A topic that has briefly discussed in class, is the scandal involving Volkswagen and the charges it faces due to its lies about the emission amounts their cars release. This lie first came to the attention of an engineer of the name John German. He had administered on road emission tests which he observed to differ from that of the reported in test emission results from several VW automobiles. He had eventually discovered that VW had “sophisticated software designed to cheat strict emission tests across the world” (Neate 2015). This is a very interesting action, and it really makes you wonder if other large corporations are using similar strategies. Many things remain unclear, but it is very clear that this was no accident, a lot of work was put into this. (Neate 2015). The single thing that had German perplexed, was the fact that after he had sent the results of the discrepancies between VW’s tests and his own, VW had the choice of attempting to fix what they had done, but instead they chose to continue lying, and cheating the system. (Neate 2015). 

Neate, Rupert. “Meet John German: The Man Who Helped Expose Volkswagen’s Emissions Scandal.” The Guardian. N.p., 26 Sept. 2015. Web. 27 Sept. 2015. <http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/sep/26/volkswagen-scandal-emissions-tests-john-german-research>.

No More Lies. Digital image. International Business Times. N.p., 25 Sept. 2015. Web. 28 Sept. 2015. <http://www.ibtimes.com/volkswagen-whistleblower-we-gave-epa-diesel-emissions-data-2014-2114511>.

In businesses and corporations of any size, ethics plays a major role in the responsibilities that it  has, as well as in the actions that it carries out. Social and corporate ethics serve to ensure that businesses run within legal means, and that consumers, employees, the environment, and stakeholders are treated fairly. The article from BBC “The slippery slope of getting away with small stuff” discusses a theory that committing unethical actions in the workplace starts off small and in many cases keeps getting worse as people get more comfortable with these actions. If a business makes sure the social responsibilities required by their employees are fulfilled, the employees might not feel the need for these unethical acts to be carried out. The thing that fuels these unethical acts such as stealing from a company must come from the idea that an employee might have about their needs not being met. It is the social responsibility of the corporation to tend to these needs. If these needs are met, the likeliness of illegal acts within the company occurring would be lessened. The theory of Friedman that businesses should function within legal means to maximize their profit tends less to the social responsibilities a business might have. Freeman also believes that the profit should be maximized, but further stresses the importance of satisfying the social responsibilities. If equilibrium between maximizing profit and fulfilling social responsibilities are met, this is the optimum way for a company to function effectively.

Zimmerli, Walther Ch., Klaus Richter, and Markus Holzinger. “The Social Responsibilty of Business Is to Increase Its Profit.” Corporate Ethics and Corporate Governance. Berlin: Springer, 2007. N. pag. Print.

Borzykowski, Bryan “The Slippery Slope of Getting Away with Small Stuff.” BBC. N.p., 7 Aug. 2014. Web. 15 Sept. 2015.

Freeman, Edward “What Is Stakeholder Theory?” YouTube. YouTube, 1 Oct. 2009. Web. 16 Sept. 2015.

Business Issues and Ethical Resolutions (Part 1). N.d. Mayr’s Organizational Management. Web. 16 Sept. 2015. <http://mayrsom.com/2015/03/04/business-issues-and-ethical-resolution-part-1/>.

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