Student Journal

Individual Student Journal

GEB 6445 Social, Ethical & Legal Systems

Bernhard Eichelbaum

Table of Content

(March, 7th) Volkswagen Management knew about emission issue. http://www.triplepundit.com/2016/03/vw-emissions-scandal-ceo/ …….……...…………………………………....................................................................1

(March, 8th) Can Algorithms be Ethical? http://blog.cutter.com/2016/03/08/call-for-papers-can-algorithms-be-ethical/ ...............................................................................2

(March 7th) Legalization of marijuana in Florida http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/the-buzz-florida-politics/senate-passes-medical-marijuana-expansion-sends-to-gov-rick-scott/2268281 ………………………………………………………………………………3

Volkswagen Scandal

Summary:

The article “VW Management Knew About Emissions Issue a Year Before Scandal Broke“, published on March 7th by Jan Lee, talks about the Volkswagen scandal and recent admission, and how former management knew about the emission issue a year before. The scandal caused great loss of customer’s trust forcing management to retire.

Stakeholder analysis

VW-Management:  

Volkswagen lost a tremendous amount of money when news broke.

The stock dropped 23% and VW had to recall millions of cars. The lost in customer´s trust was immense, especially after Management admitted to been informed prior. Scandal forced former Manager Martin Winterkorn to retire.

VW-Employees:

Majority of employees were not aware of the “emission cheating” software. Based on tremendous loss; employees now have to face consequences. VW announced to cut jobs in significant amounts.

Society/Customer:

The scandal had a huge impact on society´s trust towards the integrity of Volkswagen. Boycotting the purchase of VW´s cars and public pressure led to Winterkorn´s retirement.

Shareholders

Shareholders suffered enormous losses after “emission cheating” software was confirmed to exist, shareholders tried to get rid of shares instantly. Plunging stock prices were the consequences.

The stock prices, according to business journals, will not recover within the next 5 years.

Competitors