Safety Is A Factor Of Our Lives That Is Very Rarely Overlooked,

2015 was not a banner year for the car manufacturer, Volkswagen. In September, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found that many VW cars being sold in America had a “defeat device”- or software-in diesel engines that could detect when they were being tested, changing the performance accordingly to improve results (Hotten 1). It was found that the defeat device altered the emissions of the Volkswagen’s diesel engine; the defeat device software had the capability of sensing if it was in a testing situation or driven normally. In the test environment the software would function properly to provide the expected test results and then revert back to unsafe emissions levels. As a result, the EPA issued notice of violation to Volkswagen on September 18, accusing the company of installing a defeat device that caused NOx emissions at 40 times the standard limit (Alter 4). At the time that the EPA violation was levied it was believed that at least 480,000 cars in the United States would be affected by the defeat device.

The company as big as VW was not engaged just in a minor rule-bending but the company outright lied to its regulators and customers regarding a key aspect of its cars’ performance. The company installed a software “defeat device” in 11 million Volkswagen and Audi diesel vehicles that are sold worldwide led to a massive vehicle recall in the United States. The system detects when the cars were undergoing emission testing. It allows the engine to run cleanly during the testing and automatically switches off the emission during normal driving that leads allows the spew up of the nitrogen oxide 40 times more that the U.S. environmental Protection Agency allows. Experts considered this act as a “serious, massive corporate maleficence that affects people’s health” (Patel, 2015). Everyone involved in the scandal knew that it was unethical and failed to protect the public. This scandal puts a big question mark on the company’s business ethics and its integrity. It clearly shows that the top management lapsed in integrity by crafting and supporting the lie that their cars could deliver outstanding mileage and performance while also being

Kenneth Floyd’s speculates that the CEO of Volkswagen may not have known, or was completely unaware of the defective devices because of poor communication (Floyd,2017). While this opinion might be possible my opinion dissents from Floyd’s as I believe that all things rise and falls with leadership, and for this reason the CEO complied and was fully aware of the deception that was occurring within the VW organization that led to fraud. At the core, many levels within the VW organization was participating in a culture of unscrupulous, immoral behavior to deceive the American public over a lengthy amount of time orchestrated by unapologetic leadership (Elson, Ferrere & Goossen, 2015). Knowing the strict regulation of the Clean Air Act Winterkorn,

“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 realize what was going on. Most likely, maybe 50 percent.” (Lippe, 2015) If this idea were the case, it is my feeling the lawyers were not doing their job. As Volkswagen’s attorney’s they should have been well versed on the workings each department within the company. Their product deals with a specific set of environmental laws, I would think that would have known every detail to reduce risk.

In 2013, the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) began conducting ?on-road emission tests for cars?. The investigation on Volkswagen identified the emission levels were nearly 40% higher than the defined limits (Jung & Park, 2017). Ultimately in 2015, Volkswagen publicized a recall of more than 450,000 diesel cars resulting from an inability to operate within the required legal parameters. Specifically, the vehicles were designed to ?cheat on emissions testing? and ultimately produced ?air pollutants well above the legal limit? (Reitze,

As we show the public what has happened, what we are doing to fix it, and why it will never happen again, they will begin to trust the company again. As long as the public perceives the communications as truthful and sincere, we can begin to repair the damage that was done to the company’s reputation (Rentz, Flately, & Lentz, 2011) .

Volkswagen Group a German multinational car manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Germany has got itself into a major legal issue. In return, it has effected many different stakeholders throughout the world. The legal issue in this case is that the car company was exposed by the Environmental Protection Agency for installing a “defeat device” in diesel cars that lead the car to be able to emit toxic gases 40 times the legal limit. This device would recognize when the car was being tested and changed the emissions of the car so it would pass emissions tests. The company has admitted in September to installing this specific device in 11 million cars around the world, more specifically 500,000 in the United States and 8.5 million in Europe (Hakim). It is also important to note that Volkswagen owns the brands Audi, Porsche, SEAT, and Skoda. Class actions suites have already started pouring in from the United States and group litigations have also started in Europe, Netherlands, Ireland, with a shareholders suit in the company’s home of Germany.

Volkswagen is a German car manufacturer that has risen to become the second largest player in the motor vehicle industry in the world, behind Toyota. The organization has approximately 590,000 employees that produce 41,000 cars daily (Bowler, 2015). The organization currently owns 12 subsidiaries that have enabled it to have a significant market share around the world (Bowler, 2015). In addition to producing passenger jobs, it produces Audi, Skoda, Bentley, Bugatti, Porsche, Scania, Man and Lamborghini. The organization was championed by Adolf Hitler who wanted to give German’s their first family car. Futhermore, Ivan Hirst, a British army major saved it from destruction since it was expected to be destroyed as part of the war reparations. The significant history of the organization as well as its impact in the world, were undermined by a revelation that it had cheated in emissions tests. The admission followed allegations by the Environmental Protection Agency that some cars sold by the company in the United States of America had devices that could detect when the emission standards of the car were being tested. In response to this detection, the devices then proceeded to implement effective invention measures that produced desirable results.

The Imagine Restoration Theory is a foundation of a public apology. William Benoit based this theory on “the assumption that image and reputation is a valuable commodity for individuals and organizations, that image threats occur frequently, and that communication can help repair image” (Seeger, M. W., & Padgett, D. R., 2010, para #7)—his imagine restoration strategies are the most comprehensive and widely applied. To apply this theory, the attack must have two components: the accused is held for responsible for an action and that act is considered offensive. Benoit then proposes five image-restoration strategies to choose from: denial, evading responsibility, reducing offensiveness of the event, corrective action, and mortification. Each strategy offers a chance for companies to restore their image in the wake of a crisis (Steiner, Z., 2012).

In September 2015 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that irregularities has been discovered in relation to nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions in Volkswagen Group diesel engines and also in the software installed in vehicles with type V6 3.0 l diesel engines. As soon as discovery became evident the Group’s management started internal investigation regarding software errors and potential number of vehicles affected. As a result, number of vehicles affected turned out to be over 10 million, 8.5 million in EU and approximately Euro 2.5 million in rest of the world. In October 2015, five-point plan was provided by Volkswagen’s management team to solve the issue. The main idea of the plan was to recall all the vehicles affected, review and replace emission testing software and reorganize management structure by making it more decentralized and

Volkswagen group sells passenger cars under Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Audi, Porsche, Seat, Škoda and of course Volkswagen itself and is one of the biggest car manufacturers in the World. Unfortunately in 2015 it emerged that Volkswagen was involved in unlawful practice regarding their diesel cars not meeting emission standards and how they tried to rectify this problem in an unlawful manner.

The company has also been accused by the EPA of modifying software on the 3 litre diesel engines fitted to some Porsche and Audi as well as VW models. VW has denied the claims, which affect at least 10,000

It was irresponsible to use the ECM, which was designed in part to monitor the emissions system efficiency, to overlook this intended fault and provide an abstract feedback at the smog testing facilities. Aristotle made clear that all humans seek to flourish. Well, Volkswagen, as a corporation, was trying to flourish once more but not by good means. Also Aristotle pronounced that “man is a rational creature who lives in poleis” and what make society are rules, rational rules. Is these are violated, there is going to be a possibility of encountering a highly corrupted society. Aristotle thinks we should be upset if people do well undeservedly. This engineers fooled government authorities and the public for more than five years. And this case is an indignant outcome of how low big corporation can behave.

Volkswagen ethically broke the law by installing these software systems in their vehicles that lower the NOx levels in the engine of their vehicles ranging from 2009-2015. According to BSIC, “At the core of this scandal are the so-called “defeat devices” installed by Volkswagen on some 11 million cars worldwide. At the moment legal charges have been brought up on roughly 482,000 diesel vehicles operating in the US under VW and Audi badges.” This investigation started to occur in 2015. According to BSIC “When the software dented that it was being tested, it would change to an alternate engine configuration, lowering toxic NOx levels in exchange for a drop in performance and fuel economy.” Since this discussion about what Volkswagen did, they have lost a lot of their business. Consumers are not going to want to buy vehicles from this company any more because of how much money it would cost them to get their car fixed.

Volkswagen does effectively not seem to have the image it used to have: the image of all German car manufacturers. Nevertheless, despite all these problems, the German car manufacturer’s Annual Report 2010 shows the willingness of the brand to keep the customers in the heart of the its decision. Although, Volkswagen says in this report that its competitive advantages are not secured through product quality and appeal alone. The brand reminds the theory following which customers’ loyalty to a specific brand is also influenced by the quality of service they receive. After-sales and customer service in the Volkswagen Group focuses primarily on establishing and maintaining long-term relationships with customers and partners worldwide. Its aim is to captivate customers with their outstanding commitment to good service combined with Volkswagen’s high quality standards. But, as explained before, these standards are not that high.