Volkswagen, Australia Ethics Leadership and Decision Making Essay: Ethics Leadership and Decision Making
Added on 2020-03-16
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Leadership ManagementPublic and Global HealthLaw
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Essay: Ethics Leadership and Decision MakingVolkswagen, Australia
Various ethical variants are attached to the business decisions undertaken by majorcompanies. This is due to the sole reason that the impacts and outcomes of those decisionsare likely to affect the stakeholders in various ways and will articulate different ethical valuesof the company (Ford & Richardson, 2013).Volkswagen is facing several issues regardingits unethical behaviours. Volkswagen developed a software named defeat device wasinstalled in 11 million vehicles under the brand of the company, and were sold globally.Consequently it leads to immense vehicle recall and thus company accepted their mistake andheld guilty of conduct which astonished several stakeholders.ETHICAL DILEMMA FACED BY VOLKSWAGENEMISSION-CHEATING OF VOLKSWAGEN IssueDuring September 2015, Volkswagen was held to be making use of fraud software in order tomislead American regulator, EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) on the release test ofdiesel cars. Further, the software enables the cars to execute well on those test comparativelythey usually perform on the road. Later than, the company accepted that the installation of thesoftware was done in about 11 million vehicles globally. THEORETICAL CONCEPTS FROM MANAGERIAL ETHICS FOR ASSESSING THE DILEMMA CRITICALLYTucker’s five-question modelThis model is conceptually different from other models of ethical decision making;however, it is a powerful tool for determination of the outcome that is most ethical in a givensituation (Frederickson & Ghere, 2013). It might be possible that not all of criteria prescribedby the model seem relevant to every ethical decision of an organization. If the scenario isassessed using another model like the AAA model, the indications and outcomes may differ.As per the views of Ferrell & Fraedrich, (2015) in addition, this model is more constructive toexamine situations which are corporate instead of professional or individual situations. Itrequires a little more thought to apply the Tucker’s model s compared to other such modelslike the AAA models. This is because the majority of the questions associated with the modelrequire considering other related things as well (Crane & Matten, 2016). The questions
related to profitability, reasonability, and comparison often require considering other optionsas well. The application of same on the present case of VW has been explained below:Will it result in profitabilityIs it legally approvedIs it fairRight or wrongDoes it sounds sustainable andenvironmentally friendlyYes, it will increase sales and revenue interms of the vehicles sold by the company,the software will reduce research spendingand activity development while driving thediesel vehicle markets of United States.No, because it a breach towards Clean AirAct of United States No, as it will provide false information tothe owners in their transactions, along withparody. The production team claimed thatcars were developed with eco-friendlyengines butactual emission was excessivein comparison to the claim made by thecompany It is wrong, as they are cheating onproduction tests and parody to the ownersof vehicles. No, actual emission was excessive incomparison to the claim made by thecompany. The above evaluation of the company’s decision through the Tucker’s Model does notreflect ethical behaviour. The company chose a fraud software regarding the environment;this decision although increased their revenue but at the same time violated all other rules andexpectations (Thompson, 2015). The company breached the laws on one side and on the otherput the environment at stake by causing pollution. The company also in a way cheated ontheir customers. This decision may bring some short-run benefit, however, in the long run,may be detrimental to the image of the company. Dr Simon Longstaff stated that considerable losses take places when technical mastery isseparated from ethical control. Human Resource has a significant role to play in filling up thegaps in an organization which operate on the basis of standard norms and regulations andorganizations run by practical implementation of principles and values. This gap can bemassive for the organization to fall through (Franklin, 2015). What is right and what is wrongdecisions can be complex, but a clear ethical statement of ethical theory can assist the leadersof the organization to make better decisions. It is significant to realize theories, their use andtheir applicability. An example would be taken into account if or if not leader of Volkswagen
used a similar structure to justify. Rules and codes are considered as hardware in authority;however, software’s quality is crucial (Herlihy & Corey, 2014). The key is to consider theapplicability of rules in order to create a healthy environment where individuals can face thesystems without any threat and compromise. Just the rules will keep the organization orindividual’s safe (Herlihy & Corey, 2014).Weiner’s attribution theory This theoretical framework was developed to ascertain the reason behind the behaviour ofpeople or to ascertain the cause of an event or behaviour. Presently, it is very influential insocial psychology (Bonnefon, Shariff & Rahwan, 2016). The three main variant which isassessed as attribution is:Observance of behaviour.It must be ascertained that behaviour is intentional.Behaviour attributed as internal or external causes.In the present case of VW, the theory will assist in understanding the crisis managementstrategies applied by the manager of VW for reducing the impact of emission relating to thescandal regarding customer response and legal liability. Volkswagen has a clear anddescriptive policy of business ethics but in the recent years company had faced significantscandals regarding contradiction of ethical behaviour, irrespective of a clear statement ofethical behaviour in their management literature, in accordance with the industry standardscomplied by all companies operating in the sector, Volkswagen went through a really badsituation. In spite of having clear public clear codes, why there is need to contravene personalcodes and conducts by the leaders. Attributed theory assisted in understanding the reasonbehind the happening of an event in the company (Johnson, 2017). It was assessed that asdistinctiveness was low and consistency was high; the same resulted into internal disposition.However, the theory does not assess the implication of casual attribution (Iphofen, 2016).Internaland external attribution along with action planMainly, two kinds of attribution have been established i.e. external attribution and internalattribution (Mikesell, Bromley & Khodyakov, 2013). External attribution assesses thebehaviour is interpreted in accordance with situational factors. In accordance with Pollock(2014), on the contrary, internal attribution where behaviour is assessed in accordance withinternal characteristics. Through the application of this theory in VW case; it has been
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