George Lafontaine had always been an enthusiastic Volkswagen (VW) customer. As a young man, he drove a Beetle, then as he got older he purchased a Golf, then a Jetta, and most recently a Passat. It was time for George to purchase a new car, but he was hesitating at buying another Volkswagen. He had heard some disturbing news about VW’s use of software manipulation devices to avoid regulated emissions standards. At first it was believed to be an isolated incident, the result of a few rogue employees. But, investigations by the media and others found that this was not the case. In fact, some believed that unethical behaviours were common in the auto industry.
George decided to research the Volkswagen website for information on ethics and social responsibility. He found a comprehensive code of ethics that included phrases like:
⚫we act responsibly, for the benefit of our customers, shareholders, and employees
⚫we consider compliance with… laws, and internal rules to be the basis for sustainable and successful economic activities
we stand for respectable, honest actions
In addition, he found detailed corporate social responsiblity guidelines. Two of these guidelines related to the environment and product safety. The corporation claimed it was responsible to the environment by producing clean cars which would throughout their life cycle minimize their impact on the environment. Responsibility for their products would be designed to protect the health and safety of the customer.
Overall, the guidelines stated that VW viewed itself as a corporate citizen who took responsibility to society seriously. The VW corporation supported numerous CSR projects around the world related to the arts, sciences, education, health promotion, sports, and nature conservation as well as local Infrastructure development. In Canada, for example, VW employees volunteered at Camp Oochigeas, a camp for children with cancer.
VW has placed advertisements in Canadian daily newspapers apologizing for their mistake and stating “we won’t rest until we earn back your trust and restore our integrity.”
George was undecided about purchasing another VW product and disillusioned about CSR.
What advice would you give George?
