Running head: DISCUSSION BOARD FORUM 1 1
Discussion Board Forum 1
Amber Taylor
Liberty University
DISCUSSION BOARD FORUM 1 2
In his article, “Volkswagen: Where were the lawyers?” Lippe (2015) lists seven possible
scenarios that he believes each party involved in the Volkswagen scandal, primarily including the
company’s in-house lawyers and its engineers, could have played. One scenario in specific that I
have concerns towards is his sixth listing, which states,
The Volkswagen engineers neither discussed with nor hid what they were doing from
Volkswagen’s in-house lawyers, and the in-house lawyers didn’t ask the engineers any
questions, even though they were nervous, and created some record of their concern. Call
this “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” (Lippe, 2015)
Hypothetically speaking, if this illustration indeed was the exact way Volkswagen’s in-house
lawyers handled the scandal involving the illegal masking of emissions, there is absolutely no
excuse for the lawyers to not have told someone the information they had discovered. There are
too many incidents, similar to that of the Volkswagen scandal, where employees are aware of
unethical behavior taking place within the work environment and do not notify upper
management of the wrongdoings. It has become very common for companies to engage in
activities that ultimately are deceitful to the public while maintaining the illusion that they will
fall short of getting caught in the process. Looking in from an outside perspective, much like
Lippe did, one cannot help but wonder how these engineers justifiably believed that they would
get away with engaging in such unethical behavior.
If I was an employee in either the legal office or the engineering department and was
aware of the fraudulent actions that were taking place by my colleagues, I would immediately
inform my direct manager or someone in upper management of any knowledge I had concerning
the situation. I feel that if I was in this dilemma, I would have an immediate moral conviction
placed upon my heart; knowing that those around me were participating in illegal activities while
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I stood by and said absolutely nothing would not sit at ease in my mind or soul. The way I look
at it from a legal perspective, my colleagues are participating in illegal activities; if I am aware of
the behaviors they are engaging in and do absolutely nothing about it, then I am just as guilty as
they are for not telling the appropriate authority figures. I would also evaluate myself and my
position, as I could not continue to work for a company that knowingly deceives the public by
willingly participating in fraudulent acts, such as programming software into its diesel vehicles
in order to provide false data to manipulate emissions testing.
As the CEO of the diesel division of Volkswagen, after this scandal became public, my
number one priority would be to gain back the trust and respect of our company’s customer base.
The first step I would take in doing so would be providing a sincere, public apology. As the CEO
of the company, what happens beneath of me falls back on my shoulders, and I would want my
customers to understand my genuine empathy towards them in knowing that had I known of the
scandal in its earliest stages, the extremity in which it reached would not have taken place. The
next step involves regaining our customers’ trust by letting them know that although I was
unaware of the situation, I will instill each necessary precaution it takes to ensure that no such
scandal will take place again in the future. I would inform the public that each employee is being
held accountable for his or her participation in the incident, as well as being rightfully prosecuted
for the negligent behavior that was illustrated. In his article, “The Volkswagen Emissions
Scandal and the Urge for Collective Punishment,” Benjamin Zycher (2015), a resident scholar at
the American Enterprise Institute, perfectly describes the Volkswagen diesel emissions scandal as
“a truly brazen act of business malfeasance.” Knowing that my customers viewed my company
in such poor character would give me the ultimate motivation to tackle all measures needed in
order to gain back their trust. It is the social responsibility of my business to consistently meet
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the expectations, which the community has imposed upon us (Kubasek, Browne, Barkacs,
Herron, & Dhooge, 2016) and I will do whatever it takes to ensure that those needs are being
met.
Oftentimes, incidents such as the Volkswagen scandal usually occur due to employees
believing that they are incapable of being caught. In order to prevent future scandals, I would
ensure that my employees know that going forward, absolutely nothing that is considered illegal
or unethical activity would go unnoticed as long as I was CEO. If such activity were to occur, it
would result in immediate termination and I would ensure that prosecution to the fullest would
also take place. Not only do our customers need to be aware of the seriousness of the penalties
bestowed upon each person involved in the masking of the emissions, but also each employee
needs to also be aware that his behavior is closely being watched, and any unethical behavior
will result with the appropriate consequences.
A biblical reference that I find very fitting for the Volkswagen scandal can be found in
Deuteronomy 25:15-16, which reads, “Yes, always use honest weights and measures, so that you
may enjoy a long life in the land the Lord your God is giving you. All who cheat with dishonest
weights and measures are detestable to the Lord your God” (New Living Translation).
Volkswagen engineers were trying to cheat their way to the top. As described by journalist Carl
Rhodes (2016), “The Volkswagen scandal shows how established organizational practices of
corporate business ethics are no barrier to […] the rampant pursuit of business self-interest
through well-orchestrated and large-scale conspiracies involving lying, cheating, fraud and
lawlessness.” They were aware that they could not meet the specific parameters that were set
forth upon them, and instead of directly telling upper management of this, they believed that
manipulating the system was the appropriate approach. In an article written for Fortune
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Magazine, authors Geoffrey Smith and Roger Parloff (2016) provided testimonial comments
from an anonymous company whistleblower, stating, “It wasn’t ‘acceptable to admit anything is
impossible’ […] No one had the courage to admit failure […] It was ‘an act of desperation.’”
Although cheating can be viewed as taking the easy way out, the Lord has called us to be honest
and accurate in our work. Proverbs 16:11 tells us that, “The Lord demands accurate scales and
balances; He sets the standards for fairness.” As Christians, we are blessed to have not only an
ethical conscience to discern between the good and the bad in any given situation, but God also
provides us with moral conviction and Scriptural truth for clarification on any given hardship we
may face.
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References
Kubasek, N. K., Browne, M. N., Barkacs, L., Herron, D., & Dhooge, L. (2016). Biblical
worldview edition of dynamic business law. N.J. Kippenhan (Ed.). New York, NY:
McGraw Hill Education.
Lippe, P. (2015, October 13). Volkswagen: Where were the lawyers? ABA Journal. Retrieved
from http://www.abajournal.com/legalrebels/article/volkswagen_where_were_the_lawyer
s/
Rhodes, C. (2016, April 7). Democratic business ethics: Volkswagen’s emissions scandal and the
disruption of corporate sovereignty. Sage Journals, (37)10. Retrieved from http://journal
s.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0170840616641984
Smith, G., & Parloff, R. (2016). Hoaxwagen. Retrieved from http://fortune.com/inside-volkswag
en-emissions-scandal/
Zycher, B. (2015). The Volkswagen emissions scandal and the urge for collective punishment.
American Enterprise Institute. Retrieved from http://www.aei.org/spotlight/the-volkswag
en-emissions-scandal/
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