Running head: The Volkswagen Emissions Scandal
The Volkswagen Emissions Scandal
BUSI 561
Charles Dampare
Liberty University
THE VOLKSWAGEN EMISSION SCANDAL
When we hear about a scandal in the auto industry of this proportion, we no longer seem
shocked. The fact that something like this can actually happen illustrates how often these
historical blunders have now occurred. The article "Volkswagen: Where were the lawyers?"
(Lippe, 2015), referenced the software scheme Volkswagen used to deceive the diesel
emissions, and consumers. This faulty software that lied about the diesel indicators, would
end up in a class-action lawsuit with most Volkswagen vehicles from 2006 to 2014. As we can
see this level of corruption and deception did not happen overnight. In the following
discussion, I will discuss how this could have been prevented, the response that will need to
take place once this goes public, and, how that response would prevent and deter any future
incidents.
With the stance of a manager, you would really need to rely on your morals. It is your
job to speak up when you see a discrepancy and try to correct it. The bible reminds us” The
integrity of the upright guides them, but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them”
THE VOLKSWAGEN EMISSION SCANDAL
(New International Bible, 1973/2011). With that being said, sure it is possible that speaking up
to those in charge may come at a price, but a true leader has no problem living with those
consequences to ensure others are not negatively affected. You could also point to the False
Claims Act of 1863, whereby reporting the false claim about Volkswagen cars. This same act
also would give you protection to use the law to sue Volkswagen in case they tried to silence
the employees by termination.
Legally, individuals have to speak up and do the right thing especially when they know
that no action taken would potentially not only harm the environment, but the owners of
these vehicles in a negative way. It is worthy to note whether or not Volkswagen was complicit
in its negligence. In publishing by James Wiseman in 2017 he stated, “Falsity requires that
some law has been violated and scienter requires determining whether Volkswagen knew that
some law is being violated”. Once it is made clear that laws were broken, I would then request
our crisis team to get to work. It is critical to understand why this would be a crisis as I would
probably receive backlash from the top brass.
Crisis management had a survey of chief executive officers of fortune 500 companies
discovered, that 85 percent said that a business crisis is inevitable, but only 50 percent of these
had taken a productive action in preparing a crisis plan (Augustine, 2000). One reason so
many companies fail to take steps to proactively plan for crisis events is that they fail to take
the steps toward a said plan. Ignoring the probabilities of disaster is not going to eliminate or
THE VOLKSWAGEN EMISSION SCANDAL
delay their occurrences. Like an ostrich with the head in the sand, they simply choose to
ignore the situation with the hope that it will not come to pass. As the CEO of the diesel
division of Volkswagen, one must learn from previous mistakes committed by other
companies, and the action taken to fix the wrongdoing.
On July 18, 1984, James Huberty told his wife he was going “to hunt humans”, and
fatally wounded 21 people while injuring 40 total with a firearm. This tragedy was unfairly
labeled the "MacDonald's Massacre" although McDonald' was also a victim too (Starmann,
1993). Mcdonald's choose the "Horwitz Rule", who stated to the management team "I don't
want you people to worry or care about the legal implications of what happens. We are going
to do what's right for the survivors and families of the victims, and we'll worry about lawsuits
later" (Starmann, 1993, p.309). Mcdonald's acknowledged something terrible happened and
got in front of it by showing empathy, despite not being at fault.
Volkswagen could certainly take a page from the way McDonald's response team
reacted in a crisis. Instead after knowingly utilizing faulty software on purpose, the brand's
representative recorded a two-minute video in which the employees, including the CEO,
pleaded guilty and apologized. Nonetheless, the video statement was a complete failure and
changed nothing in public perception. In reality, Volkswagen then had to embark on the
world's most extensive program of electric motor switch-over. The results of this program
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were quite positive as the brand managed to return to its previous position of #1 car
manufacturer, but it still is mentioned on social media worldwide as mainly negative.
With me in charge of the emissions department, to restore brand reputation I would
have done the following: swiftly issue an apology, informed stockholders of the coming
changes in the department mainly responsible, and issued a recall for all diesel vehicles
affected by our transgressions. This format would have been completed in 72hrs. After the
change in management had taken place I would issue guidelines, such as the fines that our
company incurs, and the amount of time and dollars lost due to recalling vehicles for service
as preventative measures in future incidents. The parallel between the McDonalds Massacre
and Volkswagen Diesel Gate was a crisis occurred and at that point, your next response will go
a long way toward public perception, whether it was your fault or not, right or wrong.
Proverbs 28:13 states: "The lip of the truth shall be established forever: but a lying
tongue is but for a moment". Your only chance to control any narrative is to get out in front of
it be honest, and show empathy for your consumer/ customer.
References
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Lippe, P. (2015, October 13). Volkswagen: Where were the lawyers? ABA Journal.
http://www.abajournal.com/legalrebels/article/volkswagen_where_were_the_lawyers/
New International Bible. (2001). The NIV. https://ww.biblegateway.com/ (Original work
published 1973)
Wiseman, J. (2017). Reasonable, But Wrong: Reckless Disregard and Deliberate Ignorance in
The False Claims Act After "Hixson" Columbia Law Review, 177 (2), 435-471. Retrieved from
http://www.jstor.org/stable/44159465
Augustine, N. R., (2000). Managing the Crisis You Tried to Prevent’, in Harvard Business Review
on Crisis Management (Harvard University, Boston).
Starmann, R. G.,( 1993). "Tragedy at McDonald's', in J. A. Gottschalk (ed), Crisis Response:
Inside Stories on Managing image Under Siege (Visible Ink, Washington), pp. 309-322. New
King James Bible. (2020). King James Bible Online. https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/
1973)
