Organisations and individuals strive for telos or purpose for their existence. This manifests itself in the business context in terms of values, mission statements and policy. The tragedy for Volkswagen is that its foundations was based on nefarious purpose that cannot be divorced from its present context.
Volkswagen was established by the Deutsche Arbeitsfront "German Labour Front" or DAF by the Nazi Party as part of its Kraft durch Freude "Strength through Joy" as free trade unions were banned under Hitler's leadership. The strength through joy program was meant to appease workers by providing affordable cruises, holidays, an affordable automobile and social activities once the domain
of the upper classes.
Along with Schönheit der Arbeit "Beauty of Work" the improvement of factories and work spaces the emphasis being "somke free" environments. Volkswagen "Peoples car" and its iconic "beetle" design was produced in 1938 with the intention to provide German workers with an affordable automobile at the price of a German motorcycle through a payment plan. Many German workers opted for this payment approach with the onset of war some prospective car owners lost their deposits. This led to protest regarding the leadership of the DAF under Dr Robert Ley who boasted that he controlled workers' lives from the 'cradle to the grave'. Subsequent Volkswagen automobiles for both domestic and military use prior to 1945 were made by an estimated 15000 slave labour victims from concentration camps comprising 80% of the company's wartime workforce. Volkswagen in 1998 accepted corporate responsibility for their actions and has set up a fund to compensate victims.
In its post-war reincarnation Volkswagen develop a renewed purpose as the car "Das Auto" built around a fun, friendly image of the "Beetle" shape embellished with the pictures of flowers and bright colours as well as popularised in Disney movies such as "Herbie goes bananas" along way from the militarised look of the original models. The whimsical nature of the "Herbie" film genre had a lasting impression on my childhood as one of my elementary school teachers owned a Volkswagen which some of my classmates described as a "dustbin on wheels". This analogy was not unfounded when compared with Japanese brands such as Datsun not only provided economy but were quieter due to the use of coolant rather than air to reduce engine temperature. The company continued its focus on volume rather than quality as its strategy for success. Consecutive Volkswagen executives have pursued this expansion acquiring 18% market share in China, 22% in Brazilian market coupled with a ruthless search for cost savings through component sharing between production models. The effects of this strategy is evident in Volkswagen's wind noise issue in 2011 and prior power train non conformity although a decade old contributing to a crisis in reliability has not been forgotten by consumers in key markets such as the U.S. where sales fell by 22% in summer 2014. J.D. Power Initial Quality Study has consistently rated Volkswagen brand near the bottom for every year except 2009.
The engineered rigging of emissions test and data arguably is symptomatic of an organisational culture with a misaligned purpose on "the car" rather than the customer/stakeholder i.e. global society. As a result over 1M tons of pollution in the form of emissions to air e.g. nitrogen dioxide (NO2) from approximately 11M vehicles containing rigged components which is equivalent to the combined emissions from all power stations, vehicles, industry and agriculture. Pollutants such as nitrogen oxide (NO) and specifically NO2 pose a respiratory threat to humans and animals by inflaming the breathing passages. The EU is disproportionately at risk due to the higher level of diesel vehicles when compared to the US where 3% of automobiles use diesel.
Volkswagen quality ethos is focused on "reliability, visual appeal and service" with the absence of sustainability.
Sustainability can be achieved by cultural acceptance within the organisation that it has a duty to global society due to the lifecycle impacts of its products and services. Sustainability Footprints which is defined as "methodologies for assessing the social and environmental impact of the economic investment in a specific strategic option in relation to other strategic alternatives and their potential risk to the survival of future generations" e.g. carbon footprint can assist Volkswagen in monitoring and measuring its business performance leading to culture of innovation instead of deception.
Volkswagen by adopting a sustainable business practices can finally transform the company from being Das Auto "the car" but rather truly being the "People's car" putting individuals and society at the core of its corporate strategy and adopting a "cradle to the cradle" approach to managing its processes.
Volkswagen was established by the Deutsche Arbeitsfront "German Labour Front" or DAF by the Nazi Party as part of its Kraft durch Freude "Strength through Joy" as free trade unions were banned under Hitler's leadership. The strength through joy program was meant to appease workers by providing affordable cruises, holidays, an affordable automobile and social activities once the domain
Along with Schönheit der Arbeit "Beauty of Work" the improvement of factories and work spaces the emphasis being "somke free" environments. Volkswagen "Peoples car" and its iconic "beetle" design was produced in 1938 with the intention to provide German workers with an affordable automobile at the price of a German motorcycle through a payment plan. Many German workers opted for this payment approach with the onset of war some prospective car owners lost their deposits. This led to protest regarding the leadership of the DAF under Dr Robert Ley who boasted that he controlled workers' lives from the 'cradle to the grave'. Subsequent Volkswagen automobiles for both domestic and military use prior to 1945 were made by an estimated 15000 slave labour victims from concentration camps comprising 80% of the company's wartime workforce. Volkswagen in 1998 accepted corporate responsibility for their actions and has set up a fund to compensate victims.
In its post-war reincarnation Volkswagen develop a renewed purpose as the car "Das Auto" built around a fun, friendly image of the "Beetle" shape embellished with the pictures of flowers and bright colours as well as popularised in Disney movies such as "Herbie goes bananas" along way from the militarised look of the original models. The whimsical nature of the "Herbie" film genre had a lasting impression on my childhood as one of my elementary school teachers owned a Volkswagen which some of my classmates described as a "dustbin on wheels". This analogy was not unfounded when compared with Japanese brands such as Datsun not only provided economy but were quieter due to the use of coolant rather than air to reduce engine temperature. The company continued its focus on volume rather than quality as its strategy for success. Consecutive Volkswagen executives have pursued this expansion acquiring 18% market share in China, 22% in Brazilian market coupled with a ruthless search for cost savings through component sharing between production models. The effects of this strategy is evident in Volkswagen's wind noise issue in 2011 and prior power train non conformity although a decade old contributing to a crisis in reliability has not been forgotten by consumers in key markets such as the U.S. where sales fell by 22% in summer 2014. J.D. Power Initial Quality Study has consistently rated Volkswagen brand near the bottom for every year except 2009.
The engineered rigging of emissions test and data arguably is symptomatic of an organisational culture with a misaligned purpose on "the car" rather than the customer/stakeholder i.e. global society. As a result over 1M tons of pollution in the form of emissions to air e.g. nitrogen dioxide (NO2) from approximately 11M vehicles containing rigged components which is equivalent to the combined emissions from all power stations, vehicles, industry and agriculture. Pollutants such as nitrogen oxide (NO) and specifically NO2 pose a respiratory threat to humans and animals by inflaming the breathing passages. The EU is disproportionately at risk due to the higher level of diesel vehicles when compared to the US where 3% of automobiles use diesel.
Volkswagen quality ethos is focused on "reliability, visual appeal and service" with the absence of sustainability.
Sustainability can be achieved by cultural acceptance within the organisation that it has a duty to global society due to the lifecycle impacts of its products and services. Sustainability Footprints which is defined as "methodologies for assessing the social and environmental impact of the economic investment in a specific strategic option in relation to other strategic alternatives and their potential risk to the survival of future generations" e.g. carbon footprint can assist Volkswagen in monitoring and measuring its business performance leading to culture of innovation instead of deception.
Volkswagen by adopting a sustainable business practices can finally transform the company from being Das Auto "the car" but rather truly being the "People's car" putting individuals and society at the core of its corporate strategy and adopting a "cradle to the cradle" approach to managing its processes.
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