Unit 4 Team Exercise
The invention of automobiles had been dated long back in history. From that day till now, it had not only made our lives easier but also simpler. From times back then till now many big automobile companies had came into existence, some of them were successful and some were not, thus going out of market and competition. Among them, Porsche and Volkswagen Group(VW) have emerged as one of the world leaders in automobile industry. Through years of hardwork and sheer use of technology and engineering developments, both of these companies have carved a name for themselves in their respective markets. But sometimes, bad management and several areas of conflict arise between two companies that can lead to its downfall. In this case too the CEO of Porsche, just wanted to administer each and everything according to his own ways and rules, but on the other hand the CEO of Volkswagen, even after facing huge loses wanted to continue on with his strategy because he was quite confident about his strategy and clearly had a broader outlook of the scenario. Therefore, due to having different mindsets, there was a conflict between the ideas of two which led to the decline of one of them. These conflicts can be summed up in the following couple of questions:
1. Identify and discuss the sources of conflict between Porsche and Volkswagen executives.
Well, throughout this case there was a sense of internal war between the executives of two of the world’s largest automobile companies. Wiedeking, the CEO of Porsche, can be seen as a dominating personality throughout this case. Wiedeking was famous for his efficient production and astute marketing, which turned Porsche into world’s most profitable car company. Therefore, keeping this same attitude in mind, he wanted to make some major changes in the Volkswagen group(VW) because he was aiming to achieve something big. He wanted to remove inefficient operations and also insisted on shutting down the production lines of some cars like ‘Phaeton’ and ‘Buggati’, which according to him were not highly profitable and were a commercial failure. On the other hand, Ferdinand Piech, the CEO of Volkswagen group, had something else in his mind. Unlike Wiedeking, who only focused
In this report, I am going to evaluate the influence of different stakeholders exert at Mercedes Benz. The stakeholders I will be discussing is the owner of the business, customers who buy cars as they provide good quality of service, employees who help the business to perform well and making profits and the Government who support Mercedes Benz because they have been running successfully throughout the years so they want to invest money to further develop the business. On the other hand, I will make the following points in my report is by commenting on the level of influence that each stakeholder exerts on Mercedes Benz. I will also be referring to evidence from different sources for the comments that I make. I will state the strengths and the weaknesses on the influence of different stakeholders. Also, I will make recommendations on how Mercedes Benz can do to overcome the weaknesses which can affect their performance. At the end I will write a conclusion by summarising what I wrote in the report, which stakeholders have the most influence and which stakeholders have the least influence in Mercedes Benz.
The industry for superior luxury cars is a highly exclusive one with a few automotive makers making their presence felt. The major market share is held by Porsche which is known to have formidable rivals like Benz and BMW. The SUV supercar segment is a highly evolving one where manufacturing style localities and units are the decisive forces that ultimately culminate towards the cost of the car.
The emissions-cheating scandal that Volkswagen was caught in hurt the German carmaker’s image, brand and reputation. Before the scandal, the general public held the Volkswagen brand in high esteem. Volkswagen has been a car brand that has been known for its reliability and quality. However, in light of the scandal, Volkswagen received a plethora of negative media exposure. A Reuters article stated that the Volkswagen could do harm to the
One of the disturbing factors regarding the scandal is knowing that it may have been a joint effort between both the employees & managers in different departments. Part of being in an organization not only entails making ethical decisions, but also holding others to the same standards as well. Unethical decisions caused by a few people or even one person can have a very negative effect on a company’s reputation and their consumer relationships. For example, there were quite a few Engineers and other Executives that were persecuted for their involvement in this incident. According to an article in the New York Times (Vlasic, 2017), “The Engineer, James Liang, is the first company employee sent to prison in the vast scandal that has tainted Volkswagen’s reputation and cost it more than $20 billion in fines and settlements consumers.” Also, according to the New York Times article, Liang’s lawyer stated that “He was not the mastermind, but he did play a role.” This brings up a good point—it shows how any kind of involvement in an illegal/unethical act can put you in bad situation.
Porsche is a sports car company that has been successful for over 70 years. The story of Porsche and its success is deeply rooted in its unique business model that dispels the myth of small companies having to rely on bigger corporations for survival. The founder of the company, Dr. Ferdinand Porsche, started his own engineering and design firm under the name Dr. Ing. h. c. F. Porsche (fundinguniverse.com, 2016). During the first years of his engineering firm, Porsche designed his first racing car. This design was successfully developed by Auto-Union for their racing team. The Porsche Company also engineered Grand Prix cars, sports cars, and prototypes. While the company’s Formula 1 racing car was not successful, the company proved to be a dominant force in the industry. The company designed a variety of items, including the Volkswagen Beetle, light tractors, and aviation engines. The company also designed plans for wind-driven power
In theory, the amalgamation of Chrysler and Daimler-Benz can bring on a considerable competitive advantage, especially in term of the economy of scale. Nevertheless, the synergy savings can only be achieved if two companies can operate the business and produce vehicles more efficiently than when they were apart. In the case of Daimler-Benz and Chrysler, many conflicts and clashes have made the integrated management impossible. Looking back, it seemed to be an unlikely marriage at the very first
Businesses undergo diverse changes in their aspirations to dominate the market, reduce on costs, and increase their efficiency and profit margins. Tracing these changes from the time the firm was started to its current position would reveal a significant amount of efforts that the company has had to put in to enhance its growth and success. The Porsche Company established in 1931 by Ferdinand Porsche together with his son has seen a fair share of these changes (Henderson & Reavis, 2005, p. 2). The company’s business model revolved around the provision of engineering services and vehicle designs to automakers. Porsche was called upon by the then Germany leader, Adolf Hitler, to come up with a car for the Germany population. The vehicle was known as the “people’s car” or “Volkswagen”. In 1948, the company rolled out its first car,a sport car that it continued to produce earning it a significant share of the market.
Moreover, Daimler-Benz’s and Chrysler’s brand images were completely opposite, which makes them lose their own intrinsic value if they would merge together. Again, the clash in cultures and values took them apart and a harmony within the new company seemed to be impossible.
The United Auto Workers trust exercised a right included in its government-financed bankruptcy to for an initial public offering (IPO) in 2010 and saw it as a triumphant return to financial markets. First aligned in 2009 with Italy-based Fiat, Chrysler survived its financial crisis with Fiat’s supply of technology and expertise for new products and for the next two years rendered Chrysler as stronger than Fiat. Chrysler’s sales and profits indicated a steady increase with sales in the United States while Fiat is in conflict with the economic conditions in the European market; and as the two companies have merged completely, the Chrysler operations is expected for the much needed growth indicator. The IPO ensued from a dispute over the complex
Ultimately, Volkswagen’s case highlight in business unethical conduct will be exposed and corporations shamed would suffer economic and reputational damage as a result. Integrity always starts from top management and is key to any successful businesses. It should be the responsibility of senior leadership to both exemplify the right behaviours and to teach the other employees the ethical standards. These factors are vital to a complete understanding and commitment to an ethical corporate culture. The repercussions of such scandal should instigate an enquiry at the broader cultural realities that drive unethical decisions in business. In particular is the warped yet common perception that the only way of determining success is money. A lot of this has to do with a person’s value being determined by money and too many individuals have no genuine sense of being without the material possessions they hold. This engulfs not only entire organisations, but even entire societies. It would be interesting to see Volkswagen attempt to regain its reputation it once held and the difficulties Volkswagen encounters along the way should serve as a firm reminder not only for other car manufacturers but all businesses worldwide that unethical conduct would not be rewarded.
It is difficult to pinpoint one cause for the scandal. The media treated “Volkswagen” as one entity for its failure to remain compliant and over-simplified the issue. Furthermore, when looking at a past scandal, it is difficult to ignore the hindsight bias that usually accompanies mass media. The cause of the scandal was likely not grounded wholly within management, but rather within a combination factors including Volkswagen’s position within Wolfsburg as well as the company strategy and structure.
CSR means company social responsibility and it includes many different aspects. Meanwhile, CSR is a standard to judge a company good or bad. Higher CSR can make higher economic performance. A company called H&M. H&M is one of famous clothing company in the world and it is also the global fast fashion leader. In 1947, Erling Persson in Sweden founded H&M. H&M sales clothing, accessories and cosmetic. It has more than 2500 stores all over the world. Another company is Volkswagen. In 1938, Volkswagen was founded in Wolfsburg. Volkswagen is a car manufacturing company in Germany and it is also one of the four major car manufacturers in the world. People all know that two brands. These two companies are both
Volkswagen Group, one of the leading automobile manufacturers in the world, has been on an impressive incline in the market with a continuous rapid international expansion. Unlike other reigning companies such as Toyota Motor Corporation
in the setting. Thus, by this article, I’m going to analyse the challenge in the auto industry in
Ferry Porsche designed the firm’s first car, the Porsche 356. Although its body was an original design many Volkswagen parts were used to save costs. The original car was fast and very light weight, gaining attention by taking first place in the Innsbruck city race. Production was transferred from Austria to Stuttgart in 1950. The firm focused on performance and continued to reengineer and refine the car. By the late 1950’s the Porsche 356 utilized far fewer parts from Volkswagen. Figure 3 shows a 1951 split windshield 356 Cabriolet.