Discussion Board Forum 1 1
Scott Hattok
Liberty University
Discussion Board Forum 1
BUSI 561
8 February 2020
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In 2015, a scandal was found within the company of Volkswagen. It was discovered that
the software in the company’s diesel vehicles had been programmed to provide false data to
regulators regarding level of emissions produced by the cars. Full details of how it worked are
sketchy, although the EPA has said that the engines had computer software that could sense test
scenarios by monitoring speed, engine operation, air pressure and even the position of the
steering wheel. When the cars were operating under controlled laboratory conditions - which
typically involve putting them on a stationary test rig - the device appears to have put the vehicle
into a sort of safety mode in which the engine ran below normal power and performance. Once
on the road, the engines switched out of this test mode. The engines emitted nitrogen oxide
pollutants up to 40 times above what is allowed in the US (Hotten, 2015). According to Russell
Hotten, It was estimated that around 482,000 sold in the US ranking from the Audi A3 to VW’s
Jetta, Beetle, Golf, and Passat. This did not count the 11 million cars worldwide that were
equipped with the software (Lippe. 2015).
The repercussions of VW’s bugged software were enormous. Aside from recalling
millions of cars worldwide, they set aside around 3 billion dollars to cover its cost (Hotten,
2015). Along with this cost, the Environmental Protection Agency has fined VW a $37,500 fine
for each vehicle that includes the software which pans out to around $18 billion dollars (Hotten,
2015).
The Bible is full of evidence about any situation that a person may come across.
“Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment” (Proverbs 19:9, ESV). It is
in this verse that God tells us that a lying tongue only lasts for a slight moment. When the
engineers started by cheating in 2004, they were able to get away with the lie and instead of
stopping there they continued. God tells us that this could only last for so long and that is evident
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when the engineers were finally caught. God forgives all sins, that is why he sent His one and
only son. VW’s upper leadership realized they had done something wrong and took a big hit to
right that wrong. Just like God forgives all sins, VW will be forgiven even though they are still
paying for this incident to this day.
With all the money that this cost VW the legal aspect was major as well. For many years
the company promoted a “Clean Diesel” as an alternative to hybrids and electric vehicles
(Atiyeh, 2019). With the use of the software the company was essentially “tricking” the EPA into
believing that each car was running up to emission standards and then reverting back to a mode
that increased milage and power but released up to 40 times the legal limit of carbon monoxide
emissions. According to Leah McGrath Goodman, in 2004 the EPA tightened emission
restrictions in the US and a group of VW engineers “cheated” on emission tests as a solution to
the companies timeframe and budget to build the diesel engine to meet the US emission
standards.
In every business ethics should be on a top priority list when it comes to consumers and
the products that company produces. VW pushed ethics to the very bottom of their list when the
“defective” software was implemented. First and foremost, the software was creating a car that
emitted 40 times more carbon monoxide than the legal limit in the US. By using this software,
they also lied to consumers in what their product was capable of. The EPA puts regulations into
place for the safety and security of the people. But the company used the software to gain an
edge in fuel mileage and lifetime regardless of the repercussions.
Upper leadership of VW failed their consumers miserably. As a manager in the
engineering department I would have first started with a report with my engineers that if they had
felt that the task the upper level CEO’s had placed was out of reach for economical or time
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purposes that they would have been able to come to me with this problem and I could have taken
it to the upper level leaders and explained the problem. I believe that is the first path to
prevention. If the engineers had put the software in place and I found out after cars were being
manufactured, I would have halted manufacturing and taken it straight to the legal department.
This course of action may have costed the company millions of dollars but if it had been stopped
earlier it would have saved the company billions of dollars in recalls and legal issues. Companies
are not perfect, and everyone makes mistakes but when a problem becomes a multi-billion-dollar
problem, then it is in the best interest to spear head that problem as fast as possible.
As a CEO with a major problem in the company that has gone public it is only best to
publicly admit guilt. The situation would have only got worse had the CEO tried to continue to
cover up the mess. Once a public apology was made it is the CEO’s job to look inward starting
with himself. Essentially all blame has fallen on him regardless of if he knew about the software
or not. Therefore, as a CEO I would have looked at what I did to foster an environment of
unethical practices. Once I had a plan set to fix the problem, investigations down the chain would
have taken place to ensure that this problem would never happen again. Once the plan for
prevention goes into place then the money would have to start being poured out to correct the
problems we made. After doing extensive research into the topic I believe that the way VW
handled the situation was good. Coming out and saying the software was “defective” was about
the only downfall I saw. I think that everyone knew it was meant to be like that. But I think for
legal purposes it had to be posed like that.
As a consumer, I want to know exactly what I am purchasing from a company. If I am
going to spend upwards of $20,000 on a new VW diesel, I better know what it comes with. It is
every companies’ duty to uphold an ethical practice. VW made huge mistakes and they are still
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paying for them to this day. Other companies have learned from the wrongs of the corporation
and I believe that it made the consumer more aware of what they are buying.
References
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Boston, W. (2019, September 25). Volkswagen CEO faces charges from scandal. Wall Street
Journal. Retrieved from
http://ezproxy.liberty.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/2296520342?ac
countid=12085
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/
Hotten, R. (2015, December 10). Volkswagen: The scandal explained. Retrieved November 6,
2020, from https://www.bbc.com/news/business-34324772
The Holy Bible (English Standard Version), Proverbs 19:9.
Goodman, L. M. (2016, May 08). Why Volkswagen Cheated. Retrieved November 09, 2020,
from https://www.newsweek.com/2015/12/25/why-volkswagen-cheated-404891.html.
Atiyeh, C. (2020, July 23). Everything You Need to Know about the VW Diesel-Emissions
Scandal. Retrieved November 09, 2020, from
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a15339250/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-
vw-diesel-emissions-scandal/
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