Volkswagen Group 2020

アブストラクト

The past decades, Volkswagen became reflective of its CEO: ruthless, authoritarian, hating failure, yearning for domination. Although Volkswagen managers tended to dominate and micromanage subordinates, they were extremely submissive toward superiors. Volkswagen leaders kept setting targets that were barely realistic to their engineers. The Dieselgate had a major impact, not only on Volkswagen, but also on its stakeholders and the whole automobile industry. It had direct effects on customers, dealerships, suppliers, competitors, shareholders, local authorities, regulators… This scandal was a turning point and forced a major effort of introspection. Volkswagen’s corporate culture had been blamed for being weak, damaging and vulnerable to corporate scandals. Herbert Diess, the current CEO of Volkswagen Group and protagonist of the case study, was determined to transform the firm: commercializing electric cars increasing profitability and efficiency, making Volkswagen a technological company, managing the mega trends of the automobile industry, rebuilding trust with the stakeholders, reshaping the corporate culture… Stakeholders were expecting a lot from him. He had already been impactful while dealing with union leaders, the media, communicating his strategic vision. Was aggressive ambition still legitimate in the automobile industry? How to make the organization, its governance and the management even more solid? What was the best combination of leadership styles? What lessons can he draw from the leadership of his predecessors for the future? Throughout the case, Herbert Diess is reflecting on the previous leaders, their strengths and weaknesses. A company's history and unwritten rules are a part of its culture. Culture takes shape over a rather long period of time. Many cultural elements are unspoken and unwritten. This is why this case covers a long period and tries to depict the ins and outs of Volkswagen’s leadership and the evolution of corporate culture.

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