{"id":1,"date":"2016-09-07T23:50:47","date_gmt":"2016-09-07T23:50:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/eethier\/?p=1"},"modified":"2016-09-12T20:40:22","modified_gmt":"2016-09-13T03:40:22","slug":"business-ethics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/eethier\/2016\/09\/07\/business-ethics\/","title":{"rendered":"The Consequences Of Ignoring Business Ethics: Volkswagen"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote class=\"imgur-embed-pub\" lang=\"en\" data-id=\"a\/fY87z\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/imgur.com\/a\/fY87z\">View post on imgur.com<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/s.imgur.com\/min\/embed.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In COMM 290 we recently learnt about the concepts of ethics and social responsibility in business, and how critical it can be for businesses&#8217; both internally and externally. Through my own research and interpretation, I\u2019ve come to realize that business ethics are a very important and underrated aspect of business, and if followed accordingly, it can help proprietors and shareholders gain an upper hand in long term social and financial success. Moreover, as stated in an exert\u00a0by American Economist, Milton Friedman, a\u00a0business\u2019 goal is to maximize profits, so therefore it does not need to worry about social responsibility\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">as long as their actions stay within the regulations,<\/span> but in some instances by being socially responsible, additional benefits may be reaped. However,\u00a0what happens if a business chooses to totally ignore the regulations and ethics they are meant to abide\u00a0by?<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong>Take a look at Volkswagen, a company\u00a0that\u00a0tried to unethically deceive the automobile industry\u00a0for financial gain.<\/p>\n<p><strong>As a consumer, how would you feel about buying a product that you didn\u2019t know was false-advertised, and\u00a0soon realized that it was something far-fetched from what you thought you\u2019d paid for?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Well,\u00a0 the answer for almost everyone, would be utter outrage, and clearly it was for \u00a0Volkswagen customers when they heard about the &#8220;diesel scandal&#8221; that was released to public in September of last year. As a result, Volkswagen is now facing serious economic and social consequences.<\/p>\n<p><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" title=\"Volkswagen Says 11 Million Cars Worldwide Are Affected in Diesel Deception\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/svc\/oembed\/html\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2015%2F09%2F23%2Fbusiness%2Finternational%2Fvolkswagen-diesel-car-scandal.html#?secret=W5xrEGI32q\" data-secret=\"W5xrEGI32q\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) based in the U.S had discovered that incoming Volkswagen vehicles were equipped with a program that allowed the cars to illegally beat through standard emissions test. In hindsight, this software technology allowed the company to maximize their profits whilst trying\u00a0to deceive the regulation board and ignore pollution laws. Information was soon disclosed that Volkswagen had produced over 11 million cars with this program, which meant that 11 million cars were emitting harmful pollutants.<\/p>\n<p>In response to the scandal, Volkswagen did not have much to say besides: &#8220;We have totally screwed up&#8221; CEO of Volkswagen America, Jon Horn<\/p>\n<p><strong>And now Volkswagen is facing many consequences..<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>1.) Volkswagen\u2019s stock market value dropped a staggering \u20ac25 billion within the first two days.<\/p>\n<p>2.) The company is currently facing billions more in fines from the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and over 10 million car recalls.<\/p>\n<p>3.) Their upheld reputation has been tainted.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Volkswagen&#8217;s scandal\u00a0serves to remind us of the importance of staying within the regulations and to\u00a0promote social responsibility rather than\u00a0neglect it. Businesses&#8217; should not only aim to maximize their profits, but also to preserve and respect their social responsibilities in a way that will yield long term environmental, financial, and social success.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Word Count: 443<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Volkswagen resources:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/business-34324772\">http:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/business-34324772<\/a>,<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2015\/09\/23\/business\/international\/volkswagen-diesel-car-scandal.html?_r=0\">New York Times Article on Volkswagen<\/a><\/p>\n<p>http:\/\/fortune.com\/2015\/09\/30\/volkswagen-diesel-scandal-consequences\/<\/p>\n<p>Referenced Milton Friedman&#8217;s book: Corporate Ethics and Corporate Governance<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>View post on imgur.com &nbsp; &nbsp; In COMM 290 we recently learnt about the concepts of ethics and social responsibility in business, and how critical it can be for businesses&#8217; both internally and externally. Through my own research and interpretation, I\u2019ve come to realize that business ethics are a very important and underrated aspect of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42097,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2234],"class_list":["post-1","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-t"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/eethier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/eethier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/eethier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/eethier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42097"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/eethier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/eethier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/eethier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1\/revisions\/22"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/eethier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/eethier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/eethier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}