The Case Study Of Volkswagen's Emissions-Cheating Scandal?

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Recommended: Stewardship theory

After Volkswagen was exposed with their emissions-cheating scandal last year, they have been forced to make some changes within the company. To gain back the lost trust and their reputation with their customers, Volkswagen has been trying to restructure the company, in a way, that adds more transparency and eventually will lead them away from the old habits and into a new fresh start where fraud and unethical behavior is less likely to occur.

Looking at reports about Volkswagen, a general picture of the company’s structure and culture has been given as two of the main reasons for the emissions-cheating scandal to happen. (Ferrazzi, 2015) One of the first changes to happen within the company was letting go of CEO Martin Winterkorn, and getting …show more content…

(Boston, 2016) Müller has also prioritised changes in the culture by demanding more openness, trust and cooperation among colleagues and restoring Volkswagen’s social responsibility (Volkswagen AG, 2015) These changes shift Volkswagen towards more Stewardship style of management. Stewardship theory emphasises more collectivistic culture, co-operation and trust among colleagues, where Müller proclaims to transmit the corporate culture. It remains to be seen how change will occur, at the moment it is too early to analyse in depth how CEO Müller’s declarations will …show more content…

He has nearly replaced more than a dozen senior executives, and eliminated three positions on the management board. As a leader, Müller is known for promoting dialogue between his employees, unlike Winterkorn who mostly only let a few of his advisors near his office (Boston, 2016)

Even though Müller has already tried to improve the communication and the culture in the company, it is still too early to say if these changes have had an impact on the company or not.
As for the future, Volkswagen have already revealed some plans about how they will add even more structural changes to the company. According to a report from automotive news, Volkswagen is planning on reorganize the company into a decentralized system with four holdings companies. This is how they plan to go about it:
• Former BMW manager Herbert Diess will be in charge of the holding company that will run the Volkswagen, Skoda and Seat passenger car brands.
• The Audi, Lamborghini and Ducati brands will form another holding company led by Audi CEO Rupert Stadler.
• Porsche, Bentley and Bugatti will be grouped together in a single unit under current Porsche boss Matthias Mueller.
• Volkswagen Commercial vehicles and the Scania and MAN heavy truck brands will form another division led by former Daimler trucks boss Andreas Renschler. (News,

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