Volkswagen’s cheating was not selfish

Volkswagen’s cheating was not selfish

Available in Audiobook  at:

Available in Paperback, Hardcover and eBook  at:
Buy How to be Profitable and Moral: A Rational Egoist Approach to Business from Amazon

Buy How to be Profitable and Moral: A Rational Egoist Approach to Business from Rowman & Littlefield

Buy How to be Profitable and Moral: A Rational Egoist Approach to Business from iBookstore

Buy How to be Profitable and Moral: A Rational Egoist Approach to Business from Indigo Chapters

Buy How to be Profitable and Moral: A Rational Egoist Approach to Business from Barnes & Noble

 

Media coverage of Volkswagen’s astounding emissions-rigging scandal continues, for a good reason: the company’s (the executive’s who authorized the cheating and of all those who went along with it) immoral conduct led the company’s share price to fall by 35%, and the company can now expect $18 billion in fines as well as class action lawsuits from betrayed customers. Many commentators have attributed VW’s cheating on emission tests on 11 million of its diesel cars to selfishness, as reducing emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) would lower performance and fuel-efficiency, and therefore, decrease sales and profits. Reflecting the widely held view, these commentators imply that selfishness—pursuit of profits—leads companies to employ immoral means.

But such commentators are wrong. In deceiving customers and shareholders, Volkswagen was not acting selfishly at all.

The dim view of selfishness as predatory exploitation of others—such as VW’s deception of customers and shareholders and any others—is utterly mistaken. Selfishness, in its dictionary definition, means “concern with one’s self-interest.” But was VW concerned with its (the shareholders’) self-interest when cheating? Perhaps—but it definitely was not acting in its self-interest, no matter what was motivating its actions. Moody’s, the bond-rating agency, lowered VW’s outlook to negative and wrote: “This could be a long-lasting image, which could weaken Volkswagen’s market position, brand equity and pricing perception by customers. This could ultimately affect Volkswagen’s future earnings and cash-flow generation.”

Deceiving others, or any form of dishonesty, cannot be in a person’s self-interest, no matter what temporary “benefits” one seems to be gaining. VW sold 11 million diesel cars before it was caught, and Bernie Madoff managed to run his pyramid scheme for 20 years before being found out. However, frauds cannot be sustained forever. VW’s “clean diesel” cars are emitting 40 times more nitrous oxides than the company has claimed they are. Bernie Madoff was not creating wealth for his “investors” but destroying it. It is never in one’s self-interest to fake facts—because values—profits, brand name, reputation, etc.—cannot be obtained by faking, not for the long-term. Faking is futile, because it does not change the facts—the facts we must adhere to if we want to achieve values. Honesty is a basic principle of ethics and easy to grasp. Therefore, VW’s violation of it is so senseless.

But why do people confuse acting on self-interest with deceiving others and other forms of predatory behavior? In his new book, In Defense of Selfishness, Peter Schwartz explains that thanks to modern intellectuals, selfishness has become a “package-deal” concept and lost its original, dictionary meaning. The modern concept of selfishness packages together the original meaning of a person’s genuine self-interest—pursuing one’s values without violating anyone else’s rights—and exploiting others through fraud or force. The former is a requirement of human survival and flourishing—and the latter is its impediment.

As a consequence of the modern package-deal concept of selfishness, most people think about a selfish person as a ruthless brute who tramples over others in getting what he wants, and therefore they consider selfishness as evil. As an example, students in my business ethics class initially recoil when I first introduce the (proper) concept of selfishness, because they have come to equate selfishness with predation.

In cheating customers and others, VW was not acting selfishly but self-destructively. However, it may well recover (as Terence Corcoran suggests in a recent column). This is not a driver safety issue. No-one has died because of higher than claimed emissions of nitrogen oxides, which apparently are not a major pollutant. As Corcoran reports, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports that nitrogen oxide emissions have dropped by more than a half in the last 30 years. They account for 3% of California’s greenhouse gas emissions, and the transportation sector’s share of that 3% is 5%. (I have to state that it is not the government’s role to regulate emissions, but that is a topic for another post).

Despite the moral lapse, Volkswagen makes excellent cars and has the capability of developing a technological solution for emission control that does not reduce fuel efficiency and other performance attributes. Doing that would be selfish.

Share this:

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Email

Share this:

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Email
Subscribe via Email

Enter your email address to receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 1,363 other subscribers

6 Responses

  1. This was indeed unbelievably self-destructive of VW. I’ve spoken a to a few (previously happy) diesel VW owners here in Southern California, and they are left in a difficult position: do they have to fix theirs cars in order for the cars to be approved for another year at DMV? If so, who pays? VW brand loyalty among customers will certainly erode, which has longterm consequences for the automaker.

    1. Owners should ask their dealer.
      And look online at sources like LemonAid, Edmunds, and Consumer Reports.
      And ask the DMV.
      Interesting that the vehicles have not failed emissions tests in those fiefdoms that require it every year or two, such as WA.

      1. Anu:
        Owners need a fix from VW designers, approved by the EPA and CARB. (The recall of December 2014 has been dis-approved by EPA as insufficient, VW was trying to brush off the problem as minor at that time, they’ve since caved.)

        A big question is whether VW can fix the emissions shortfall in software or whether they will need to make mechanical changes. The latter is more likely needed in order to retain fuel efficiency, but VW could choose to refund part of vehicle purchase price, or buy back vehicles. (Recall the sneaky software increased emissions on the road in order to improve fuel economy.

        The EPA and CARB will likely give VW some time to organize compliance, as VW is now cooperating to substantial extent. The EPA refused to approve 2016 models, and VW voluntarily stopped selling more 2015 models.

        Also, Anu, note that only the 2.0L TDI 4-cylinder engines are affected, see the EPA’s September 18, 2014 letter to VW for affected models, which include the Audi A3. It is linked from the “switch is clever” paragraph in http://business.financialpost.com/business-insider/anatomy-of-a-cheat-heres-what-volkswagen-did-and-how-they-get-caught.

  2. Why do people like VW cheat?
    There’s an arrogance that assumes they are so clever they won’t be caught.
    There’s short-term thinking.
    And there’s a belief that exploitation of others is acceptable.
    All based on failure to understand reality – which includes the capability of the human mind.

    Why do people peddle the package deal? For the same reason. Typically the taught beliefs come from Plato’s mind-body dichotomy via the Kant fork and derivatives of him, all denying the effectiveness of the human mind for life.

  3. VW have been promoting their diesel technology heavily, to try to increase sales in the US. Sales have been slow, on top of that some potential customers had been turned off by high maintenance costs of early-90s Eurovans and premature wearout of some engines such as the 4-cylinder in the Passat. (An oil coking problem common to many German makes circa the late 1990s, apparently not properly monitored and communicated by dealers.)

    In addition to what Jaana listed in the other VW thread, criminal charges are possible under US laws about collaboration to break a law.

Leave a Reply

Jaana Woiceshyn teaches business ethics and competitive strategy at the Haskayne School of Business, University of Calgary, Canada.

She has lectured and conducted seminars on business ethics to undergraduate, MBA and Executive MBA students, and to various corporate audiences for over 20 years both in Canada and abroad. Before earning her Ph.D. from the Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania, she helped turn around a small business in Finland and worked for a consulting firm in Canada.

Jaana’s research on technological change and innovation, value creation by business, executive decision-making, and business ethics has been published in various academic and professional journals and books. “How to Be Profitable and Moral” is her first solo-authored book.

%d bloggers like this: