Addressing the VW Scandal 1
Addressing the VW Scandal
Henry Bradtke
Liberty University
Addressing the VW Scandal 2
Abstract
Scandal and controversy seem to be a common thing nowadays. The use of modern media and
technology helps show society these scandals and controversary much faster and to spread
quicker than in the past. Volkswagen’s “dieselgate” as it is referred to is just one of the most
recent auto industry headlines to come to light most recently. It is not just the auto industry that
needs to take a look at itself internally, but all industries of business. These businesses need to
look at their ethics, communication, and their overall knowledge as a whole.
Keywords: Ethics, knowledge, communication,
Addressing the VW Scandal 3
Addressing the VW Scandal
This author has been assigned to read an article that was in reference to the Volkswagen
scandal that had to do with diesel engines and the manipulation of emissions testing done by
government agencies. After doing so this author was asked to explore and answer two questions.
The first question was, as an employee or a manager in either the legal or the engineering
department, how would you have prevented this incident? The second question this author was
tasked with was, as the CEO of the diesel division of Volkswagen, how would you have
responded when the situation became public and how would this response prevent future
incidents?
This author in no way casting the blame on any individual that may have been involved
in this scandal at Volkswagen. This author instead is looking at this as a learning experience. All
individuals in their personal and professional lives face pressures to perform. These pressures
can come from many places. When one is facing these pressures, they need to stay true to
themselves in respect to one’s moral and ethical responsibility to society. We then can set this as
an example for others to follow. In doing so we can create that culture and culture matters
(Armstrong, 2017).
Prevention
This author will explore the first question as the manager of the engineering department
for Volkswagen and what one could have done to have prevented such an incident from
occurring. We must take all experiences, good and bad, and use them as references for the
future. We need to look at what was done right, what was done wrong, and what can we improve
on in the future.
Addressing the VW Scandal 4
Ethics
An important step in this process is for an individual to establish their ethics. One's
personal ethics and professional ethics should not stray far from each other. Ethics will guide us
when one is pondering what one should be doing in the situations one faces (Kippenham, 2016).
It is also important that we follow what we say is ethical by setting an example for those that we
work with. Nothing can be more frustrating than having someone tell one thing and then seeing
that person contradicting themselves by saying or doing something quite the opposite of what
was originally said. It is times like this that we remember Proverbs 11:1 that says, “The Lord
detests dishonest scales, but accurate weights find favor with him” (NIV). In order to be found
ethical we need to show that we can be trustworthy in what we say.
Knowledge
The auto industry is a highly competitive market. As there are a limited of auto
manufacturers competing for their share of the market with the consumers. For this instance,
each auto manufacturer is looking for their edge in the consumer market. Therefore, it is
important for engineers and managers need to increase their knowledge in the industry they
work. The engineers and managers need to learn what may or may not have worked in the past,
what are the current trends, how can we improve on what has already been done in the industry,
what needs are out there that no one else is capitalizing on. Over a decade ago Volkswagen was
hungry for growth and the obvious place for growth was in the United States market where it
only had a small presence (Armstrong, 2017).
Volkswagen and their employees must then gain knowledge of this market that the
company wishes to capitalize on. The use of diesel engines is more prevalent in European
countries. With Volkswagen being a European company it has become more familiar with diesel
Addressing the VW Scandal 5
engines. As the manager we must now look at the use of diesel engines in the United States.
This would not be the first-time a manufacturer has tried to use the diesel engine in the United
States. Over twenty years earlier the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had to deal
with an instance where diesel truck engines emissions would change based on the amount of
time it had been driven (Coglianese & Nash, 2017). Research would then need to go into how
the truck diesel manufacturers got through the issue in those diesel engines and what lessons
were learned. There are differences between what the United States EPA requires and what
European countries require. European transport emissions only started to decrease in 2007 and
remain higher than in 1990, which is a common benchmark for climate mitigation (Anderson,
Upham, & Aall, 2018).
Communication
In any relationship it is important to establish communication. Verbal communication
requires not only relaying information to another but listening and understanding what another
person has to say. When listening we must not cast judgment because we may have not gone
through the steps the other party has to get the results they have. Working together to try and
resolve an issue that has been discovered. Romans 14:12 says that “Therefor let us not judge one
another anymore, but rather determine this-not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a
brother’s way” (NIV).
Response to Scandal
A response to the scandal that happened to Volkswagen would need to be handled very
carefully. The society today is a very litigious. Initially we would need to address it as an I
situation, with the I being the corporation Volkswagen. We would need to fully investigate how
such actions could have taken place and what we can do to correct them in the future. Lawyers
Addressing the VW Scandal 6
for Volkswagen would need to be consulted to ensure when responding and speaking publicly
about the incident that there is nothing misspoken. Privately the corporation would need to look
at ways to prevent these types of situations in the future.
Conclusion
This will probably not be the last business scandal to hit the headlines. It is in the best
interest of employees and managers to look at these scandals to see the negative effects it can
have on the business. Using ethics, communication and knowledge would just be the building
blocks these employees and managers would need to ensure that they can try to ensure to avoid
the business making headlines for the wrong reason.
Addressing the VW Scandal 7
References
Anderson, O., Upham, P., & Aall, C. (2018). Technological response options after the VW diesel
scandal: Implications for engines CO2, Sustainability, pp 1 - 18.
doi:10.3390/su10072313
Coglianese, C., & Nash, J. (Winter 2017). The law of the test: Performance-based regulation and
diesel emissions control, Yale Journal of Regulation; New Haven, vol. 34 issue:1, pp 33 -
90. doi:10.3390/su10072313
Armstrong, R. (Jan. 13,2017). The Volkswagen scandal shows that corporate culture matters,
Financial Times Limited.
Kippenhan, N.J. (2016). Biblical Worldview Edition of Dynamic Business Law (adapted work).
New York, NY: McGraw Hill Education.
Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)
