The Volkswagen affair: intercultural decoding

Large-scale fraud

On September 18, in the United States, the biggest scandal in the automobile industry broke out with the revelation of large-scale cheating by the Volkswagen group, the world leader in car sales. With the help of software, it was possible to circumvent pollution standards on the diesel engines of its vehicles. An investigation is underway to precisely establish the facts and the responsibility of the various actors in this disaster for the German brand. As in the case of another scandal, that of FIFA, it is the American push backwhich is at the origin of this affair. The American regulatory body (EPA) had already warned of cheating. Tenacious, he returned to the charge and we can certainly say that this was experienced as a challenge by the Americans.

Due to its scale and its global repercussions , this story is extraordinary: how were German managers, known for scrupulously respecting the rules and avoiding risk, able to decide and validate such a fraud project by knowingly circumventing control standards ?

In order to provide elements of response on an intercultural level, we examined the views of our specialist consultants on the two central countries in this story: Germany and the United States.

Scandals and sanctions in Germany

Scandals linked to unethical behavior exist all over the world, and German culture, like all others, is no exception. Many scandals have already broken out in Germany. Here are a few that we have selected because they find an echo in our daily news:

• Tax fraud by a former President of Bayern Munich (3 and a half years in prison).
• Fall and resignation of politicians following financial scandals such as former President Christian Wulff or former Chancellor Helmut Kohl. Politicians must behave impeccably and the slightest misstep can result in them leaving the stage. More resignations of ministers for plagiarism in a doctorate (a highly respected diploma in Germany).
• Collapse of the ADAC, the German automobile club, a powerful and influential institution with 19 million members, following the fraudulent awarding of the prize for the best car to a model from the Volkswagen brand...

Faced with these scandals, moral and public judgment is both severe and rational. The "post-scandal" reactions are controlled and the sanctions generally come quickly, harshly, and take the form of conviction and resignation...This is what happened in the case of the "VW affair" , since at the top of the pyramid the president, general manager and sales director have all left.

And the application of the rule?

These reactions are partly linked to the respect that the Germans have for the proper application of the rule. This respect is “commonly agreed” and inscribed in the collective conscious and subconscious. And this, above all because the Germans are convinced that the rules that a (democratic) society gives itself are useful and necessary for the functioning of this same society. The Protestant ethic has strongly influenced a seemingly binary pattern of thinking: " In Germany, it's often white or black!", says one of our experts on German culture. This vague, gray zone, which, in Latin cultures, we envisage very well and sometimes which we deliberately create, leaves a hovering uncertainty between what is permitted and what is prohibited. In a given situation, it may be subject to interpretation, and the way we view it may differ from one point of view to another. For a French person, for example, it is not wrong to say that the orange light offers a choice (not to say an opportunity): should I accelerate or should I brake? This gray zone, in Germany, is not as possible: the orange light signals the change from green to red... I brake.

An individual with a culture ofstrictrespect for rules will move towards a precise definition of what is authorized or prohibited, and therefore will be fully aware of the nature of his final choice (I cheat, I do not cheat).

The gear...

Trying to understand what could have happened in the minds of the fraudsters (engineers and managers) in this affair, we must take into consideration the fact that in German companies, unlike France, the decision-making process is bottom up. We emphasize that we are presenting here how things generally happen in a German company and in no way assume what might actually have happened at VW. In this bottom-upprocess, the experts issue recommendations which are validated by the manager. The final decision is therefore the outcome of a process. This is why it is not subsequently called into question. In Germany, everything happens before the final decision. Once it's taken, let's go.

In such a system, when "cheating" is intentionally incorporated, when it passes the validation stage, it immediately takes on terrible proportions, on a large scale.

The image of “German reliability” was built in part on this respect for processes, operated in a very objective and pragmatic manner. And on their highlighting, particularly through automobile marketing.

It is estimated that 1/3 of Germans have lost confidence in the manufacturer's brand. For them, it can be restarted when the processes have been corrected. This is what the resigning President pointed out when he called for VW to change its corporate culture. In German culture, it is certainly true that trust can quickly be rebuilt after the application of quickly implemented and quickly effective sanctions and corrections.

German crisis management

The reactions also show that there is indeed German-style crisis management. Once the scandal broke, the whole world saw the start of a real “war machine” of crisis communication (statements in the press, resignations, communication on social networks, etc.); most of the actions taken were certainly anticipated.

For example, in Wolfsburg, the city where Volkswagen's headquarters are located, the municipality's recruitments were stopped while the matter was clarified and the economic consequences of the scandal assessed. This is the result of anticipation and the most refined possible calculation of risk. An entire environment is getting in tune with the crisis.

For our intercultural experts, it is difficult to imagine that German engineers and managers could have taken such a risk without having evaluated it at one point or another, without having imagined the loss that this cheating could one day cause...

A German will prefer to leave taking responsibility, rather than denying it.

At the same time, investigations began immediately with a very specific goal: to seek the truth as quickly as possible. VW executives were immediately cooperative, open and available to American investigators. This total transparency and availability is consciously desired: quickly correct errors to turn the page and regain the trust of disappointed consumers. From this point of view, they share with the Americans the importance of putting the idea of ​​accountability, which we can say combines both responsibility and transparency, at the center of professional and public life.