Volkswagen Unethical Practice In Emission â€Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss About The Volkswagen Unethical Practice In Emission? Answer: Introducation Volkswagen is a car manufacturer based out of Germany and formed in 1937. The organisation has global presence and is one of the most popular car manufacturers all across the globe. The organisation has also been one of the best in diesel cars and recently it had claimed that the diesel cars that it manufactures are environment friendly and low on emission. However, this claim was proven to be false as it was found that the organisation had been engineering its cars to provide deceptive results. The scandal was termed as the Diesel Dupe and in this the organisation had software in the engine which could sense if the car was being tested (Mansouri, 2016). On being tested the software would change the performance factors and thus provide deceptive results. Later on Volkswagen accepted cheating emission tests in the US market but denied other allegations. However, this unethical practice has led to loss of reputation for the organisation and also has led to financial losses. According to ABC News (2015) Volkswagen is facing billions of dollars in losses and fines as it had to recall its cars and also had to pay huge fines. This is further magnified with diminished sales. Ethics and ethical practices have several branches and if Consequentialism is applied it will be clearer why this act of Volkswagen was unethical. According to this branch of ethics the outcome of the action needs to provide for a greater good. In this case the outcome would mean increased environmental pollution (de Vries et al. 2017). People were lured into buying these cars as they were low on pollution, but eventually they are adding to environmental pollution and thus the action is causing a greater harm to the environment. Apart from ethics there have been legalities that have been associated with the Volkswagen scandal. Volkswagen has been manipulating the emission test results and therefore it has been duping the customers and also the government (The Conversation, 2017). This is definitely a case where the organisation has been utilising technology for fraudulent purposes in order to boost their own sales and profits. In every country there are government regulations on emissions. There are set standards and the car manufacturers are to abide by these regulations. However, Volkswagen used a mechanism to alter the performance and hence dupe the emission tests and thus although it was actually polluting more it provided results which were controversial. All of these meant that there were several legalities that Volkswagen had broken and as a result there are Government investigations against the organisation. From this case it could be seen that Volkswagen had used unethical means to boost the car sales but however, the unethical business practice was only capable of giving the organisation a short term sales boost and ultimately lead to huge losses for the organisation. Any organisation needs to focus on ethical business practice in order to sustain in the long run. The triple bottom line sustainability approach focuses on environmental, economical and societal sustainability and this approach ensures long term success for any organisation. Billabong CSR In the first part it was illustrated how organisations need to focus on triple bottom line sustainability. Corporate Social Responsibility is a way of focusing on the environment and the overall society at large. Businesses take from the society and the environment and it is their responsibility to give back. Major organisations all across the globe have CSR charters but unfortunately it can be seen that CSR is a way or promoting or marketing. CSR should in line with the values and this is something which needs to be investigated. Billabong has been chosen for the same and the following will look into how the CSR activities of Billabong reflect the values of the organisation Billabong International started as a surfing company and therefore values of the organisation always included environmental protection. Environment has been one of the key concerns for this organisation and this gets reflected in the CSR. Billabong has been supportive of environmental groups and has also focused on recycling for focusing on the growing concerns of climate change. Billabong has also focused on reducing the carbon footprints by focusing on recycling. It has been noticed that approximately 100 million plastic bottles are used each day and 86% of these bottles go into landfills (Billabongbiz.com, 2017). Billabong has focused on recycling plastic bottles and 57 million bottles have been recycled so far. Recycling the bottles also ensures that there is 50-60% less power consumption and therefore this adds towards the reduction of carbon foot prints. Billabong has had a five year plan to cut down its carbon emissions by 15% by the end of 2017. Focus on the environment has always been a prime concern for the organisation and towards this direction there have been several innovative steps that the organisation has taken (Billabong.com, 2017). The organisation has also teamed up with the World Wildlife Funds Southern African Sustainable Seafood Initiative to focus more on innovative products which are made from recycling. This has dual benefits as it keeps the environment clean and also ensures reduction of emission (Billabong.com, 2017). Billabong has been an environment friendly organisation and its concern for the environment has been its value. The CSR activities that have been carried out by the organisation also reflect its core values. The organisation has not focused on CSR for marketing purposes but has concern for the environment at large. From a single shop to a multinational organisation the journey of Billabong has been made possible because of its values. These values have been reflected in the CSR strategies. These have provided Billabong with good reputation and brand image and at the same time have catered to environmental causes. References ABC News. (2015).Despite the recent scandals, 'business ethics' isn't a contradiction in terms. [online] Available at: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-10-05/thompson-business-ethics-isnt-a-contradiction-in-terms/6827488 [Accessed 18 Sep. 2017]. Billabong.com. (2017).BILLABONG TAKES AN ENVIRONMENTAL STANCE WITH THE RECYCLER SERIES - Blog | Billabong Asia. [online] Available at: https://www.billabong.com/asia/blog-post/4123/billabong-recycler-series [Accessed 18 Sep. 2017]. Billabong.com. (2017).How are Billabong's Eco Products, environmentally friendly? - Blog | Billabong South Africa. [online] Available at: https://www.billabong.com/za/blog-post/2272/2010-11-29 [Accessed 18 Sep. 2017]. Billabongbiz.com. (2017).Billabong Biz : Behind the Brand - Investors - Environment. [online] Available at: https://www.billabongbiz.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=154279p=environment [Accessed 18 Sep. 2017]. Mansouri, N., 2016. A Case Study of Volkswagen Unethical Practice in Diesel Emission Test. International Journal of Science and Engineering Applications, 5(4), pp.211-216. de Vries, R.E., Pathak, R.D., van Gelder, J.L. and Singh, G., 2017. Explaining Unethical Business Decisions: The role of personality, environment, and states. Personality and Individual Differences, 117, pp.188-197 The Conversation. (2017).7-Eleven, Volkswagen cases show why we should push back on 'corporate ethics'. [online] Available at: https://theconversation.com/7-eleven-volkswagen-cases-show-why-we-should-push-back-on-corporate-ethics-48739 [Accessed 18 Sep. 2017].