How does collaborative cheating emerge? A case study of the Volkswagen emissions scandal

Abstract

Since 2014, Volkswagen (VW) has been enthralled in a reputation-tarnishing cheating scandal that has raised questions regarding how collaborative cheating unfolds in organizational settings. While the behavioral ethics literature provides some insights, this literature is largely confined to individual decision makers and so little work examining how collaborative cheating emerges has been done. Therefore, with this case study, we draw on various data sources (e.g., court case summaries, investigative reporting, technical reports, popular press outlets, and publically available employee interviews) and use case study methodology (i.e., grounded theory, open-systems diagnostics) to construct a process model that explains how collaborative cheating emerges in organizational settings. Theoretical and practical implications are also discussed.