I suppose when we’re angry with a specific group, nation or, in this case, corporation, we might look to pin the transgression on some deep seeded cultural flaw. But truth be told, there’s nothing all that culturally specific about good old fashioned arrogance. Of course, individual cultures might have their own particular flavor of arrogance—some more pronounced and perceptible than others. Essentially arrogance boils down to a very similar note: some individual or group of individuals feel that they alone know what is best for the larger group, regardless of ethicality or legality. And that seems to be exactly what brought down Volkswagen.
According to many sources, the current VW scandal was years in the making and a disaster waiting to happen. It was the result of an insular and elitist boardroom filled with feuding factions and skullduggery, an entire town dominated by a sole employer and too cozy of a relationship between workers, management and local government. Now that the roof has been blown off, the tales coming out of Wolfsburg, are the kind of the stuff you might imagine in soap opera boardrooms, but not at the VW Group and certainly not in Germany. And, of course, it’s the town of Wolfsburg and all the working class folks who will most likely bear the greatest impact from the current scandal.
The one thing that I have found somewhat culturally specific to the VW scandal, is that much of it seems to lie at the feet of, well, dare I say it, German engineering. The VW Group is dominated by engineers. Almost all of its top executives, including the recently resigned head of VW, Martin Winterkorn, come from the engineering side of the business. Evidently, these engineers had something of a contemptuous attitude toward US environment policy. They felt it was completely hypocritical of the US to be pushing auto trends toward the development of electric and hybrid cars when the power to run those cars is coming from coal fired power plants, as it is in the US. And that, it seems, is the kernel of truth that led to their arrogant justification that it was okay to supersede the laws of a country and the trust of 11 million customers. What are your thoughts on this debacle? What do you think will ultimately happened with Volkswagen? Share your ideas below!
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