Topic > Managerial ethics and social responsibility

The lack of ethics occurs in companies managed by capitalists who only think about their own profit, having as their priority to get rich no matter what. They don't mind using scams and lies to get results and achieve their goals. In 2015, the Volkswagen automotive company was accused by the US government of falsifying pollutant test results of approximately 480,000 vehicles sold in the country. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In September, the company admitted that 11 million diesel vehicles in models of various brands belonging to the group were adulterated. This fraud undermined the German automaker's image, as the company positioned itself as environmentally conscious, pledging in a July 2014 letter to Greenpeace to reduce CO2 emissions by 2020. The company's actions suffered a sharp decline and Martin Winterkorn resigned as CEO of Volkswagen. The United States has charged Volkswagen's former CEO with conspiracy and wire fraud for covering up the company's attempt to cheat U.S. diesel emissions tests. In a meeting on July 27, 2015, Martin Winterkorn and other senior executives were informed of these irregularities discovered in the United States; at this meeting, the former CEO approved the use of fraud software by US regulators. This shows that he was completely aware of his unethical behavior, choosing profit over ethics. The fraud consisted of a mechanism installed on cars equipped with a diesel engine type EA 189. The United States Environmental Agency (EPA) concluded that the software recognizes when the vehicle is undergoing technical inspection, switches the engine to economical and injects chemicals to reduce toxic gas emissions. In this way, the results of the investigations show emissions that would comply with the regulations. But under normal driving conditions, the problem would be up to 40 times greater than what US law allows. The combustion of diesel releases numerous pollutants into the atmosphere, such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, sulfur, among others, responsible for the death of thousands of people every year. This is why countries have regulatory agents to control emissions of these gases. Volkswagen has committed a very serious crime by making 11 million cars appear less toxic than they actually are. In addition to deceiving its customers, the brand contributes even more to the global warming process. According to an analysis published in the British newspaper The Guardian, the impact of 11 million adulterated vehicles worldwide can mean the emission of 237 thousand to 948 thousand tonnes of polluting gases per year, an extremely high quantity. Regarding the emission of pollutants into the atmosphere, Diesel is seven times worse than petrol and exposure to this type of pollutant can lead to an increased risk of lung cancer, asthma and bronchitis, cardiovascular disease and stroke. Volkswagen's behavior was clearly very unethical, as the brand harmed people and the environment, with the intention of generating more profits. The company violated many ethical principles, such as the Government Requirements Principle (ethical principle that you are not allowed to take any action that violates the law), Personal Virtue Principle (ethical principle that anything that is not honest, open and truthful should never be done) and Utilitarian Benefits Principle (an ethical principle according to which.