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Critical Evaluation of Business Ethical Issue: Case of Volkswagen
Critical Evaluation of Business Ethical Issue: Case of Volkswagen
This research article discusses a major ethical case related to Volkswagen, considered one of the largest, leading and fast-growing motor vehicle manufacturing companies headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. It is a German-based company that offers global customers a range of automobile products like cars, buses, trucks, and other private and commercial vehicles. The research article discusses that the company faced an ethical scandal which occurred in 2015 when the company was found to have installed defeat devices in their diesel vehicle to cheat emission tests. This scandal affected the company's brand reputation, image and revenue in the market. It is also found that this ethical scandal resulted in substantial financial and reputational losses for the company as specific legal consequences (Jerome, Schütz, and Preuss, 2019).
This unethical practice mainly aimed to manipulate the customer about the quality of its electronic vehicle. In the research article, the researchers or authors have identified and analyzed the case through the lens of corporate misconduct and misbehaviour, focusing on ethical issues at play. In the article, the authors argue that the scandal resulted from a few bad actors and a systemic failure of Volkswagen's corporate culture and governance. This reflects that the company don't have strong corporate culture and authority, which created an ethical issue for the company. For example, the company failed to fulfil its moral responsibility due to a lack of corporate governance practices and code, negatively affecting its global brand reputation in the local and international markets (Ewing, 2015, September 21).
On the other hand, the authors explore the various ethical issues in the scandal, including violating environmental regulations, standards, laws and norms, the deception of customers, and the breach of trust with regulators. It means the company is not environmentally friendly and has no specific practices to protect the natural environment. This unethical behaviour also reflects that the company tried to manipulate the industry regulators and bodies. At the same time, the authors...