Building and maintaining the trust of a companys customers. Volkswagen set itself apart from the competition when
Question:
Building and maintaining the trust of a company’s customers. Volkswagen set itself apart from the competition when it developed the so-called clean diesel engine, millions of which were placed in cars throughout Europe, the United States, and other countries. Marketing materials heralded the VW diesel engines as good for the environment because they emitted low levels of harmful nitrogen oxides. It was revealed that VW knowingly installed software, which, when the car was being tested for emissions, cleaned these pollutants from the exhaust. Knowingly defeating emissions testing has (all but) destroyed VW’s credibility and consumer trust in its products. How ironic that the Volkswagen Group’s Audi brand coined the phrase truth in engineering. Since the news came to light, VW’s CEO resigned and senior engineers’ employment was terminated.
4-11. What do you think? Whose responsibility is it to ensure that ethical practices are in place and implemented?
4-12. Should company leadership even consider such issues as they navigate the global market? Why or why not?
4.13 If you were brought in as the new VW CEP, what would you do or how would you have handle this situation?