Annotated Bibliography on Volkswagen Emissions Scandal

Ashok, A., Barrett, S., Dedoussi, I., Eastham, S., Keith, D. & Malina, R. Impact of the Volkswagen emissions control defeat device on US public health. Environmental Research Letters, 10(11), 231- 249

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In this article, Ashok et al. illuminate on the environmental and health impact that the excess emission of NOx of Volkswagen model year 2009-2015 vehicles produced when in motion. The authors illustrate on how Volkswagen violated the Clear Air Act by using control defeat device to cheat on the level of emission that their vehicles were producing. The authors illuminate on how the control defeat devices tempered with the on-road emissions testing to produce fraudulent results on the level that were below the EPA standards thus giving the vehicles the green light.

The authors endeavor to quantify the health implications and associated medical costs that resulted from the excess emission. Ashok et al. develop a distribution function of the excess NOx emitted by each Volkswagen vehicle per 50km traveled. The authors apply statistics from vehicle sales data STEP vehicle fleet model to determine the total distance covered by all Volkswagen cars in U.S. The authors employ the GEOS-CHEM adjoint-based rapid air pollution exposure model to determine the mortality and morbidity effects of the excess emission.

The paper provides meaningful insight on the fatal effects of engaging in unethical practices in business. The authors associate 59 deaths and over $450 million in social costs to the excess emission. The paper limits its scope to health effects on the society caused by the unethical practice. The paper will be instrumental in highlighting that unethical conduct in business has adverse effects on society at large.

Cavico, F. & Mujtaba, B. Volkswagen emissions scandal: a global case study of legal, ethical and practical consequences and recommendations for sustainable management. Global Journal of Research in Business & Management, 4(2), 320-336

In this article, Cavico and Mujtaba articulate on both the importance of maintaining an ethical code of conduct within a business entity and, the adverse reputational and financial repercussions of engaging in unethical dealings. The duo uses the case of Volkswagen emission scandal to illustrate the negative effects of engaging in unethical practices. The authors highlight facts from numerous credible sources to how Volkswagen falsified information on the emission levels in their vehicles. The authors also illuminate on the negative effect that the scandal had on Volkswagen from expensive legal cases, reputational damage and sales drop.

The paper covers aspects of ethics and law that define how a business should engage in its activities by following a recommended code of conduct and full adherence to the law. The paper also covers the consequences of engaging in unethical behavior that include financial loss and reputational damage. The paper will be crucial in providing insights on ethics in business with a primary focus on the Volkswagen emission scandal. The paper offers recommendations on measures that business can institute to ensure adherence to ethics in their operations through transparent and sustainable decision-making mechanism. The paper takes a general approach towards ethics in business and cannot be reliable upon to offer an in-depth understanding of the Volkswagen emission scandal. The paper will be instrumental in providing general information on ethics in business.

Rhodes, C. 2016. Democratic business ethics: Volkswagens emissions scandal and the disruption of corporate sovereignty. Organization Studies, 37(10), 358-379.

Rhodes introduces a new way of monitoring ethics in business by proposed democratic involvement of civil groups and society in ensuring business adhere to laid down ethics. Rhodes illustrate that the public cannot trust the corporate structure especially large corporations to self-govern themselves. Rhodes uses the example of the Volkswagen emission scandal to show on how organizational structures even as large and sophisticated as those of Volkswagen can be manipulated to create large-scale, well-orchestrated schemes to defraud the public. Rhodes introduce a new theory in business ethics called democratic business ethics which urges that civil society has to take up more roles in monitoring ethics in business organization and ensuring accountability by business towards the entities.

The paper scope only covers the theory of democratic business ethics. The authors do not provide sufficient information on how the Volkswagen scandal was orchestrated. The authors also do not engage in business ethic holistically but instead limit their focus on democratic business ethics. The paper will be beneficial in providing a different approach towards ethics in business.

Coglianese, C. & Nash, J. The law of the test: performance-based regulation and diesel emissions control. Yale Journal on Registration, 34(1), 1-56.

Coglianese and Nash provide an extensive look into the Volkswagen emission scandal by first expounding on the laws and regulation of emission then articulating on how Volkswagen tempered with its emission control software to provide underestimations of the actual emission levels. The paper raises the alarm on the efficacy of the regulatory bodies, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) after the body failed to identify the scandal in advance. EPA had experienced the emission scandal among diesel truck engine manufacturers and should have learned from it. The paper provides a step by step breakdown of the Volkswagen emission scandal from the testing cheat to the last discovery of the fraud.

The article heavily focuses on regulations of emission. The paper provides limited information on business ethic but instead focuses more on the law and the regulation surrounding emission by vehicles. The paper will be instrumental in providing insight into regulation of omission and also on the Volkswagen emission scandal.