BUSI 561 Business Ethics Analysis Volkswagen Scandal Case Questions

BUSI 561PAPER: BUSINESS ETHICS ANALYSIS ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS
Rarely does one individual’s decision or action create an ethical crisis entirely by itself. More
often, an unethical or illegal idea is adopted by other members of the company, and the problem
grows within the organization until it erupts in headlines, bad publicity, or even criminal
penalties. After the fact, the questions always arise: How did that happen? Did no one know what
was going on? Why did not someone stop it or report it?
Volkswagen found itself in just such a position when it was discovered that the software in the
company’s diesel vehicles had been programmed to provide false data to regulators regarding the
level of emissions produced by the cars during testing. While the scandal was discovered in
2015, the company and the industry are still dealing with the repercussions (Strauss & Hübner,
2021).
In his article “Volkswagen: Where Were the Lawyers?” Lippe (2015) questions the role that
several groups within the company played in the scandal, most notable, the company’s lawyers
and engineers.
Research and review this situation and write a paper that fully explains the following:
1. As an employee or a manager in either the legal office or the engineering department of
VW, how would you have prevented this scandal?
2. As the CEO of the diesel division of Volkswagen, how would you have responded when
the situation became public? How would this response prevent future incidents?
Support your analysis with at least 3 scholarly sources other than the course materials, cited intext and in a reference list. You must also integrate Biblical worldview analysis.
This paper must contain at least 800 words and follow current APA format but does not require
an abstract. The title page and reference list do not count towards the length requirement. Submit
your paper as a Word document.
References provided:
Strauss, M. & Hübner, A. (2021, July 8). EU fines Volkswagen, BMW $1 bln for emissions
cartel. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/eu-fines-bmwvolkswagen-group-restricting-competition-emission-cleaning-2021-07-08/
Lippe, P. (2015, October 13). Volkswagen: Where were the lawyers? ABA Journal.
http://www.abajournal.com/legalrebels/article/volkswagen_where_were_the_lawyers/
Submit your paper by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Sunday of Module/Week 2.