Volkswagen Company (Essay Sample)

Volkswagen
Student’s Name
Institution
Volkswagen
The existing conflict between Volkswagen Company and the Tennessee government poses an ethical dilemma. The company is torn between following the traditions of the state of being anti-unionists and its German culture of encouraging unionization. The following argumentative essay analyzes the situation in the position of a consultant. The essay will take into consideration the company’s and the state’s side and the implications of all possible actions. The consideration will assist in coming up with the most appropriate advice. After analysis, it is evident that the best possible action for Volkswagen is actively to oppose the union's plans to unionize the plant by applying anti-election union tactics as many American companies do.
First, Volkswagen started trading in Tennessee with the knowledge of the state’s anti-union culture. For this reason, the company ought to have been ready for the implications of the culture. The company needs to have adaptation skills when pursuing international markets just like any other multinational corporation (Malecki, 2010). The skills entail finding the most appropriate way to work with the existing authorities to avoid conflicts. Therefore, the company should disregard the German traditional unionization principles because the Tennessee environment is entirely different. Moreover, Volkswagen seems to enjoy the tax advantages from the state. For this reason, the company should be ready to follow the political culture of the state without opposition. If the enterprise engages in conflicts with the state, the repercussions will be adverse (Malecki, 2010). The company will lose both the tax advantages and the goodwill arising due to the positive relationship with the government. As a result, the state government may make it difficult for Volkswagen to operate in Tennessee by imposing restrictions and new adverse rules.
Second, Volkswagen has a little chance of convincing the Tennessee legislature to abandon its long-term tradition of an anti-union approach. There are many corporations based in Tennessee such as Black River Petroleum Corp and Firestone Tire and Rubber Company. Some of the companies are direct competitors of Volkswagen, and they have adapted to the anti-union culture of Tennessee. The assertion is due to lack of existing conflicting issues between the companies and the Tennessee administration. For this reason, the Tennessee government does not have a reason to change its culture to accommodate one company. As a result, the chance of Volkswagen convincing the legislature to abandon the law making process is minimal. Moreover, the company has the knowledge that the plant generates a significant amount of income that the enterprise cannot forfeit. For example, the company makes more than $643.1 in annual revenues (Fox & Hamblen, 2013). The company cannot afford to forego such significant amounts of earnings because of supporting unionization.
Third, the company can use other means to improve its products and the customer experience and still maintain an ethical balance. For instance, internal training for the employees can help enhance their productivity and quality deliverance (Malecki, 2010). The company can establish a quality control department to set up various programs that can get the best out of the workforce. The department can set up the programs such as initiation programs for the new employees. The training can be useful because it entails a firsthand avenue of enlightening the employees (Malecki, 2010). The training would also lead to the desired client experience. The firm may also develop a system of measuring the productivity of the employees. Such a system would ensure continuous monitoring of the workers.
Despite the assertion that Volkswagen needs to follow the political culture of Tennessee, the company has a tool of influencing the decision-making of the Tennessee government. The state government risks losing significant economic benefits if the company bails out of trading in the state (Goodkind, 2014). If the company votes to go on with unionization, the Tennessee government may engage in more restrictions. Such restrictions may discourage the company from consequent trading. There are numerous befits that accrue to the state due to the company’s trading. For instance, the company has more than 3,200 direct employees and 9,500 suppliers (Fox & Hamblen, 2013). Moreover, the company has invested in contracts worth $379 Million for construction. The whole project of the company expects to realize more than $1.4 Billion in the form of taxes for the Tennessee government (Fox & Hamblen, 2013). The above figures portray the importance of Volkswagen in the state’s economic scene. Volkswagen could use the above facts to manipulate the state into abandoning the new laws that would abolish the tax benefits. The above implications pond...