Leadership is the most radical and central aspect of any organization. While good management promotes quantitative and qualitative results, poor management compromises achievements and successful outcomes. That is why the end results of an organization are a projection of the leadership style in the said institution. As such, this paper analyses the threat in Volkswagen’s management in line with the various leadership theories.
Volkswagen`s Fraudulent
The leadership in Volkswagen illuminates an ill culture with the potential of undermining this auto giant reputation. Following the recent scandal of emission test, it is clear that the management in the organization is ailing. Volkswagen developed a technology of designing its diesel engine internally. Although the technology did not live up to its expectations since it did not observe the set emission standards, the company disguised the problem rather than fixing it. In a move to deceive regulators and defeat the emission test, the firm installed a software that disrupted the accurate measurement of the emission rate (Terry-Armstrong, 2016). By the enhancement of the phony data, the firm created a false impression of its vehicles being safer for the environment. Upon investigation by the regulatory authority, the software was installed in 11 million diesel-powered vehicles across the globe, with the US recording the highest numbers. The brazenness speaks volume about the leadership circles in Volkswagen. It is unfortunate that the leaders of such a world-class company can resort to a deliberate move of causing erroneous data. In fact, whether the management knew or did not know about the plot, it is a reflection of bad leadership in both cases.
Leadership Theories
The behavioral theory tends to react to the trait perspective as it focuses on leaders’ behavior irrespective of their physical, mental and social traits. From this point, leaders are made, thus, disqualifying leadership as innate. The proponents of this theory split leaders into two – those more interested in tasks and the rest who are more concerned with people. Contingency theory refutes claims of having a rigid framework of leadership. The case is so because different situations call for different acquisitions of characteristics. To that end, there is no particular psychological profile of a leader. Leaders will possess and express certain traits as long as their followers are responding as expected (Winkler, 2010). Finally, the transformational leadership theory suggests that good leaders are those who interact with others, including their subjects and coin a relationship that commands optimum trust and motivation from all parties. Needless to mention the common leadership styles which include dictatorship, democracy, and autocracy.
Analyzing Management in Volkswagen
Apparently, the automobile company operated within the contingency theory. However, the firm does not seem to perceive challenges as opportunities of showcasing the best. It is ready to engage in desperate measures rather than rising to the challenge. Worse, this does not augur well for the leadership culture in the firm. Prompting to cheat in the face of failures is a practice that reflects poor engagement, non-continuous learning, and decentralized decision making. Consequently, it thwarts confidence, creativity and transparency. Growth and development are important, but that does not justify the encouragement of accomplishing them at all cost. Such a hell-bent mentality of the management trickles down to even the employees. They drive their behaviors to conform to the existing structure of leadership. Seemingly, the leadership took the contingency theory too far that they were even willing to devalue the integrity of the firm.
Recommendations
Therefore, it is a high time Volkswagen terminates this culture of leadership since Winterkorn resigned. The exit of Winterkorn is not only an outcome of poor leadership, but also a signal of reviving the glory in Volkswagen. Important is for the company to embrace the transformational leadership theory. The scandal was a lesson to streamline the management and promote the willingness to learn. The theory will cultivate honest internal communication. Both the leaders and employees will have charismatic and inspirational personalities. That way, the company will build a sense of belonging and identify a common purpose in line with rules and regulations.
Under this style of leadership, the management will deliberately support employees in achieving personal development and encourage them in confronting failures. With this attitude, employees will not be afraid to report failures. It must be known that not everything will turn out to be successful. Volkswagen should foster ways of stimulating dialogue and debate between the management and employees. This will build trust among the team because leaders will be approachable and transparent. Members will not hesitate to pitch areas of weakness and mechanisms to improve the firm. The interaction will promote continuous learning because failure will be critically examined, even if it means seeking extra training and mentoring. Again, the company should diversify the individuals in the management team. Research has it that richness in ethnic and gender diversity helps in the acquisition of different personalities, thus reducing the chances of making devaluing decisions (Plender, 2015).
It is better for a leadership that leaves a legacy of both prosperity and integrity than the one with the legacy of success following the sacrifice of core values. The impudent strategy in Volkswagen incurred a huge cost, for examples, fines, reputation, destruction of customers` goodwill, and the price to fix the diesel engines. Hence, good management is key to long-term success. It prioritizes core values and the appropriate styles of leadership, especially given the growth of civil and democratic reforms.
References
Hall, B. S. (2015). It May Be Possible To Find Out Exactly Who Authorized The Volkswagen Emissions Cheat. Forbes.Com, 49.
Northouse, P. G. (2010). Leadership: Theory and practice. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Terry-Armstrong, Natasha. 2016. "The Volkswagen Scandal - The high cost of corporate deceit." Busidate 24, no. 1: 9. Informit Business Collection, EBSCOhost (accessed June 27, 2016).
Plender, J. (2015). Poor governance at VW should have been a warning to investors. The Financial Times.
Winkler, I. (2010). Contemporary leadership theories: Enhancing the understanding of the complexity, subjectivity and dynamic of leadership. Berlin: Springer.
