Unethical Practices in Volkswagen's Business - Case Study Example

    A couple of researchers were involved to make sure that the results that were obtained were valid and could be trusted. The company later admitted that they equipped their motor vehicles with Turbocharged Direct Injection with a device that cheated when the emission tests done by the Environment Protection Agency (Blackwelder, 2016). The CEO in charge, Martin Winterkorn was forced to step down, and on 25’th September and Mathias Muller was named the new CEO of the company.

The authors display the former CEO as a man who had no moral values or ethics that should govern a leader. Eisenbeiss, (2012) explains how ethics in leadership should entail treating others with respect and dignity, making fair and just decisions, environmental conservation, and being a humble leader. The leader of the Volkswagen company was not value-driven because his decisions were not weighed on overall organization values. He did not lead by example or raise value and ethics awareness to the employees but instead encouraged foul play so that the company can have a competitive advantage over other companies.

As a leader, honesty was expected of him, and the fact that he lied about their tests on unburned fuel disqualified him as a leader driven by professional ethics.