Crisis Management, CSR, and Crisis Communication in the Volkswagen Emissions Scandal

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2017 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, grade: 1,3, University of Cumbria, language: English, abstract: The purpose of this research is to examine the crisis management and crisis communication of the German car company Volkswagen (VW) in its recent emissions scandal. This study aims to analyse the applied crisis management and communication strategies of Volkswagen by evaluating the crisis´ impact on each stakeholder group. To accomplish this, the research adopts a single case study design, and it considers a significant amount of qualitative, secondary data. The research first notes that Volkswagen failed in its crisis management prevention tactics, as it was unable to detect the crisis at an early stage. Moreover, the study reveals that VW implemented several immediate crisis management measures for a quick turnaround management. Instead of concentrating on a specific crisis response theory, it is evident that VW made use of different crisis response strategies. VW took full responsibility for the crisis, promising transparency, but it also shifted the blame onto a small group of employees, suggesting that the company was also the victim of human error. Finally, the study reveals the significant impact of the crisis on each stakeholder group, which reveals that VW struggled to regain stakeholder trust and did not keep its promise of transparency. Thus, the study concludes by presenting future recommendations for Volkswagen in order to rebuild trust and avoid similar crises from occurring in the future.