Running head: Discussion board forum 1 – business ethics 1
Discussion Board Forum 1 – Business Ethics
Francis Frenette
BUSI 561
Liberty University
DISCUSSION BOARD FORUM 1 – BUSINESS ETHICS 2
Discussion Board Forum 1 – Business Ethics
When you purposely use direct intent and deception to achieve personal goals and success
defines you as a person or company, and once people find out it can and will destroy any
reputation that was achieved. Ethics is the basic foundation for establishing one’s self or business
in today’s society. “Business ethics are moral principles that guide the way a business behaves…
Acting in an ethical way involves distinguishing between “right” and “wrong” and then making
the “right” choice. It is relatively easy to identify unethical business practices” (Friedman, 2018).
The 2015 scandal involving Volkswagen displayed an enormous gap in personal and company
judgement at many levels of the organization. Proverbs 10:4 says “Poor is he who works with a
negligent hand, but the hand of the diligent makes rich” (NIV, 2013). When Volkswagen
deceived the public at they’re malicious attempt to use fraudulent software in emission testing,
the company lost pretty much all credibility and billions of dollars in sales while potentially
losing customers in the process. Volkswagen could have avoided unethical behaviors if someone
would have just stood up and said something. They could have questioned this at any level of
production and found an ethical way to handle the situation as a company.
Question 1
As an employee or a manager in either the legal office or the engineering department, how
would you have prevented this incident?
When you think about it, one person could have altered this event and had a pivotal impact on
how this event could have unfolded instead of how it did unfold. Volkswagens engineers neither
discussed nor hid what they were doing from Volkswagen lawyers, but the lawyers did not know
what was going on. Well maybe not all of them (Lippe, 2015). Mechanical and technological
information can be hard to interpret if you are not a subject matter expert on the information you
DISCUSSION BOARD FORUM 1 – BUSINESS ETHICS 3
are receiving. However, the engineers should have made sure the lawyers and all others
understood the context of the information given. So if it’s to be believed that the lawyers did not
know what was going on, the lawyers should have asked more questions and got more detailed
information. Volkswagen claimed they were achieving “clean diesel” but on the contrary they
were not. Once this was known the engineers should have put a stop to the production of the
faulty software. This type of company deception could have been avoided in many ways. Most
companies have a mission statement or a code of conduct that all employees are asked to uphold.
Most of which will outline morals, acceptable and unacceptable behaviors, rules, regulations and
just proper business ethics. I assume it would also include measures taken if an employee broke
any of these rules. Good ethics and conduct need to start at the top (management) and also be
followed by everyone in-between. Establishing rules for daily business operations need to be in
place, followed and also reinforced with consequences. Volkswagen could have also used a
checks and balances system. Although, the company should have an internal Quality Assurance
department doing this. This would prevent the production of faulty products and or lies within
the workforce. It is easy for a few people to lie and cover something up, but it is very hard for a
mass number of people to do the same. They could have used an internal audit system to verify
certain production procedures were being followed and done the right way. This would have
allowed them to address any issues before parts or vehicles went public. It is very apparent that
Volkswagen did not use any of these methods during this time and the results became public with
huge penalties.
Question 2
As the CEO of the diesel division of Volkswagen, how would you have responded when the
situation became public? How would this response prevent future incidents?
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Volkswagen did everything in their power to recover their brand and image as a leader in the
industry, but it was very clear they could have done more. The company replaced their current
CEO Martin Winterkorn with a new CEO Matthias Mueller. Volkswagen gave out five hundred
dollar gift cards to owners that were affected by the scandal as well as five hundred dollars
towards the purchase of a new vehicle. This action was received very positively by the public in
an effort of good faith by Volkswagen. But this also was seen as an effort to save face and a
cheap way for the company to get off. I believe Volkswagen should have had a press conference
that gave the public a mass apology and offered new vehicles to those who bought affected ones.
Owning up to mistakes can go a long way towards rebuilding a brand or image and would show
great morals and ethics. You must remain transparent as an individual and a company so that
consumers feel good about your brand or product. I think the CEO could have offered a little
more to the affected customers so that Volkswagen did not look cheap or too guilty. This may
have been a financial hit for them at first but could have paid off in the long run. As customers
would have felt loyalty from the company and possible been return customers. As soon as the
new CEO Matthias Mueller took over, it would be important for him to project the values and
standards of Volkswagen as a company. Brand messaging should also be portrayed with new
positive ideas and messages that hit home for Volkswagen. The company’s next ad campaign
must portray integrity and honesty. In the end, one person could have put a stop to all this
deceitfulness. It may have cost them their job and future income but it would have fixed a broken
problem and they would have probably been praised in the end. It is up to each and every person
within Volkswagen and the world to what is right morally and ethically even when no one is
looking.
DISCUSSION BOARD FORUM 1 – BUSINESS ETHICS 5
References
NIV essentials study Bible. (2103). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan
Lippe, P. (2015, October 13). Volkswagen: Where were the lawyers? ABA Journal. Retrieved
from http://www.abajournal.com/legalrebels/article/volkswagen_where_were_the_lawyers/
Friedman, T. (2018). Business ethics and corporate social responsibility An Anglo American case
study. Retrieved from http://businesscasestudies.co.uk/anglo-american/business-ethics-and-
corporate-social-responsibility/conclusion.html
