Corporate Social Responsibility for Volkswagen-myassignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about theCorporate Social Responsibility for Volkswagen Company. Answer: Corporate Social Responsibility forms an important part of the overall business strategy of the various business organizations (Epstein and Buhovac 2014, 2-78). Furthermore, an effective management of the shareholders is another important part of the overall business strategy of the various business organizations. It is significant to note that the shareholders are the investors who have made an investment into the concerned business organization and thereby take an active interest in the diverse business activities of the concerned business organizations (Pless, Maak, and Stahl 2012, 873-903). The effective management of the relationship with these diverse shareholders thus becomes very important for the various business organizations. However, in the opinion of many people the various employees of the concerned business organizations form a more important part of the business organization than the shareholders whom the managers or the leaders of the concerned business organization gets to meet only once or twice a year (Pless, Maak, and Stahl 2012, 873-903). In addition to that, many people are of the opinion that the various employees contribute more towards to the overall growth as well as the development of the concerned business organization (Cheng, Loannou, and Serafeim 2014, 1-23). This particular essay intends to shed light on the statement of the particular statement of the CEO of Volkswagen Why should I care about the shareholders, who I see once a year at the general meeting. It is much more important that I care about the employees; I see them every day and the concept of corporate governance. The paper will more specifically focus on the unethical use of the defeat device which the company Volkswagen used to manipulate the emission rates of the vehicles manufactured by it. Corporate Social Responsibility or more commonly called by the name of CSR can be defined as the process by means of which the various business organizations functions as a self-regulatory mechanism whereby a business monitors and ensures its active compliance with the spirit of the law, ethical standards and national or international norms (Cheng, Loannou, and Serafeim 2014, 1-23). Thus, the various business organizations form their own regulatory bodies by means of which they form their regulatory bodies which functions just like a sovereign would rule their empire (Schwartz 2017, 10-51). Furthermore, these regulatory bodies are in compliance with the various international rules as well as regulations and thus they are used by the various business organizations for the resolution of the various conflicts and the crisis events which the various business organizations often face (Pless, Maak, and Stahl 2012, 873-903). In the opinion of many scholars, corporations increase long-term p rofits by operating with a CSR perspective, while critics argue that CSR distracts from businesses' economic role (The Globe And Mail 2018). Furthermore, the CSR is also indicative of the social responsibility which a particular business organization has towards the society. It is commonly seen that the various business organizations take the help of effective corporate social responsibility to not only further the interests of their business organizations but also to create a positive brand image for themselves. Thus, it is often seen that the various business organizations often indulge in various creative activities to create a better brand image for themselves. Therefore, it is often seen that the various business organizations also try to promote the various precepts of the environmental legislations in the corporate social responsibility programs in a bid not only to create a positive brand image for the company concerned but also to contribute towards the cause of the environ ment. Thus, it can be said that the various corporate social responsibilities followed by the diverse business organizations are a reflection of the goals as well as the objectives set by the concerned business organization. The company Volkswagen, founded in the year 1937 by the German Labour Front under Adolf Hitler is a German automobile company which specializes in the manufacture of the cars and other vehicles (Volkswagenag.Com 2018). It is significant to note that the company was adjudged the largest automobile company of the world in the year 2016 in terms of the sale volume (Volkswagenag.Com 2018). The literal meaning of the name of the company is "people's car" and therefore the company intends to serve the interests of the common people in the best possible manner (Volkswagenag.Com 2018). However, in the recent times, the company had faced a lot of backlash due to the unethical means which it used not only to enhance the number of vehicles sold by it but also to evade the results of the various regulatory tests. According to a recently published article in The Telegraph (2018), Volkswagen has admitted that 11 million vehicles worldwide were fitted with software to cheat emissions tests, as the scandal moved from beyond the US (Telegraph.Co.Uk 2018). Furthermore, in addition to this, the company is facing fines of $18 billion after accepting it had systematically installed software in VW and Audi diesels since 2009 to deceive regulators who were measuring exhaust fumes (Nytimes.Com 2018). This shocking revelation by the company has put more than 11 million vehicles from all over the world at risk. It is significant to note that the company used software, also called by the name of defeat devices, which when implanted in the cars showed a reduced emission rate than the actual ones that was originally being produced by the cars (Nytimes.Com 2018). This revelation originally put 482,000 cars at risk however later on investigations proved that the company used the same software to evade the tests for more than 11 million vehicles (BBC News 2018). The problem surfaced last November when the company found irregularities in tests to measure carbon dioxide emissions levels that co uld affect about 800,000 cars in Europe - including petrol vehicles (BBC News 2018). However, later investigations unearthed that it was the defeat device used by the company which was causing the problem. Therefore, it can be said that the company in a bid to increase the amount of profit gained by it on an yearly basis put not only the lives of millions of people from different parts of the world at risk but also posed a significant damage to the environment by manipulating the emission rates of the vehicles which it manufactured. Therefore, it would not be too far-fetched to say that this particular policy used by the company was not only unethical but also posed a significant damage to the environment and the lives of the people concerned in the process. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is the organization which is entrusted with work of ensuring that the emissions caused by the various vehicles are kept at a minimum level (The Guardian 2018). The official report of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the nation of the United States of America states that cars had been fitted with sophisticated software algorithms which detect when they are undergoing official emissions testing and turn on full emissions controls (The Guardian 2018). It was thus particular defeat device which was enabling the cars to evade the safety tests. It is significant to note that the various nations have levied a fine of more than $18 billion on the company in addition to the set aside 6.5 billion to tackle the problem which is expected to include a huge recall so that the software can be updated (Telegraph.Co.Uk 2018). This particular unethical practice of the company has made millions of vehicles all over the world illegal and also has pu t the lives of billions of people across the world at risk due to the environmental risk which these vehicles are posing to the environment. The Corporate Social Responsibility policies of the company as well as the other strategies which the company takes help of focused more on the increasing the number of sale of the vehicles and thereby the annual profit of the company concerned. The CEO of the company himself said Why should I care about the shareholders, who I see once a year at the general meeting. It is much more important that I care about the employees; I see them every day (Volkswagenag.Com 2018). Thus, it can be said that the policies as well as the strategies of the company are directed more towards the employees who form one of the core components of the company. It is significant to note that this is in stark contrast to the policies followed by the other business organizations which place a greater amount of value on the satisfaction level of the shareholders who have spent not only their capital but also other resources in the company (Epstein and Buhovac 2014, 2-78). Therefore, it would be apt to say tha t the corporate governance policy of the company under discussion places more amount of insistence on the various employees of the company rather than on the diverse shareholders of the company (Epstein and Buhovac 2014, 2-78). In the opinion of many people, this was one of the major factors which contributed to the downfall of the company in the recent times. The employees no doubt forms a very part of the organization concerned however the company by focusing more on the employees developed the strategy which ultimately lead to its downfall. In the opinion of many people, it is true that the primary purpose of the various business organizations is to make money however they should take into consideration the society as well as the planet as well of which they also are a part (Epstein and Buhovac 2014, 2-78). Furthermore, it is significant to note that financial sustainability is more important than the employee sustainability which the company tried to achieve by focusing more on the employees (Kinderman 2013, 701-720). A financially sustainable company could have withstood the backlash the company under discussion experienced recently (Kinderman 2013, 701-720). However, as the company chose to be an employee sustainable company by focusing more on the satisfaction of the employees thus the company was not able to handle the backlash. The company after the incident came to light has taken certain steps which would help the somewhat mitigate the damage which it committed in the course of the many years. First of all the company has decided to revoke all the vehicles which used the technology of defeat device (Kinderman 2013, 701-720). Secondly, the company also has agree set aside a huge sum of more than 6.5 billion in a bid to handle the situation which it has created and is also trying to change the style of governance followed by it for the management of its business operations, which has been attributed as one of the major reasons which lead to the fall of the company (Telegraph.Co.Uk 2018). It is significant to note that in the year 2016 the company was the largest automobile company in the world (Telegraph.Co.Uk 2018). However, after the incident the company lost one third of its shares within a single week and ended up incurring a loss of more than one billion. To conclude, it becomes apparent that corporate social responsibility forms an important part of the various business organizations. It can be said to embody the rules as well as regulations by means of which the various business organizations govern themselves just like a ruler would rule his or her kingdom. Furthermore, it is significant to note that the Corporate Social Responsibility of the various business organizations takes into consideration the various legislative as well as the ethical precepts given by the diverse governmental bodies. Moreover, it is often seen that an effective CSR policy can help the business organization concerned to bring about their overall growth as well as development however an ineffective or misplaced CSR can also bring about the ruin of the company concerned. Thus, it can be said that the concept of corporate social responsibility forms an important part of the various business organizations and the various business organizations often take the h elp of this particular concept to enhance the brand image of their business organization which will help them to have a more wider customer base. References Bchner, Lutz Michael. "Corporate social responsibility and sustainability from a global, European and corporate perspective. Corporate social responsibility and sustainable governance."Eurolimes, Permeability and Impermeability of Socio-Economic Frontiers of the European Union12 (2012). Cheng, Beiting, Ioannis Ioannou, and George Serafeim. "Corporate social responsibility and access to finance."Strategic Management Journal35, no. 1 (2014): 1-23. Dans, Enrique. "Volkswagen and the failure of Corporate Social Responsibility."Forbes Magazine(2015). Epstein, Marc J., and Adriana Rejc Buhovac.Making sustainability work: Best practices in managing and measuring corporate social, environmental, and economic impacts. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2014. Gates, Guilbert, Jack Ewing, Karl Russell, and Derek Watkins. 2018. "How VolkswagenS Defeat Devices Worked".Nytimes.Com. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/business/international/vw-diesel-emissions-scandal-explained.html. Hopkins, Michael.The planetary bargain: Corporate social responsibility matters. Routledge, 2012. Kinderman, Daniel. "Corporate social responsibility in the EU, 19932013: Institutional ambiguity, economic crises, business legitimacy and bureaucratic politics."JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies51, no. 4 (2013): 701-720. Knapton, Sarah. 2018. "Volkswagen Admits 11 Million Cars Worldwide Fitted With Suspect Software".Telegraph.Co.Uk. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/road-and-rail-transport/11881970/Volkswagen-admits-11-million-cars-worldwide-fitted-with-suspect-software.html. Neate, Rupert. 2018. "Volkswagen Under Investigation Over Illegal Software That Masks Emissions".The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/sep/18/epa-california-investigate-volkswagen-clean-air-violations. Pless, Nicola M., Thomas Maak, and Gnter K. Stahl. "Promoting corporate social responsibility and sustainable development through management development: What can be learned from international service learning programs?."Human Resource Management51, no. 6 (2012): 873-903. Schneider, Andreas, and Ren Schmidpeter. "Corporate social responsibility."Verantwortliche Unternehmensfhrung in der Praxis, Berlin ua(2012). Schwartz, Mark S.Corporate social responsibility. Routledge, 2017. Strategy. 2018.Volkswagenag.Com. https://www.volkswagenag.com/en/group/strategy.html. Tai, Fang-Mei, and Shu-Hao Chuang. "Corporate social responsibility."Ibusiness6, no. 03 (2014): 117. The Volkswagen Emissions Scandal: A Case Study In Corporate Misbehaviour". 2018.The Globe And Mail. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/rob-commentary/the-vw-emissions-scandala-case-study-in-what-not-to-do/article26550100/. Volkswagen: The Scandal Explained. 2018.BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-34324772.