| Course | ETH-5900 Ethics for Managers |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 3 |
| Paper type | Written assignment 3: economics, the environment and technology |
| Length | About 714 words, 5 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Thomas Edison State University |
| Program | Master of Science in Management |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for ETH 5900 Module 3
Software That Knew It Was Being Tested: The Volkswagen Emissions Scandal
Student Name
Master of Science in Management, Thomas Edison State University
ETH-5900: Ethics for Managers
Mentor Name
Month Day, Year
Software That Knew It Was Being Tested: The Volkswagen Emissions Scandal
What Happened
In September 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that Volkswagen had installed software in diesel cars sold in the United States since 2009 that recognized when a car was being tested, from cues such as steering position and speed, and ran the emissions system fully only during tests. On the road, the cars emitted nitrogen oxides at many times the permitted level. Volkswagen admitted that about 11 million vehicles worldwide carried the software. In January 2017, the company agreed to plead guilty to federal charges and pay $4.3 billion in criminal and civil penalties in that settlement alone, and several executives and engineers were charged (U.S. Department of Justice, 2017).
The Economic Pressure
Volkswagen had set out to become the world's largest carmaker and promoted "clean diesel" as its route into the U.S. market. Meeting strict U.S. nitrogen oxide limits with a diesel engine required either a costly urea injection system or performance and fuel economy compromises that would have undercut the marketing. The defeat device let the company claim all three, low emissions, strong performance and good mileage, at lower cost. Rhodes (2016) argues that the scandal showed how a corporation's pursuit of its own goals can override democratic limits set to protect the public, with the company acting as if its strategy were sovereign over the law.
The Technology
The case is distinctive because the wrongdoing was written in code. Software let the deception be precise, scalable and hidden: the same lines ran in millions of cars and were invisible to owners and, for years, to regulators. Engineers who wrote or approved the code faced a duty conflict between instructions from above and professional obligations to public safety, the kind of conflict engineering codes of ethics address. Technology did not cause the decision, but it made the deception easy to execute and hard to detect.
Stakeholders Harmed
| Stakeholder | Harm |
|---|---|
| The public | Higher nitrogen oxide exposure, which contributes to smog and respiratory illness |
| Car owners | Bought cars marketed as clean; resale values fell and repairs reduced performance |
| Employees | Job insecurity and damage to professional reputations, most of whom knew nothing |
| Shareholders | Share price fell by about a third within days; billions in fines and settlements |
| Regulators and other carmakers | Loss of trust in testing systems; stricter on-road testing for all |
Ethical Evaluation
Utilitarian. The deception produced short-term gains for the company and its managers but large harms spread across millions of people and, ultimately, the company itself. Even a narrow calculation of the company's own interests fails once the probability of discovery and its cost are counted, and a full calculation including public health is overwhelmingly negative.
Stakeholder theory. Freeman's stakeholder view, discussed in Byars and Stanberry (2018), holds that managers owe consideration to everyone affected by the firm, not only shareholders. Volkswagen's decision served a corporate growth goal at the direct expense of the public's health and customers' trust, treating both as obstacles rather than parties with legitimate claims.
The environment as a stakeholder. Jimenez and Pulos (2016) argue that corporate social responsibility includes the environmental effects a company imposes on people who never chose to bear them. Air pollution is the textbook example of such a cost: invisible, shared and paid by people with no say.
Solutions
1. Engineering safeguards. Require code reviews for any software that affects regulated performance, with sign-off by engineers who report outside the product line, and protect engineers who refuse to write code that defeats a legal requirement.
2. Governance. Give the board's audit or compliance committee direct reporting lines from engineering compliance, and tie executive pay to compliance outcomes, not only sales targets.
3. Regulation. Real-world driving emissions tests, which Europe introduced after the scandal, reduce the payoff to software that games a laboratory cycle.
4. Culture. Targets that can only be met by breaking rules invite rule breaking. Leaders should test whether goals are achievable honestly before announcing them.
Conclusion
Volkswagen's scandal shows how economic ambition, a public good with no market price and software that hides its own behavior can combine into a large ethical failure. Preventing a repeat requires engineering checks, governance that hears from engineers and goals set with an eye to how they can be met.
References
Byars, S. M., & Stanberry, K. (2018). Business ethics. OpenStax.
Jimenez, G. C., & Pulos, E. (2016). Good corporation, bad corporation: Corporate social responsibility in the global economy. Open SUNY Textbooks.
Rhodes, C. (2016). Democratic business ethics: Volkswagen's emissions scandal and the disruption of corporate sovereignty. Organization Studies, 37(10), 1501-1518. https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840616641984
U.S. Department of Justice. (2017, January 11). Volkswagen AG agrees to plead guilty and pay $4.3 billion in criminal and civil penalties [Press release].
Reading the ETH 5900 Module 3 assignment instructions
In ETH-5900's third module, markets, the environment and technology supply the dilemmas. Among its aims: solutions to economic, corporate and professional dilemmas, and judging ethical problems at home and abroad. Expect to analyze a case where profit, environmental harm or technology raise ethical questions, identify stakeholders, apply ethical theories and propose solutions. This sample uses the documented Volkswagen emissions case; your assignment may set a case or let you choose one. Expect to analyze how technology creates new ethical problems, such as software that hides harm, and who is responsible when it does. Some versions ask you to propose controls that would have caught the problem earlier.
How the ETH 5900 Module 3 example is put together
The paper summarizes the facts and the legal outcome, citing the Justice Department, then explains the economic pressure that made the deception attractive, with Rhodes's argument about corporate sovereignty. A separate section examines what software changed about the deception. A table lists the stakeholders harmed, and the evaluation applies utilitarian reasoning, stakeholder theory and the open-text view of environmental responsibility in turn. Four numbered solutions follow, each aimed at a cause identified earlier, and a short conclusion ties the three themes of the module together. Responsibility is traced from engineers to managers to the board, showing how the decision moved through the organization. Recommendations address testing, incentives and the board's oversight of compliance.
Reading the ETH 5900 Module 3 grading rubric
The economics, environment and technology paper is graded on how well dilemmas are matched with workable solutions. Mentors look for accurate facts, analysis that connects economic pressure, environmental harm and technology, correct use of ethical theories and solutions that address causes. Identifying stakeholders and the specific harm to each shows the systematic analysis the course expects. Solutions aimed at engineering, governance and culture, rather than a general call for honesty, demonstrate the problem solving the fourth course objective names. Mentors also credit analysis that explains the pressures behind the decision and the controls that failed to stop it. Recommendations that a company could adopt next quarter earn more than general calls for better ethics.
ETH 5900 Module 3 help: mistakes that cost marks
Case papers in this module lose credit for retelling the scandal without analysis, for treating the environment as an afterthought and for proposing vague fixes such as "better ethics training." Summarize the facts in a paragraph, with a source. Explain why the decision made economic sense to the people who made it. Name each stakeholder and the harm. Apply at least two theories. Tie each solution to a cause you identified. A free first sample of your own ETH-5900 Module 3 assignment is available on request. Avoid blaming only the engineers who wrote the code; show how targets and culture shaped their choices. Cite regulators' findings and settlements for the facts of the case.
Write yours, or have the desk draft it
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ETH 5900 Module 3 questions, answered
Where can I find a free ETH 5900 Module 3 sample paper?
The Volkswagen emissions paper above analyzes the economic pressure, the defeat device software, the stakeholders harmed and solutions in engineering and governance.
What was the Volkswagen defeat device?
Software in diesel cars that detected emissions testing and ran full emissions controls only during tests, letting the cars pollute far more on the road.
How many cars were affected by the Volkswagen scandal?
Volkswagen acknowledged that about 11 million diesel vehicles worldwide carried the software.
What is stakeholder theory?
The view that managers owe consideration to all groups affected by a firm, such as customers, employees, communities and the public, not only shareholders.
How can companies prevent engineering ethics failures?
Independent review of compliance-critical code, protected channels for engineers to object, governance that hears from engineering and achievable goals.