Assessment.
As a group of 4 or 5, you are to review the case study on
Volkswagen and the Emissions Scandal.

And write a report on the key challenges and opportunities to develop a sustainable ethical framework in the future. This will be based on a three-pronged approach in defining the harm, managing the harm, and developing responses to the harm.

This structure for the report is aided by the approach to the group assignment slide deck included in this Moodle section. There are four key papers you need to review in detail for this assignment along with the case study. They are
Key Paper. Responsibilities to Society.

Key to understanding and identifying the relevant harms, determining responsibility for the harm, and then developing an appropriate response. This should be used to structure your report.
Paper: Ethics is a basic Framework that provides context for your ethical approach and some principles that can ground your ethical responsibilities in an organizational context, including the codes of conduct ( external hyper norms) those standards that are in effect best practices The paper on Personal Values and Professional Responsibilities also gives reasoning for how Managers act in a particular way which again will provide insights to the behavior of various stakeholders in the case study.
Paper. A note on Moral Imagination. An explanation of the wider social and cultural pressures that affect our decision-making. Not an excuse but a warning.

The above articles will be underpinned by your understanding of the theories of ethics that can support your ethical decisions.
PLEASE REVIEW THE SLIDEDECK ON THIS ASSIGNMENT FOR A DETAILED UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT IS EXPECTED.
Fundamentally you are tasked to answer the following seven question

Part A Defining the harm

• Identify the economic, psychological, and societal aspects of harm in the case of VW and the emissions scandal.. (What Harm? Why was it Harm? What was the impact?)
• Having read through this case study and applying your Corporate Governance knowledge (the Global Business Standards Codex) how many of the codes were broken by VW at this time?

Part B Managing the Harm

• List the stakeholders and determine responsibility for the Harm under the headings of culpability, complicity and capability.
• Explain how both the Corporate Structure and Culture that existed at VW contributed to this ethical scandal.

Part C. Remedying the harm

• How did they respond to the harm? Consider aspects of Response, Refrain, and Remedy (evaluating the speed of response, establishment, and enforcement of policies).
• Consider which dimension of responsibility VW operates within (which concept -business as usual, business as a bystander, business as an innovator, or business as an activist). Give reasons to support your opinion.
• How can VW recover from this ethical disaster? Do you believe that VW is now trustworthy after considering how they managed the harm? If you were in the position of Matthias Mueller what, if anything, would you do differently?