once again issued recalls for over three million vehicles, from the Oldsmobile,

Chevrolet, Pointac and Buick lines. The drivers ability to steer the vehicle became an issue due to

stones finding there way into the engine compartment and getting stuck. General Motors in correcting

this defect had to construct a gravel shield over the steering coupling of the car.

 In 1981, General Motors recalled over five million cars, primarily Chevy Malibuses and Buick

Regals, because of damage done to the car frame and lower rear control through fracturing of bolts,

which then affected the suspension system. The affected vehicles were all manufactured between 1970

and the early 1980s. Whenever the bolts fracture, the car's control arm is released, resulting in a loss of

control.

 Over twenty-one million vehicles of the Mercury and Lincoln brands were recalled by Ford Motors

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between 1970 and 1980. It was recalled because of a faulty parking gear. The parking gear could refuse

to engage even when the driver had parked the vehicle and the indicator lights indicated that it had been

parked. Due to this defect*, there have been over six thousand accidents, one thousand seven hundred

and ten injuries, and 98 fatalities directly related to transmission slippage.

 Over three hundred and eighty-nine thousand, one hundred and two Audi between the period of

(1978-1986) cars were recalled as a result of unintended acceleration long before Toyota's surfaced

from the same issue.

 Honda Motors (1995): Due to belt buckle failures, Honda Motors was forced to recall over three

million cars by the National Highway Transport Safety Administration (NHTSA). Acura vehicles

manufactured from 1986 to 1991 were involved in the recall. Some of the recalled models had the

potential to break their seat belts.

 In Saudi Arabia the ministry of commerce recalls almost 63,000 vehicles between the period of 01-

08-2021 to 21-10-2021 from different manufacturers from the year model of 2015 up to 2020.

5- Research Methodology

Provide a full description of your general research design, as well as the specific methods and procedures used in your

research project. Please ensure that the research methodology clearly links to the study aim and objectives.

5-1 Research Design and Procedures (max. 150 words)

Survey methods, such as questionnaires, will be used to collect the data. The use of surveys for

assessing the impact of IT applications on generally allows researchers to cover a broader range

of topics than other data gathering methods. In order to obtain factual information rather than

opinions, the questionnaires will be prepared so the subjects will provide accurate responses.

Consequently, closed questionnaires will be used in the study to reduce the number of irrelevant

responses. Also Observations and Documents and records will help the reseach with it's vision.

5-2 Data Collection and Analysis Procedures (max. 150 words)

Data will be collected and analyzed according to the relationship between the operation secretes and

system controllers distributing a survey that will be distributed to service provided and IT departments

in many sectors for the integration of the needed information of Saudi organizations to find out the

relationship level by filling out the survey. We will categorize the analysis of data into nine TQM

dimensions:

1) Leadership of the program.

2) Process of strategic planning.

3) Assurance of the quality of the output.

4) Assurance of the quality of the supplier.

5) Innovations.

6) Analysis and information.

7) Using human resources effectively.

8) Satisfying customers.

9) Delivering quality results.

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Research Proposal

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Master of Quality Engineering and Management 2020-2021

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6- Research Plan & Time schedule

Please provide a plan of stages of your research development and thesis writing.

Approximate Period (week) Planned sequence of major tasks

P h

as e

15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Literature Review 1

Design of the survey and

interview 2

Data Collection 3

Data Analysis and result 4

Writing up 5

References

List all publications cited in your proposal using a suitable academic referencing system.

[1] Acar, W., and Druckenmiller, D.A (2010) „Designing insightful inquiring systems for sustainable

organizational foresight‟. Futures, Vol. 42, pg. 405-416.

[2] Affinity Learning Centre (2007) „4P‟s of the Toyota Way‟ [Online] available from <

http://affinity.editme.com/4Ps> [02/07/13]

[3] Alfaro, J. and Rabade, L., (2008)„Traceability as a strategic tool to improve inventory management:

A case study in the food industry‟.International Journal of Production Economics, 118 (1), pg.104–110.

[4] Al-Zoubi, M.R., (2013) „The Impact of Intellectual Capital on SWOT Analysis among Jordanian

Banking Industry “Empirical Study”. International Journal of Business and Social Science, Vol. 4, No.

2, pg. 123-137.

[5] Amaratunga, D., Baldry, D., Sarshar, M., and Newton, R. (2002) „Quantitative and qualitative

research in the built environment: application of “mixed” research approach‟. Work Study, Vol. 51,

No. 1, pg. 17-31.

[6] Amponsah, R. (2012) „The Real Project Failure Facts and the Effects of Culture on Project

Management in Ghana‟.ICBE-RF Research Report, No. 45/12.

[7] An. S and Gower. K.K (2009) „How do the news media frame crisis? A content analysis of crisis

news coverage‟. Public Relations Review, Vol. 35, pg. 107-112

[8] An Introduction to Automobile (ND) [Online] Available from <

http://web.iitd.ac.in/~achawla/public_html/736/1-Automobile_int ro-v5_1.pdf> [12/06/2013]

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