ITC506 Topics in Information Technology Ethics

• Completely stopping the wcbsite and all its services.

• Creating strong laws to avoid breach.

• Working on policies and procedures.

• Making user more knowledgeable about the different privacy setting. and describe all the Points:
Utilitarian theory
Deontological theory
Virtue theory
Contract theory

Businesses today are driven by technology and the innovations it has to offer. Therefore, unlike before when organisation used business models and techniques to beat the competition, organisations will now use technology as a way of satisfying their operational needs and customer requirements (MSG, 2017). Moreover, there is stiff competition today among businesses which has pushed enterprises to adopt different technological systems that now require serious ethical considerations. In such scenarios, two important contexts are considered; one, whether technology is benefiting humankind or two, whether technology is empowering some people at the price of others. Therefore, although beneficial technology must meet the needs of the users both at a functional level and also at an ethical/moral ground.

In 2015, Volkswagen (VW) were discovered to have installed defeat programs in their vehicles so as to beat the emission standards set at the time. In essence, the vehicles detected when they were been tested and changes their emission systems to align with the standards. After the tests, the vehicles were then able to turn off the emission control system revealing the real emission values. Now, by switching off the controls, these vehicles were now able to emit greenhouse gases i.e. nitrogen oxide at levels that exceeded the environmental regulations (Patel, 2015). In fact, according to ICCT (International Council on Clean Transportation), the cars emitted 40 times more when in driving conditions. These values had been observed by independent research groups unaffiliated to each other which testified to the unethical actions conducted by VW.

Analysis of the ethical issues at hand

When the initial tests were conducted on VW vehicles they outlined an anomaly as compared to the values they had used to their marketing procedures. VW dismissed these anomalies as technical hitches and vowed to their competence in producing environmentally friendly cars. However, later on, the truth of the cheat programs was identified which outlined their unethical actions of duping their customers and the regulatory bodies (Bocsi, 2016).

Application of the classical ethical theories

According to Lynch and Santos (2016), VW ambitions led to the incidence as they had aimed to transform the company into the largest automaker in the world. In their ambition, they planned to sell more than 10 million cars worldwide in each year. However, they faced stiff competition from other companies which produced cheaper and better cars in terms of emissions. Furthermore, they had dismissed the idea of producing hybrid cars as they failed to align with their traditions. Their solution, therefore, were the cheap programs that would give the expected results while meeting their design procedures for diesel cars.

Utilitarianism advocates for the results of the actions taken by individuals, VW actions whether good or bad were determined by the results or consequences they produced. Their actions led to many customers buying their vehicles under false pretence which endangered both the users and the environment. Moreover, consider the regulators whose mandate was to protect the environment. They failed to meet this objective because of VW actions which gain outlines the bad outcome. In essence, VW failed to meet the overall purpose of morality of making the world a better place. Therefore, if ethical their actions were supposed to yield good results regardless of their intentions, although as seen in this case study they failed in both (Hinman, 2014).

A different perceptive on the issues at hand reveals the duty held by VW as an organisation. According to deontological principles, ethics and morality, in general, are consequences of the duties held by an individual. In this case, the results as seen in utilitarianism do not matter unlike the action itself. VW intentionally duped the whole world into believing they were doing the right thing by having good cars that had minimal emission as compared to other diesel vehicles. These actions pushed customers to adopt the new solution in the name of improved designs, a wrong and unethical action (Lacewing, 2002).

Now, several factors had led to the actions taken by VW as highlighted by Lynch and Santos (2016), one of them being the pressure given by the management to meet their business objectives. Two, the opportunity presented by the market because of the integration of technology into vehicles. Finally, the rationalisation of the act as VW had done the same in the early 1970s with minimal consequences. In all, the factors that led to the actions were extremely unethical pushing the needs of the company beyond those of the consumers and the environment. As a matter of fact, it might have been mere luck that the faults were identified as vehicles today are fitted with so many programs and the market continuously advocates for them.

Now, let’s highlight the decision taken by VW, be it by the engineers or the management who each cannot claim innocence in the actions taken. VW management was led by autocratic leaders who demanded results despite the conditions that faced the market. Moreover, the reputation of the engineers was being questioned as they had failed to produce new designs for a couple of years. Therefore, their decision to implement the cheating programs was propelled by pressure. Virtue proponents will highlight decisions and not the actions or the consequences which in this case were completely wrong (Reid, 2015).

Furthermore, the decisions taken by VW were also facilitated by the rationalisation of the idea as seen before. In the past (the 1970s) VW implemented similar cheat systems to dupe the existing regulatory bodies. However, unlike the present system, they used cheat devices to lower their emission. After the devices were identified they were given a mere slap on the wrist in the form of a financial fine ($120,000). Therefore, the management took advantage of this outcome by using the same design principles seen before to meet the needs of the market.

Finally, consider the social obligation held by the organisation towards the sustainability of the environment. Whereas VW had a strict employee guideline that included a code of conduct, the employees facilitated by the management engaged in unethical behaviours that prioritised on the financial agendas of the organisation. Therefore, although the company had laws that governed their actions, they failed to comply with them while having little regard for the consequences to the environment and the society as a whole. Nevertheless, the social contract theory states that people treat others and perform actions based on the conditions set by the society i.e. the governing rules (Addison-Wesley, 2012). VW despite its ethical standards had set a new rule in the form of an unethical culture which pushed its employees to behave the way they did. These employees using their mandate recommended the diesel cars to customers who felt satisfied with the product.

Therefore, in one way or another, the employees were performing their roles in accordance with the laws set by the organisation. This outcome outlines the ethical dilemma where based on their code of conduct, the employees were required to meet their duties regardless of the conditions given. However, they also had an obligation to their communities, environments and customers in general. Therefore, their priorities should have been on the greater good of the world which in the end also affected their organisation.

Conclusion

Based on the case study at hand, the international community should enforce stringent measures to combat emissions. The laxity of the existing system facilitated VW’s actions, but, organisations of this nature should have clear guidelines to govern their behaviours including those of their employees. However, this outcome seems not to work as observed in the scenario where despite the rules set by the company’s code of conduct, the management went ahead and lied to the world. Therefore, the solution may lie with a change in culture where new workplace behaviours should be adopted. This outcome can be facilitated by a new management based on new leadership styles.

Nevertheless, this course of action will also be faced with many challenges considering the history held by organisations of VW stature. As seen in this analysis, VW actions were partly facilitated by their history where the past experiences seemed to have favoured their financial outcomes. Therefore, it might have to take the will and desire of the individuals to change in order to avoid other similar outcomes in the future.

Doing Ethics Technique

While being facilitated by its low emissions campaign Volkswagen sold millions of diesel car worldwide in 2015 including over 500,000 cars in the United States. However, the cars sold at the time with the said emissions had cheat programs that changed the overall performance of the machines when being tested to give the favourable results (Hotten, 2015). Therefore, VW unethically sold products to the customers using the false pretence of conserving the environment.

2.    What are the facts?

• First, millions of customers purchased the vehicles including a wide range of models i.e. Jetta, Golf, Passat and Beetle.
• Secondly, people bought these cars because of the low emission proposed by the company.
• Thirdly, the results given by VW and their testing facilities were wrong as identified by the ICCT findings that were from three different and independent sources.

3.    What are the ethical and non-ethical issues?

• VW duped its client to believing their vehicles were friendly to the environment, while the truth was that the vehicles were emitting in excess of greenhouse gases.
• VW used technology i.e. programmable TDI (turbocharged emissions systems) to meet the environmental standards/requirements set by the regulatory bodies.
• Everyone in the world is being affected as the environment is being abused as a result of VW actions (Gates, Ewing, Russell & Watkins, 2017).

4.    Who is affected?

• First, the customers who bought the vehicles propelled by the low emission campaign.
• The regulatory bodies who should have used better methods to test the vehicle's emissions.
• VW owners and stakeholders as their actions led to the incidences in the first place.
• The environment and its inhabitants who face the consequences of the excess emissions.

5.    What are the ethical issues and implications?

• Borrowing from the principles of utility, actions are considered ethical if the results are good and lead to the happiness of the people involved. VW actions if not discovered would have led to severe consequences for the environment a bad outcome (White, 2010).
• Moreover, deontology outlines the norms or actions of people without considering the consequences. VW actions (lying to the users and regulatory bodies) is bad regardless of the consequences (Locke, 2008).
• In addition to this, unlike other technological systems that benefit users with hidden agendas and side effects, the programmable TDIs negatively affected the users regardless of the purposes used in the vehicles.
• Therefore, even though a lot of people were happy with the services offered by the low cost and low emission cars, their happiness was as a result of unethical actions. Which outlines the lack of virtues and social responsibility, a bad example set a leading organisation.

6.    What can be done about it?

• A total recall of the affected vehicles, which in this case is the most obvious outcome as already exhibited by the company.
• Strong disciplinary actions to prevent other manufacturers from trying the same actions. Now, recent events outline the fines imposed on VW by the US federal government in terms of monetary fines ($2.8 billion). However, this fine is minimal compared to the size of VW. Instead, the company should be given more stringent fines e.g. taking the licenses to sell cars in the affected areas for a period of time.
• Furthermore, the regulatory bodies such as ICCT should create awareness among its users on the emission standards and how to test them.
• Finally, the international community should impose strict laws and policies against breaking the emission regulations.

7.    What are the options?

• Stop VW from selling the affected models which according to the emission’s report affects most of the model made between the years 2009 to 2015.
• Impose serious fines on VW on top of the already given fines as suggested above.
• Create new laws that govern vehicles emissions.
• Also, implement new procedures for testing vehicle’s emissions.
• Create awareness among the users.

8.    Which option is best and why?

Since the worst outcome is already experienced i.e. the vehicles with the excess emission are already in the market. The best option should be to impose new policies and procedures to govern the emission tests. These policies can be done by independent bodies which have zero affiliations with the manufacturing organisations. Moreover, since this outcome is less likely to occur (zero affiliation) the testing should be done by multiple organisations or bodies to limit the conflict of interest.

References

Addison-Wesley. (2012). Lecture 8: Social Contract Theory. Pearson. Retrieved 13 May, 2017, from: https://www.cs.ubc.ca/~kevinlb/teaching/cs430%20-%202011-12/lectures/Lect08.pdf

Bocsi. K. (2016). VW scandal a case study in bad corporate ethics. The Kansas City star. Retrieved 13 May, 2017, from: http://www.kansascity.com/opinion/editorials/article87287037.html

Gates. G, Ewing. J, Russell. K & Watkins. D. (2017). How Volkswagen’s ‘Defeat Devices’ worked. The New York Times. Retrieved 13 May, 2017, from: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/business/international/vw-diesel-emissions-scandal-explained.html?_r=0

Hinman. L. (2014). Utilitarianism: an introduction. Ethics matter. Retrieved 13 May, 2017, from: http://ethics.sandiego.edu/Presentations/AppliedEthics/Theory/Utilitarianism.pdf

Hotten. R. (2015). Volkswagen: The scandal explained. BBC News. Retrieved 13 May, 2017, from: http://www.bbc.com/news/business-34324772

Lacewing. M. (2002). Kant’s deontological ethics. Routledge Taylor and Francis group. Retrieved 13 May, 2017, from: http://documents.routledge-interactive.s3.amazonaws.com/9781138793934/A22014/ethical_theories/Kant%27s%20deontological%20ethics.pdf

Locke. J. (2008). The basic of philosophy. Deontology. Retrieved 13 May, 2017, from: http://www.philosophybasics.com/branch_deontology.html

Lynch. L & Santos. C. (2016). VW emissions and the 3 factors that drive ethical breakdown. Retrieved 13 May, 2017, from: https://ideas.darden.virginia.edu/2016/10/vw-emissions-and-the-3-factors-that-drive-ethical-breakdown/

MSG. (2017). Ethics and Technology. Retrieved 13 May, 2017, from: http://www.managementstudyguide.com/ethics-and-technology.htm

Patel. P. (2015). Engineers, Ethics, and the VW Scandal. Cars that think. Retrieved 13 May, 2017, from: http://spectrum.ieee.org/cars-that-think/at-work/education/vw-scandal-shocking-but-not-surprising-ethicists-say

Reid. G. (2015). S3 ETH: Studies in Religion and Ethics (A2). GCE Religious Studies. Retrieved 13 May, 2017, from: http://resource.download.wjec.co.uk.s3.amazonaws.com/vtc/2014-15/Religious%20St/RS3%20CHR/Eng/WJEC_Studies%20in%20Religion%20and%20Ethics%20_A2.pdf     

White. R. (2010). The principle of Utility. Retrieved 13 May, 2017.