Analysis of Volkswagen's Business Communication Strategies and Systems

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Volkswagen's business communication strategies. It begins with an executive summary and table of contents, followed by an introduction to the company and its global presence. The report delves into the analysis of Volkswagen's organizational structure, communication systems, and the various strategies employed for effective communication both internally and externally. It explores different types of communication used, including visual, verbal, and non-verbal methods. Furthermore, the report addresses a significant issue: the 2015 Volkswagen emissions scandal, detailing the company's actions and the subsequent impact. Recommendations are provided to help the company regain stakeholder trust. The report concludes with a summary of key findings and a list of references, offering a well-rounded overview of Volkswagen's communication practices and challenges.

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Business Communication
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2/5/2020

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Executive Summary
The organization is Volkswagen a branded car company. The company is world-wide famous
and has a good market share. Volkswagen comes in the Volkswagen Group. The Group consists
of 12 brands. The company treats its employees, clients or other connected person mannerly. It
follows ethical and social values. The company comes in the list of priorities. With the effective
communication there is less chance of mistake and misunderstanding. The environment of
company is very friendly and cooperative. It follows all strategies of effective communication.

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Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................4
Analysis organization..................................................................................................................................4
Communication system...........................................................................................................................4
Strategies.................................................................................................................................................5
Types.......................................................................................................................................................6
Recommendation.........................................................................................................................................7
Conclusions.................................................................................................................................................7
References...................................................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
Volkswagen a world-wide famous car company founded in 1937 at Berlin. The word
Volkswagen refers to People’s Car in German. Volkswagen is the flagship marque of the
Volkswagen AG, known internationally as the Volkswagen Group. The Volkswagen Group is
the largest automaker in the world. The Group currently owns 12 brands. The brand has prices
according to classes and income of consumers. The Group has an aim to give customers safe and
eco friendly vehicles in the upcoming future. The range of Volkswagen cars is from basic to
premium to luxury. It also produces luxury cars with the other brands owned by VW Group. The
customer’s are very impressed and more prefer this brand due to its way of communication and
touch with employees, clients and other persons. The way of communication with the customers
reflects image in the market. Well, the reputation and image both are on top in the market(Booth,
2009)
The more detail analysis of Volkswagen is provided in the following report. The report
consists of mainly strategies, types and issues of communication system with the general public
or with themselves(Ewing, 2017)
Analysis organization
The Volkswagen is a successful brand with bunch of happy customers. There is a detail
analysis of its system, types and strategies which it approached from the beginning till now. The
success was not so easy for the Group but it has achieved it through its effective system of
communication(Fallowfield, & Jenkins, 2010)
Communication system
The effective communication system comprises of communication with employees,
clients and general public. There are mainly two methods to communicate in the company are
internal or external. Internal communication is within the company whereas, external is outside
the company. The system of Volkswagen is very attractive and fond. Furthermore, the cars that
will be introduced by Volkswagen consist of Car-to-home, My Car application, Car-to-X etc.
features in it. The Group is creating a system by which communication is possible between

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vehicles. There will be new features in the Golf, the most famous passenger car in Europe. The
features are vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) called as Car2X. The
Group comprises of different communication system such as:
 Holding Innovation and Training sessions – it comes in internal communication due to
the reason it is for employees. The Group in Australia held events to train or guide
employees for new or existing models. At one event they invited employees from all over
the country to take part and perform. Through this employees get to learn a lot and seem
to be the best way to educate employees. But still some employees with the lack of time
or money not able to attend it have given an option of online training(Huseman, Lahiff, &
Penrose, 2009)
 Social Media – It reflects external communication. Social Media is the famous and
popular method to be in regular touch with general public. The public is the foremost
important tool for every business. Therefore, every company with the use of latest trends
and ways stay in touch with the public. There is a department to manage all social media
accounts and raised questions or queries by anyone. It gives a feel of direct touch with the
company(Janssen, 2013)
 Channels of communication – Volkswagen have different channels such as printing, TV,
online, journals, bloggers etc. The customers are major source therefore they give a
transparent communication to them(Jung, & Sharon, 2019)
Strategies
There are several strategies for the effectiveness of communication in the organization or
outside it. Effective communication leads to satisfy employee morale, engagement and
confidence. In Volkswagen there are some strategies followed for employees and customer’s
effective communication such as:
 Create an open communication environment- it means to develop an environment where
employees are free to share their views, ideas or even criticism on any issue. This will
reduce hesitation and make employees comfortable(Li, et al., 2018)
 First Impression- organization’s move or way reflects its impression on others. Therefore,
organization first impression on its client should be impressive otherwise it will be bad.

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First impression is the last impression, if you client is happy it is good and if not then
organization impression was not good(Meng, & Marble, 2009)
 Show Respect- in the whole world each and everyone deserves respect. Every employee
or customers both should be treated mannerly. Volkswagen for keeping its reputation
should always welcome its clients and treat employees mannerly(Opran, 2018)
 Communicate objectives or targets with every department- it is always suggested to be
clear with your work no matter what role is given. Every employee or department should
know organization’s goal or policies before commencing anything. To be clear from
starting develops an efficient system to work(Schmitt, Rogers, & Vrotsos, 2011)
 There is a Strategy of Volkswagen that is ‘TOGETHER - Strategy 2025’. The target for
this is to make environment safe and clean, provide digital networking, and autonomous
drive. This can be achieved with the support of both customers and employees.
Therefore, it is required to follow above strategies(Siano et al., 2017)
Types
The communication is mainly divided into three types:
 Visual – it is the type of communication through which information is conveyed in forms
that can be seen. It includes graphics, designs, symbols, films and signs. The Volkswagen
has introduced many designs, graphics, and logo to communicate with employees or
general public.
 Verbal- in this there is use of words or voice to express something. The organization
holds event, conferences or sessions to put their views in front of all. Volkswagen uses
verbal communication at large and finds it to be an effective way.
 Non-verbal- it include gestures, expressions, eye contact and posture. It is used mainly in
internal communication between employees(Huseman, Lahiff, & Penrose, 2009)
Issue focus on one
There was a scandal in September 2015 of Volkswagen. The scandal was that the
Volkswagen cheated with pollution emissions test in the U.S. The organization has intentionally
installed turbocharged direct injection (TDI) diesel engines to cars. The aim behind this was to
meet the US standards during regulatory testing. The United States Environmental Protection

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Agency (EPA) raised a notice of violation on Volkswagen Group. The software called as ‘defeat
device’ it comes in action when the cars are under laboratory. The device put the cars at safety
mode and shows engine speed below power. Therefore, in the regulatory the Volkswagen cars
show that their products creates minimum amount of pollution or are environmental
friendly(Jung, & Sharon, 2019)
Whereas, the actual situation was that Volkswagen creates nine times more pollution and
are not eco-friendly at all. They cheated with their policies and still trying to cover it up. Their
growth during that period seems to be slow and had to face loss. To cope up with this many
actions were taken by the Volkswagen itself and judiciary. To compensate for the violations a
public apology raised by the Volkswagen group and the CEO with other directors
resigned(Meng, & Marble, 2009)
Recommendation
The issue was Volkswagen emissions scandal. The issue was huge and the Group is still
suffering from it. The Volkswagen Group aim was to be on top in the world. But after this issue
customer, investors do not find them trustworthy. Therefore, first they have to come again in the
market and make believe to its stakeholders. To cope up with this Volkswagen have many
options such as to re-brand, join independent verification agency or sell one of its brand. The
most important activity for now is to show consumers that they are struggling large to fulfill all
social and ethical values. Also, they regret a lot for their mistake can aid in regain of consumers
trust and attention(Schmitt, Rogers, & Vrotsos, 2011)
There are some consumers who believe that company will take steps to overcome the
scandal and soon everything will be good. This initiates Volkswagen to do struggle and build
trust in rest of the people(Siano et al., 2017)
Conclusions
The above report can be concluded here that every organization should do
communication properly. Communication is an important factor for business to run. In
Volkswagen there are several types of ways for effective communication with employees or
clients. Some of them are journal, magazines, outlet, television ads, social media etc. All these

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channels are way of business communication with its customers to know about their plans,
products, innovations, production and other things.
There are also strategies for effective communication which guides an organization. The
effective communication strategy tells how to manage communication in the workplace or with
the general public. The strategies guide when to be formal or informal while communicating.
The communication strategy makes employees personality attractive. Communication is mainly
classified into three types. The types reflect which form we should use while communicating
with each other or clients. Effective communication is recommended in every business because a
single sentence or bad word can create misunderstanding or serious issues.

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References
Booth, W. C. (2009). The rhetoric of rhetoric: The quest for effective communication. John
Wiley & Sons.
Ewing, J. (2017). Faster, higher, farther: The inside story of the Volkswagen scandal. Germany:
Random House.
Fallowfield, L., & Jenkins, V. (2010). Effective communication skills are the key to good cancer
care. European Journal of Cancer, 35(11), 1592-1597.
Huseman, R. C., Lahiff, J. M., & Penrose, J. M. (2009). Business communication: Strategies and
skills (Vol. 38). Chicago: Dryden Press.
Janssen, C. I. (2013). Corporate historical responsibility (CHR): Addressing a corporate past of
forced labor at Volkswagen. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 41(1), 64-83.
Jung, J. C., & Sharon, E. (2019). The Volkswagen emissions scandal and its aftermath. Global
Business and Organizational Excellence, 38(4), 6-15.
Lemonnier, P. (2016). Mundane objects: Materiality and non-verbal communication. British:
Routledge.
Li, L., McMurray, A., Xue, J., Liu, Z., & Sy, M. (2018). Industry-wide corporate fraud: The truth
behind the Volkswagen scandal. Journal of Cleaner Production, 172, 3167-3175.
Meng, J., & Marble, A. E. (2009). Effective communication strategies for noise-limited power-
line channels. IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, 22(2), 887-892.
Opran, E. R. (2018). Internal Communication Campaigns And Employees’ Motivation. Social
Sciences and Education Research Review, 5(1), 162-168.
Schmitt, B., Rogers, D., & Vrotsos, K. (2011). There's no business that's not show business:
marketing in an experience culture. UK: FT Press.

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Siano, A., Vollero, A., Conte, F., & Amabile, S. (2017). “More than words”: Expanding the
taxonomy of greenwashing after the Volkswagen scandal. Journal of Business
Research, 71, 27-37.