Introduction
The massive scandal around the Volkswagen group demonstrates irresponsible management, ignorance, and prioritization of personal interests. The CEO of the company Martin Winterkorn was aware that the company’s cars could not meet the US gas emissions standards, which meant it would be impossible to sell products there. However, Dr. Winterkorn ignored the situation and permitted the engineers to continue producing the cars and keep selling them to the US as if they met the standards. Therefore, this post aims to analyze the situation and identify the leadership failures that occurred in the case.
The Volkswagen Scandal
There are certain speculations about the role of the CEO in this problem with production. However, he claims that he was not aware of the violations and the issues in the factory; the engineers state the opposite (Mačaitytė and Virbašiūtė, 2018). Nevertheless, whether Dr. Winterkorn knew about it, the accident’s responsibility was entirely on him. If he knew about the complications but decided to sell the cars and fake the test results, the CEO demonstrated irresponsible and mercenary behavior. However, even if DR Winterkorn genuinely did not know that more emissions than are allowed by the US regulations were produced, it is still an example of poor leadership. A valid leader should be able to manage the system in the company, control all the critical processes, and ensure that any significant mistakes will not go unnoticed.
Conclusion
Overall, the scandal with the Volkswagen group demonstrated how the inability to maintain an honest and transparent policy in the company could cause vast trouble and significantly damage its reputation. The CEO’s main mistakes were that he purposely or did not facilitate the massive fraud and violations. The personal motives and the lack of control over the working processes in the company eventually led to financial loss and a bad reputation.
Reference
Mačaitytė, I., Virbašiūtė, G. (2018). Volkswagen Emission Scandal and Corporate Social Responsibility – A Case Study. Business Ethics and Leadership, 2(1), 6-13. DOI: 10.21272/bel.2(1).6-13.2018