global assignment vw

Group Management Report

The 12 group initiatives of the new auto strategy.

Sustainability will continue to be a recurring theme in the business world and will gain further pertinence, driven by the increasingly noticeable consequences of climate change, a greater consciousness of sustainable lifestyles on the part of the customer and, not least, underlying factors such as the Paris Climate Agreement. As we transition from automotive manufacturer to mobility group, we are resetting our priorities with NEW AUTO and positioning ourselves for the future. We are keeping our aim of being a world-leading provider of sustainable mobility firmly in our sights and making the Group more focused, efficient, innovative, customer-oriented and sustainable, as well as systematically gearing it toward profitable growth.

To this end, we have established 12 Group initiatives across the brand groups. We will use these to develop the competences needed to implement the strategy. The focus is on the main multidisciplinary areas addressed by our technology platforms – mechatronics , software , battery & charging, and mobility solutions – on which the five tech initiatives described below are based. A further seven base initiatives form the foundation for the Volkswagen Group’s strategic realignment.

THE 12 GROUP INITIATIVES OF THE NEW AUTO STRATEGY

These are ESG, Decarbonization & Integrity, Business Model 2.0, North America (NAR) Region, China Region, Group Steering Model, People & Transformation and Financing the Transformation.

To make the progress in the relevant Group initiatives of our strategy as transparent as possible for management and employees, the Group Board of Management decided to structure and regularly measure the strategic goals and milestones using the OKR (Objectives and Key Results) method. Accordingly, achievable strategic objectives and envisaged key results are defined for each Group initiative. These are to be realized largely through time-limited projects and work packages, each of which is measured by specific key performance indicators. The degree of achievement is discussed three times a year with the Board of Management. As such, the relevance of the initiatives, and their objectives, milestones, projects and work packages, are regularly reviewed at Group level. Their focus is continuously monitored and adjusted as necessary or integrated into standard operations.

The current Group initiatives covered by the strategy are described below. We report on the main strategic objectives and interim results achieved in the reporting period in the chapters “ Internal Management System and Key Performance Indicators ”, “ Structure and Business Activities ” and “ Sustainable Value Enhancement ”.

MECHATRONICS – BACKBONE AND SCALABLE SYSTEMS PLATFORM

A future-oriented mechatronics platform will form the backbone for innovations, technology and lasting competitiveness at Volkswagen. With the Scalable Systems Platform ( SSP ), we are creating the next generation of an all-electric, fully digital and highly scalable mechatronics platform based on a standardized software architecture. With this standardized platform, which can be scaled from the smallest vehicles all the way up to the premium segment, the Volkswagen Group aims to rapidly and efficiently provide its customers with innovative functions and technologies in their vehicles, across all brands. By reducing complexity and the number of versions, the SSP will offer maximum synergies and make fast, regular technology updates possible, while lowering investment costs and ensuring the necessary differentiation between the products of the individual brands in the Group’s portfolio.

SOFTWARE – CARIAD: ONE E 3 PLATFORM AND AUTONOMOUS DRIVING (AD) STACK

The purpose of the Group’s own software and technology company CARIAD is to create the technical basis for data-based business models, new mobility services and automated driving (Level 4), and to leverage cross-brand synergies. Our aim is to increase the proportion of software in the vehicle that is developed in house.

CARIAD is already working with the Porsche and Audi brands to introduce the new E 3  1.2 platform, which optimizes the harmonization of the hardware with the vehicle software from CARIAD. This facilitates the deployment of over-the-air updates and is a key lever for introducing new services even after vehicle production has begun.

In the long term, the standardized E 3 software architecture that is already being developed, together with the VW.OS software platform and the Volkswagen Automotive Cloud, will form the basis of a complete digital ecosystem, offering customers a wide range of software-based services throughout the product lifecycle. The aim is for every function that is needed or requested and every service to be customized for the users in the various markets and to be available for download at any time. This will also open up new sources of revenue for us.

Applications at various levels of automated driving (up to Level 4) will be gradually introduced to the new vehicle models in the Group brands.

BATTERY & CHARGING – CELL AND BATTERY STRATEGY

The battery is a key component in an electric vehicle, and an important cost factor. The appeal and market success of e-mobility is determined not only by the price, but also by the vehicle´s range and the charging speed. We must become a profit-generating expert across the entire battery life cycle to achieve our objective of transforming into a world-leading provider of sustainable mobility. To this end, the Cell and Battery Strategy tech initiative pools expertise across the Group and is driving the transformation process in cooperation with our strategic partners. The aspects covered include battery management, cell production and recycling. Our aim is to develop battery cell technology into a core competence in the Group, and we are also working with partners to achieve this. At the heart of this strategy is the new unified cell, which can contain different chemistries and will be used in up to 80% of Group models by 2030. The excellent economies of scale this generates will reduce costs by up to 50% and put us in a leading cost position. To cover the high demand for battery cells, Volkswagen plans to build six gigafactories in Europe alone, with a production capacity totaling 240 GWh.

BATTERY & CHARGING – CHARGING AND ENERGY SERVICES

Charging, energy and a sustainable energy supply infrastructure for all-electric vehicles are key prerequisites for accelerating the transition to the battery-electric mobility of the future. It is therefore our intention also to become a comprehensive charging and energy services provider in the future and we are investing heavily in building an open fast-charging network worldwide. By 2025, we and our partners plan to create around 45,000 high-power charging points in Europe, China and the USA. The product portfolio also includes the full range of charging solutions for private customers and companies. In addition to our own wallbox and flexible fast-charging station, the focus is particularly on contract-based charging services and smart green electricity tariffs. Charging processes will then systematically use renewable energy and reduce pressure on power grids. In a next step, Volkswagen intends to develop the electric vehicle as a mobile power bank, thus helping electric vehicles to act as storage units and thus become an active part of the energy system in the future. In this way, Volkswagen wishes to enable its customers to participate in one of the leading smart-charging and energy ecosystems for decarbonized mobility.

MOBILITY SOLUTIONS

In keeping with its mission statement, “Mobility for generations to come”, the Volkswagen Group is developing mobility solutions for the future, taking into account global trends and changes in customer needs. The Group plans to bring together all of its brands’ mobility services on one mobility platform over the coming years. Autonomous driving combined with new mobility solutions is expected to mark Volkswagen’s transformation into a leading provider of sustainable mobility. A vehicle fleet covering all of the many services, from vehicle rental to car subscription and ride pooling, will ensure high availability, usage and profitability. With these solutions, we plan to gain market shares and generate long-term competitive and attractive margins.

ESG, DECARBONIZATION AND INTEGRITY

ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) refers to the basic principles of doing business sustainably. The Group’s stakeholders (e.g. investors, employees, customers and non-profit organizations) have high expectations of the Company’s ESG performance, including in areas such as decarbonization and integrity, and also of its conduct as an employer and as part of society. The Group’s ESG performance therefore directly affects its market capitalization, cost of capital and investing activities. We aim for a top position relative to our competitors in sustainability ratings . We are committed to the Paris Climate Agreement and align our own activities with the 1.5-degree target. We aim to achieve net carbon neutrality by 2050. By 2030, we have also set ourselves the target of reducing CO 2 emissions from passenger cars and light commercial vehicles over the total life cycle by 30% compared with 2018. As part of this effort, we are looking for ways to increase the proportion of recyclable materials in our vehicles. We also wish to become the benchmark for ethical corporate conduct. Volkswagen sees itself as an equal opportunities employer. The intention is therefore for at least a fifth of Company management positions to be held by women by 2025, and for at least a quarter to be held by international managers.

BUSINESS MODEL 2.0

The Business Model 2.0 base initiative is developing a Group-wide portfolio of services, the purpose of which is to create a seamless and innovative product experience to connect brands, customers, dealerships, our partners and whole markets. The aim is for the key technologies needed for this to be integrated into a majority of the platform-based vehicles by 2030. Using connected vehicles, the Group’s brands are to be able in future to remain in contact with their customers throughout the entire vehicle life cycle and thus to offer them services and functions for their individual needs. This will allow us to build a competitive, data-driven service portfolio that also maintains our leading position in the automotive market in future.

NORTH AMERICA (NAR) REGION

For the Volkswagen Group, North America, and particularly the USA, is the region with the greatest growth potential, especially where e-mobility is concerned. We intend North America to become our third core region alongside Europe and China by 2030. Our aim there is to achieve a very strong increase in total market share for the Volkswagen Group by then.

We aspire to further expand our presence in the region with strong brands and prepare ourselves for the future with market-specific products.

We also wish to participate to a disproportionately high extent in the growth of the increasingly electrified markets in the USA and Canada. We will therefore substantially expand our range of all-electric models across the Group and develop models specifically for these markets. The proportion of battery-electric vehicles in our sales in the USA and Canada is to increase to 55% by 2030.

In addition, we wish to maximize the potential for synergies in the region and build significantly more expertise, industrial capacity and vertical value chains in the North America region.

CHINA REGION

China is of major strategic significance to the Volkswagen Group as its largest single market, and we expect it to continue growing in the future. All key measures are therefore brought together in this strategic base initiative in order to continue Volkswagen’s success story in China. The activities include a comprehensive program of measures with a focus on cost, long-term technological competitiveness, localized development activities that are tailored to the market, and the further consolidation of our existing partnerships.

Our aim is to achieve high market shares in the electric vehicle segment and establish ourselves as a leading provider. For vehicles with combustion engines, our aim is to maintain our share of the market, as these will also make a contribution to profit in future with high unit sales. We are therefore continuing to accelerate our Group-wide localization strategy in China so as to offer our Chinese customers tailor-made products, and we are using not only global platform technologies (hardware and software), but are increasingly employing platform technologies that have been developed locally. In this way, we wish to stand our ground against the constantly growing competition in the new intelligent connected vehicle (ICV) segment.

GROUP STEERING MODEL

To achieve the objectives of the Group strategy and thereby safeguard the Volkswagen Group’s long-term success, we are extensively optimizing our Group steering model. It is essential that we establish a consistently high level of mechanisms that facilitate swift decision-making, the development and use of platform technologies and the exploitation of synergies, and that we constantly enhance these. The updated Group Steering Model places the brand groups and technology platforms center stage in order to scale up the latter while maximizing synergies across the entire Group product portfolio. A new strategy and product planning process that has been optimized for efficiency is being developed on the basis of this approach. The package of measures for this initiative hones the definition of roles and responsibilities in the Group and improves transparency in this respect both inside and outside the Company. It also promotes the entrepreneurship of the independent units and brands and at the same time strengthens collaboration across the Group.

PEOPLE & TRANSFORMATION

As it becomes a global tech company, the Volkswagen Group will see the biggest transformation of its workforce in its corporate history. To ensure the Group remains competitive in future, we need to attract top talent and support existing employees by providing extensive training where required. Our aim is to retain staff for the long term. It is therefore fundamental that we address the changing needs of our employees and offer them an outstanding employee experience. To achieve our Group’s ambitious objectives, we must also create and promote an environment for productive teams, resulting in a strong, sustainable and socially responsible corporate culture that fosters a sense of belonging and loyalty to the Company. A further focus is on aligning the Company with society and the environment.

FINANCING THE TRANSFORMATION

The transformation being driven by digitalization and electrification will require extensive investment. To meet this need for financing, the Financing the Transformation base initiative aims to leverage even more Group-wide synergies across all functional areas along the value chain, focusing on costs and efficiency. The Group has therefore set itself the objective of lasting improvements to its fixed-cost structure, plant productivity, procurement costs, distribution expenses and working capital management.

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Five years ago, we launched the transformation of the Volkswagen brand: With the TRANSFORM 2025+ strategy, the company has completely realigned itself. We have renewed our model range from the ground up. Volkswagen has made a clear commitment to e-drive vehicles. We are already on our way to CO₂-neutral mobility for all!

With our enhanced “ACCELERATE” strategy, we are initiating the next phase of this transformation. The fight against climate change, the increasing pace of innovation in our industry and new competitors present us with major challenges. That is why we are increasing the speed and changing Volkswagen more radically than ever before.

Until 2030, we want to increase the share of all-electric cars in Europe to 70 percent of our sales. In this way, we aim to significantly exceed the planned EU regulation. In the U.S. and China, we want to increase the share of e-cars to 50 percent by 2030. We are accelerating our pace, producing large volumes and covering all segments. In this way, we are positioning the Volkswagen brand as the global market leader for climate-neutral e-mobility.

But anyone who believes that the e-car alone will take us into the future is mistaken. The real gamechanger is digitalization. Electrification, software-defined products, new business models and autonomous driving – these four major forces are driving the future development of vehicles. The Volkswagen brand is driving change by developing software and the digital customer experience into core competencies, tapping into additional revenues through data-based services in the use phase of cars, and making autonomous driving more widespread between now and 2030. Because autonomous driving must not become the privilege of a few.

Just as we have boldly moved forward on the topic of e-mobility, we are also taking a bold approach to the other issues of the future.

The Volkswagen brand is investing around 18 billion euros in e-mobility, hybridization and digitalization by 2026. To manage these investments, we aim to achieve a sustainable operating margin of at least 6 percent by 2023.

Volkswagen will change from the ground up. The brand will stand for climate-friendly e-mobility like no other, for fascinating digital customer experiences, for new business models and for autonomous driving across the board. Over the past few years, we have built a strong starting point. With “ACCELERATE”, we are now giving the digitalization of the brand a further boost.

Press releases

Volkswagen brand trims Board of Management: established processes from “New Mobility” division to be integrated into Technical Development

Volkswagen brand’s biggest performance program on track, with earnings contribution of up to four billion euros expected for 2024

Volkswagen Passenger Cars readies plants for the future

Volkswagen brand invests one billion euros for growth in South America

Performance program: Volkswagen brand aims to become more efficient and more profitable

Volkswagen accelerating transformation of Wolfsburg plant

All-green electric: The ID. Family goes carbon-neutral

Strategy update at Volkswagen: “The transformation to electromobility was only the beginning”.

„The efficiency of pure battery-electric vehicles is much higher” (Frank Welsch)

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The specified fuel consumption and emission data are determined in accordance with the measurement procedures prescribed by law. 1 January 2022, the WLTP test cycle completely replaced the NEDC test cycle and therefore no NEDC values are available for new type approved vehicles after that date.

This information does not refer to a single vehicle and is not part of the offer but is only intended for comparison between different types of vehicles. Additional equipment and accessories (additional components, tyre formats, etc.) can alter relevant vehicle parameters such as weight, rolling resistance and aerodynamics, affecting the vehicle's fuel consumption, power consumption, CO 2 emissions and driving performance values in addition to weather and traffic conditions and individual driving behavior.

Due to more realistic testing conditions, fuel consumption and CO 2 emissions measured according to WLTP will in many cases be higher than the values measured according to NEDC. As a result, the taxation of vehicles may change accordingly as of 1 September 2018. For further information on the differences between WLTP and NEDC, please visit www.volkswagen.de/wltp .

Further information on official fuel consumption data and official specific CO 2 emissions for new passenger cars can be found in the "Guide to fuel economy, CO 2 emissions and power consumption for new passenger car models", which is available free of charge from all sales dealerships and from DAT Deutsche Automobil Treuhand GmbH, Hellmuth-Hirth-Str. 1, D-73760 Ostfildern, Germany and at www.dat.de/co2 .

Benefits and work-life balance:  What matters to you?

Volkswagen offers you a wide range of benefits for harmoniously combining your professional and private life. We help you maintain your work-life balance with attractive benefits, fair pay, flexible working models and the ability to work remotely. Take advantage of exclusive employee conditions, develop your potential and take care of you and your loved ones’ well-being with our family and recreational offers.

You matter to us. What matters to you?

Financial security

For us, fair pay means more than just salary.  and for you, flexibility.

What matters to you? Are you looking for a work-life balance that really works? Us too! A harmonious balance between work and leisure is good for your well-being, health and quality of life. Our flexible working time models give you more opportunities to organise your day without neglecting your family, friends and hobbies. We are dedicated to giving you the flexibility you need to balance your professional and private life.

Flexible working hours models

Working hours at Volkswagen are governed by the relevant collective bargaining agreements and generally amount to 35 hours per week at present. Sometimes, of course, work volumes may be higher, or a meeting might take longer than expected, or you really want to stay and finish something, or you simply want to come in later or leave earlier occasionally. That’s why we have agreed trust-based working hours for our employees. 

In addition, as part of your flexitime model, you decide for yourself how you spread your working hours.

Mobile working

We want to offer you the best possible balance between your professional and private life. That’s why you can agree with your manager on working remotely some days, for example at home. In accordance with statutory and collectively agreed regulations, you can organise and spread your working hours however you like between 6 am and 10 pm. Naturally, the basic requirement for working on a mobile basis is that your duties permit it.

We believe it is important to maintain a balanced relationship between remote work and the workplace that is appropriate to the job, not least in order to foster communication and identification as part of the team.

How many days can I work remotely?

The extent to which mobile work is possible can be found in the job descriptions.

Paid sabbaticals

Have you ever wanted to put your job on hold to take time for yourself, your family and friends, or to build a house, finally complete a project, volunteer or take a trip around the world? With the My Time Off [Meine AusZeit] scheme, Volkswagen offers a self-financed sabbatical of three to six months, during which you still receive 75% of your salary. To do this, Volkswagen pays you upfront during your sabbatical. When you return, you balance your account by waiving 25% of your salary for 9 to 18 months at full working hours. After that, you receive your full salary again.

The advantage of the scheme is that you do not have to make expensive savings before your leave of absence, so you are more flexible in terms of time and can better plan your finances.

Flexible retirement

Plan and start your retirement flexibly – we offer you great opportunities to enjoy your retirement earlier and plan more securely for exciting new projects in your life.

Pension provision

Changes in the statutory pension insurance make it increasingly advisable to have additional cover. The company pension scheme is an important part of this. In addition to your salary, Volkswagen offers you an attractive company pension scheme where we finance the basic pension and what is known as the first contributory pension (Beteiligungsrente I). On top of this, you have the opportunity to increase your company pension by deferring part of your gross salary towards the second contributory pension (Beteiligungsrente II).

Time asset bond (Zeit-Wertpapier)

You can use the time asset bond to retire early from active employment and thus reduce the amount of your life you spend working. You can create time assets for this purpose from ongoing or one-time earnings. The more you earn, the earlier you can take paid leave of absence directly before reaching retirement age.

Note: The above information presupposes permanent employment without a fixed term.

Job sharing in management positions – more work-life balance for managers

Job sharing at Volkswagen opens up new pathways in the world of work, especially for managers who want to harmoniously combine their work and private life.

In this innovative model, two managers share a position with reduced individual working hours. They work together and combine their different strengths to achieve common goals. This way, we show how leadership and work-life balance go hand in hand.

Recreation & family

What matters to you? Time and space for your loved ones? Simply recharging your batteries? No matter what matters to you, leisure time clears your head and keeps you fit. That’s why Volkswagen makes sure you get enough.

Holidays and days off

At Volkswagen , all employees who are subject to the framework agreement on employment conditions get 30 days of paid leave a year.

Individual regulations apply to certain groups of employees. For example, students in vocational training combined with university studies get 22 days for a five-day week, and as an intern, you get 20 days per calendar year if employed for more than six months.

And so that you can enjoy the end-of-year holidays to the full, you get the whole day off on 24 and 31 December.

Compensation for overtime

Our flexitime models allow you to organise your working time independently. If you work longer than the standard 7 hours per day calculated from the 35-hour week, you can compensate for this time by taking hours or even whole days off. However, for health and safety reasons, you should not make a habit of deliberately accumulating overtime in order to then take time off.

Making sure your children are well cared for while you are at work is important to us. At our sites in Hannover, Emden and Kassel, we offer childcare near the workplace, which means either close to the plant entrance or actually on the Volkswagen premises. The childcare hours on working days vary from nine hours ( Kassel ) to 13 hours ( Hannover & Emden ).

Children‘s holiday care

You can have your children looked after during the school holidays in our holiday childcare programme. Depending on the site, the programme offers one week’s supervision during the Easter, summer and autumn holidays. The children are taken on exciting excursions during the week through the production facilities, the company fire departments, the printing plant etc. and also enjoy educational activities and games and well as outdoor activities and programmes on the topic of sustainability. Meals are also provided.

Seminars for parents

Having a child often changes life fundamentally. Because we want to support expectant parents, we offer information events regularly. During these events we provide information on maternity and parental leave and on how Volkswagen specifically supports achieving a work-life balance.

You also have an opportunity at the events to share information with other expectant parents who work at Volkswagen and build your own personal network.

Parent-child offices

We also offer special parent-child offices at some Volkswagen sites, such as the Software Development Center in Hannover. If a child needs to be looked after at short notice and mobile working is not an option, these offices provide a place for children to play, sleep or do their homework while their parents can take part in the normal office routine and get on with their work without worrying.

Care of relatives

The need to look after a family member often happens when you least expect it. Life-changing decisions have to be made in the shortest possible time and nursing care organised. You can take leave of absence from work straight away for this purpose for up to ten days. And if you want to look after your relative yourself, you can take partial or full leave of absence from work for a longer period of time.

We also hold information events to help better plan and manage this challenge.

Development & career

What matters to you? Whether it's for training, specific career planning or working abroad – we count career development among our core competencies. In addition to promoting talent, we help everyone to reach their full potential.

We will accompany you on your professional journey

Health & well-being.

What matters to you? Your health and well-being are important to us, because they are essential to your quality of life. That’s why at Volkswagen we provide specific measures and offers to maintain and improve them.

Free fitness facilities on site

We have our own gyms and rehabilitation centres offering a variety of exercise courses at our sites in Wolfsburg, Braunschweig, Salzgitter, Kassel, Emden and Hannover. Online exercise programmes even allow you to join in from wherever you want. 

In addition, various advisory services are offered at the sites as well as self-organised sports groups .

Medical care

For all occupational health issues as well as acute and emergency care, our Volkswagen sites have several health centres and outpatient clinics with expert company doctors and occupational health staff. Our colleagues from Volkswagen health department also provide advice on business trips abroad, vaccinations and first aid training.

Healthcare provisions

The Volkswagen “Check-up” programme is designed to help all employees stay fit and healthy in the long term. The programme includes state-of-the-art medical examination procedures which not only ascertain your current health and fitness, but also identify possible health risks.

The Volkswagen check-up consists of various diagnostic and medical examinations as well as a thorough consultation and discussion of the examination results with the company doctor.

Ergonomics offers

In addition to ergonomic workstations, at Volkswagen we also offer ergonomic advice and support from therapists in the rehabilitation centres and gyms at the Volkswagen sites. These offer advice on topics such as the basic principles of adjusting tables and chairs correctly for screen work, or how to stay active and mobile while carrying out sedentary work.

Social coaching

Social coaching at Volkswagen is a caring and voluntary advice service that aims to offer targeted, individual and professional support to all employees. Particularly in a workplace context, a confidential framework is the fundamental requirement for effective advice.

The task of the social coaches is to help people in problematic personal and social situations – such as mental and psychosocial stress, addiction and financial emergencies – with support, advice and accompaniment, and by liaising with internal and external specialist services when necessary.

The purpose of the consultation is to clarify the situation and develop possible individual solutions. Specific measures can be agreed and further assistance initiated if necessary.

On the preventive side, the social coaches at Volkswagen organise information events on various topics according to needs.

Directly on site: Audi BKK

“From us, for us”: Our health partner Audi BKK specialises in the needs of the Volkswagen Group’s workforce and offers superior benefits at an attractive contribution rate. The company health insurance fund, which is available to employees across Germany, has service centres at all the production sites of the Volkswagen , Audi and MAN Truck & Bus brands, offering tailor-made advice and services.

Welfare fund

The welfare fund is an employee solidarity fund. The benefits are financed from the contributions received and a company contribution. Participants can receive subsidies from this support fund in certain cases of financial burden.

Enjoy the culinary delights of the Volkswagen restaurants

At our main sites there are numerous company restaurants, self-service shops and coffee bars to cater for you. They offer a large selection of breakfasts, lunches and dinners – as well as snacks and tea or coffee in between. This means you are optimally looked after, and can relax with a cappuccino or have a pleasant chat with your colleagues.

Sounds good?

Apply now at volkswagen.

Learn more about your entry opportunities

Many firms make it harder to land these opportunities by requiring a business case. 51% of companies surveyed in 2012 assess your candidacy on a cost-benefit analysis. Some ask for your own self-assessment to inform their decision-making. Therefore, it is important to think logically about your candidacy before asking for a global assignment. The following discussion addresses what you must consider when itching for a global assignment and what to do if you lack the necessary attributes to advance with that big “ask” for a relocation, and it also gives you a start to structuring your business case. Start by considering the following six questions to give you the most compelling reasons as to why you should be assigned abroad.

Start by comparing yourself against your peers.

• Where do I currently stand in the company? – Think about how important your skills, experiences or relationships are in comparison to those of your peers. If you are of more value to an employer, they will be more willing to invest in keeping you happy and succumbing to your request. An easy way to figure out your worth vs. that of your colleagues is if you were stack ranked. For better or worse, if you work in a transparent organization that openly shares your ranking, then you’ll have a clear idea of where you stand organizationally. Otherwise, take an honest look at your performance evaluation(s). Are you a consistent top performer? Consider your direct impact on individual(s), team(s), the business or the industry. Do you get the toughest projects? Are you entrusted with the most responsibilities? Do you lead tasks with higher visibility than your peers? If your answers are favorable, then take note of your findings and proceed to the next question. If your responses are unconvincing, then focus on rising above your peers within the next two years. Performance improvements take time but are prerequisites for launching global-assignment conversations.

Click –> The Essential Guide to Landing a Global Assignment by Melissa Llarena – to download the full edition of this blog. The full edition will address the five remaining questions, and…

-Help you figure out what to do if your manager does not support your relocation

-Share real examples of what successful expats did to land their global assignments

-Expose the two game-changing points that most aspiring globetrotters neglect to address

DOWNLOAD NOW ->  The Essential Guide to Landing a Global Assignment by Melissa Llarena

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Melissa Llarena

A friend shared this blog with me. Working abroad opportunities are at an all-time minimum because of how virtual we are in 2013. Although I didn’t have this guide during my transition, definitely concur that I did follow the process you lay out in this guide unconsciously.

You bring up a great point about how virtual we’ve become. I would argue that in some locations face-to-face interactions, however, are crucial. For instance, throughout Latin America, in person contact matters greatly. It’s all about building trust and that’s harder to do via Skype. Thanks for commenting. I hope your transition was wildly successful.

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Global Assignment Policies & Practices Survey Report

Insights on how global organizations administer their global mobility programs.

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For global mobility leaders of multinational organizations, benchmarking your global mobility policies and practices against those of other global organizations and industry peers can be a powerful tool for reflecting on your current approach and planning how to prepare your talent mobility program for the future. To help, KPMG International conducts this annual survey of global mobility policies and practices of multinational organizations. While the number of participants continues to grow, the resulting database is already believed to be one of the most robust of its kind on a global scale.

The data offers insights into global mobility programs and how they are evolving in terms of mobility, tax and immigration policies, structure, governance, priorities, performance measures, technology, robotics, automation, international remote working and more

Download the 2023 KPMG Global Assignment Policies and Practices Survey summary report and scroll down for more on this year's key findings.  

2023 KPMG Global Assignment Policies and Practices Survey

A look into how global mobility programs are evolving based on the survey results from over 100 multinational organizations in jurisdictions worldwide.

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What do the latest results tell us?

The results of this year’s Global Assignment Policies and Practices (GAPP) Survey sheds light on how global mobility programs are continually evolving. In addition to compliance and global risk management, supporting the organization’s business objectives, controlling program costs and being adaptable to changing business requirements are clearly the top priorities for today’s global mobility leaders. The global talent mobility function’s contribution to strategic value for the organization has taken priority; being recognized as a trusted advisor and collaborator to the business.

Many organizations are recalibrating their approach to flexible work arrangements, leaning towards requiring employees to be more present in the office. This shift represents a response to several factors, including the desire for more direct collaboration, and the cultivation of company culture. Businesses, however, must recognize that top professionals now prioritize flexibility and work-life balance. To remain competitive, organizations will need to blend the advantages of in-person collaboration with a continued commitment to accommodating the diverse needs and preferences of their workforce, all while striving to attract and retain the best talent in this ever-evolving employment environment.

Recognizing the importance of attracting, retaining, and developing top talent as a competitive advantage, the global mobility function plays a pivotal role in making this vision a reality. This alignment helps ensure the right people are in the right place at the right time, with the skills and expertise to drive the organization forward. By harmonizing global mobility with talent initiatives, companies can leverage international experience, facilitate career growth, and support the evolving needs of their workforce, ultimately contributing to sustained success and an agile response to the ever-changing demands of the global marketplace.

Global mobility functions continue to place a strong emphasis on technology due to its transformative impact on the way organizations manage their global workforce. In terms of global mobility, technology serves as an enabler, allowing companies to optimize the deployment of their talent on a global scale. By leveraging technology, global mobility functions can not only improve efficiency and cost-effectiveness but also enhance the overall employee experience, making it an indispensable tool for organizations seeking to navigate the complexities of global talent management while remaining agile, competitive, and compliant in the dynamic global landscape.

There has been a notable increase in the incorporation of inclusive language and a heightened awareness of accessibility concerns within mobility policy development. As organizations strive for greater diversity and inclusivity, it has become essential to ensure mobility policies address the unique needs of all employees. This shift underscores a commitment to providing equitable opportunities for all, irrespective of individual circumstances or identities. Organizations are recognizing that mobility policies must be accessible, accommodating, and free from bias, thereby fostering a more inclusive work environment.

There continues to be an ongoing trend of short-term cross-border mobility by companies. Short-term assignments, often lasting weeks or a few months, provide companies with a flexible solution to address specific projects, knowledge transfers, or market exploration without the long-term commitment of traditional expatriate assignments. This trend aligns with the evolving preferences of a mobile and diverse workforce, and as companies continue to prioritize agility and adaptability, short-term cross-border mobility is likely to remain a prominent feature of talent management strategy.

Benchmark your organization today!

KPMG’s Global Mobility Services practice members can provide a personalized benchmarking report allowing you to compare your organization across key areas of interest. Participants find this useful in evaluating their organizational policies against a specific set of parameters. In addition to key organizational demographics and global mobility policy overview, the survey questions follow an overarching framework of the key phases of an international assignment and transfer life cycle with additional relevant topical categories covering immigration compliance, assignment management technology leverage, automation and robotics and program data and analytics insights.

If you would like to participate in the KPMG GAPP Survey and receive a personalized benchmarking report, please click here . To learn more about how KPMG’s Mobility Consulting Services can help you build an operating model that serves and delivers for your organization, please send an email to [email protected] .

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Group Management Report

Research and development.

Forward-looking mobility solutions with brand-defining products and services would be unthinkable without innovation. This makes our research and development work essential for sustainably increasing the value of the Company.

Together with our Group brands, we have launched measures based on our NEW AUTO strategy to link development activities across the Group. At the heart of this new strategy is an efficient, cross-brand development alliance characterized by a close network of our experts, collaboration on an equal footing, an innovative working environment and the pooling of development activities. The aim is to make use of synergies across the Group and act as a role model for the environment, safety and integrity. The development alliance plays a major part in driving the Volkswagen Group’s transformation and helping to make it fit for the future.

In view of this strategic focus, we concentrated in the reporting period on continuing to develop forward-looking mobility solutions, establishing technological expertise to strengthen our competitiveness, expanding our range of products and services and improving the functionality, quality, safety and environmental compatibility of our products and services.

CO 2 fleet emissions

We use a strategic indicator in Europe and the United States to evaluate the effectiveness of our measures to reduce CO 2 emissions when driving:

• CO 2 fleet emissions. The Volkswagen Group’s new passenger car fleet in the EU (excluding Lamborghini and Bentley) (EU27+2) emitted an average of 119 g CO 2 /km (WLTP) 1 in the reporting period in accordance with the statutory measurement bases. The statutory target is 121 g CO 2 /km (WLTP) 1 . The Volkswagen Group thus more than met the EU’s CO 2 fleet target. Under European CO 2 legislation, the Lamborghini and Bentley brands are considered small volume manufacturers with an independent fleet and are assessed accordingly. Both exceeded their individual targets. Bentley and Lamborghini will be integrated into the Volkswagen Group’s new passenger car fleet in the EU from 2022. The European Commission is striving to cut CO 2 emissions by 15 % by the year 2025, which corresponds to a CO 2  target of less than 105 g CO 2 /km for our new passenger car fleet in the EU. A reduction of 55 % has been proposed for 2030, equivalent to a CO 2  target of less than 60 g CO 2 /km. We assume that our new passenger car fleet in the EU will meet this target for 2025 and exceed the target for 2030. The Volkswagen Group’s new light commercial vehicles fleet in the EU emitted an average of 202 g CO 2 /km (WLTP) 1 in the 2021 reporting period according to the statutory measurement bases. The statutory target is 198 g CO 2 /km (WLTP) 1 . Contrary to the original planning, the Group fell just short of this target owing to the semiconductor shortage, which resulted in limited vehicle availability. The CO 2 pool established together with other manufacturers achieved its target. All figures are subject to confirmation of CO 2 data within the scope of official publication by the European Commission. The European Commission is striving to cut CO 2 emissions by 15 % by the year 2025, which corresponds to a CO 2  target of less than 175 g CO 2 /km for our new light commercial vehicles fleet in the EU. A reduction of 50 % has been proposed for 2030, equivalent to a CO 2  target of less than 115 g CO 2 /km. We assume that our new light commercial vehicles fleet in the EU will meet this target for 2025 and exceed the target for 2030. In the United Kingdom and Switzerland/Liechtenstein markets, the Volkswagen Group fleets fell just short of the statutory requirements for the 2021 reporting period. In the United States, the emission pool – comprising the Group brands Volkswagen Passenger Cars, Audi, Lamborghini, Bentley, Porsche and Bugatti – commits to the Green House Gas (GHG) and Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) regulations with which all manufacturers are required to comply in connection with passenger cars and light commercial vehicles, taking into account credits for air conditioning and off cycle credits. Due to the delay in the confirmation by the authorities of model years differing from the calendar year, internal calculations are used to determine the figures for the current and preceding model year. The average GHG CO 2 value (internal data as of September 2021) for the passenger car and light commercial vehicle fleets in model year 2021 is 147 g CO 2 /km (model year 2020: 151 g CO 2 /km). The statutory target is 142 g CO 2 /km (model year 2020: 139 g CO 2 /km). Application of the statutory flexibility offered by GHG and CAFE together with externally acquired credits enabled the Volkswagen Group to comply with the applicable requirements for model year 2021 subject to confirmation by the authorities. The figure given for model year 2020 is subject to confirmation by EPA and CARB. For 2025, we anticipate a CO 2  target in the USA of approximately 110 g CO 2 /km and expect to meet this target. For 2030, we will increase the share of electric vehicles in our new vehicle fleet to significantly more than 40 %, putting us within the target range of the current administration.

CO 2 EMI SSIONS OF THE VOLKSWAGEN GROUP’S EUROPEAN (EU27+2) NEW PASSENGER CAR FLEET

in grams per kilometer (WLTP)

CO 2 EMISSIONS IN VOLKSWAGEN GROUP PASSENGER CARS AND LIGHT COMMERCIAL VEHICLES UNDER GHG STANDARDS IN THE USA

in grams per kilometer for the model year

Fuel and drivetrain strategy

With a view to the legal regulations on emissions, we are currently developing a forward-looking vehicle and drivetrain portfolio: we have set ourselves the objective of increasing drive system efficiency with each new model generation – irrespective of whether it is a combustion engine, a hybrid or a purely electric drive system. The Volkswagen Group closely coordinates technology and product planning with its brands so as to avoid breaches of fleet fuel consumption limits. These would entail substantial excess emissions premiums. Around one in five new Volkswagen Group vehicles worldwide is therefore to have a purely electric drive by the year 2025; depending on market development, this could be over two million electric vehicles a year. As part of our electrification campaign, we aim to offer our customers worldwide around 70 fully battery-electric vehicles by 2030; production of approximately 20 of these models has already started. In addition, a total of around 60 hybrid models are planned by the end of the decade, just over half of which are already in production. By 2030, the Volkswagen Group aims to have electrified its entire model portfolio, from high-volume models to premium vehicles. This will mean offering at least one electric version – battery electric or hybrid vehicles – of each of our passenger car models across all Group brands. To this end, in addition to the Modular Electric Drive Toolkit ( MEB ), we have also developed an all-electric platform for our premium and sports brands – the Premium Platform Electric ( PPE ). Furthermore, we are currently concentrating our energies on designing the Scalable Systems Platform (SSP), the successor platform for our future all-electric vehicles, in the Mechatronics technology initiative within the Group’s new strategy NEW AUTO. The strategic goals of this SSP platform are to further reduce variance by consistently leveraging synergies and thus tapping into considerable potential for cost savings. Audi’s Artemis vehicle project will use key SSP modules for the first time from 2025. As of 2026, Volkswagen will then launch its first model based on the SSP in the volume segment in the shape of the Trinity vehicle project.

To offer sustainable, affordable mobility in the future for as many people around the world as possible, we offer a range of drivetrains with a focus on electrification. From today’s perspective, conventional combustion engines will continue to make up a large share of the drive portfolio in the coming years. In the interest of using resources responsibly, it is therefore essential to further enhance this engine segment and systematically consolidate it for specific markets. Powertrain measures such as significantly more sophisticated exhaust gas purification or mild hybridization of our vehicles, as well as vehicle measures such as optimized aerodynamics or reduced rolling resistance will be necessary to fulfill future emissions standards. We are preparing intensively for this as we develop our product portfolio.

It is more important to us than ever to rigorously pursue our modular approach. We are reducing the number of individual modules so that we can make a large product portfolio economically viable. For example, we aim to reduce the number of versions of conventional combustion engines in the Group in the long term as part of our transformation. This will create capacity for the development and production of new hybrid and electric drives.

Life cycle engineering and recycling

Technological innovation for reducing fuel consumption is not enough on its own to minimize the effect of vehicles on the environment. We consider the environmental impact caused by our products throughout the entire vehicle life cycle and at all stages of the value chain. This includes the manufacturing process with the associated extraction of raw materials, the production of materials, the processes at our suppliers and our own production operations at our sites, the use phase with the resulting vehicle emissions and the necessary supply of fuel and charging current, and ultimately the recycling of the vehicle at the end of its life cycle. We identify the stages of the life cycle at which improvements will have the greatest effect and develop appropriate solutions. We call this life cycle engineering. Recycling, for example, is an important means of reducing environmental impact and conserving resources. We therefore already take the recyclability of the required materials into consideration when developing new vehicles, use high-quality recycled material and avoid pollutants. One of the recommendations for achieving this goal is avoiding substances on the EU REACH Candidate List of Substances of Very High Concern. Under the European Directive on end-of-life vehicles, passenger cars and light commercial vehicles must be 85 % recyclable and 95 % recoverable. Our vehicles registered in Europe comply with these standards.

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Global Assignment Best Practice

Anne morris.

• 3 October 2019

IN THIS SECTION

When planning and preparing for a global assignment, there are numerous factors that have the potential to contribute to its overall success, with benefits both for your business and for the assignee. The following guide looks at best practice for employers when deploying personnel overseas, from the employee experience to the flexibility of different types of global assignment.

The employee experience in global assignments

A good employer will recognise that at the heart of its business are its people. As such, ensuring a positive employee experience for overseas assignees can be crucial the success of a global assignment.

As an employer responsible for sending an employee overseas, you will have a legal duty of care, not to mention a moral responsibility and vested financial interest, to ensure the wellbeing of that individual. In particular, when planning a global assignment, caretaking the health and safety of the overseas assignee should be paramount.

Any assessment of travel risks must be tailored to the nature of the work to be undertaken, the attributes of the employee and any factors specific to the host destination. The importance of researching the country and region in which the assignee will be working, and keeping abreast of any imminent changes, cannot be underestimated here.

Even relatively safe destinations can quickly become high-risk regions due to health, safety, security, political or social reasons, not to mention the possibility of natural disasters, so it is important to stay fully informed of changing risks and to be able to relay such information to assignees working remotely.

It is also important to educate each overseas assignee in advance of their global assignment about the location in which they will be working, not least arranging security briefings and training on hostile environment awareness for those travelling to high-risk destinations, as well as educating all assignees on any legal and cultural differences, even for low-risk destinations.

Preparing assignees for cultural integration can often be key to ensuring not only the safety and security of these individuals, but also their overall wellbeing and happiness, on both a professional and personal basis. This could include, for example, the use of pre-deployment programs such as cross-cultural training and intensive language classes. Any training and classes could also be extended to family members accompanying the employee on their global assignment.

You may also want to consider putting in place a benefit and support program, both prior to departure and throughout the lifecycle of the assignment, from deployment through to repatriation.

As such, by creating a safe and supported working environment from the outset, this can significantly alleviate the risk of failure and help to avoid early repatriation, ensuring the global assignment is a success for everyone involved.

The use of technology in global assignments

When conducting business on an international scale, this can give rise to a number of challenges, not least in sourcing suitable data to make informed decisions, both in advance and during the lifecycle of a global assignment. Here, the use of technology can play a crucial role in guiding your global mobility policies and management decision-making.

In particular, where implemented effectively and used correctly, data and predictive analytics tools can prove to be invaluable in gaining insight into operational costs and overall return on investment, as well as employee placement and key performance indicators.

In particular, analytics tools can be used in the following ways:

• Cost analytics – to establish a cost model for your global assignment
• Workforce analytics – to connect the talent in your recruiting database to the skillset needed for your global assignments
• Assignee identification analytics – to focus on the cost drivers of sending the right assignees to the right location
• Employee retention analytics – to predict which overseas assignees are at risk of early repatriation or attrition and which candidates, and/or global assignments, are at a higher risk of failure
• Exposure analysis – to quantify the various levels of exposure to any penalties associated with non-compliance

In fact, with the benefit of these types of analytics tools, together with other forms of technology, global mobility is becoming far easier to achieve in the digital age, and to do so successfully.

It can significantly lessen many of the legal and administrative pressures when managing a mobile workforce, especially when it comes to tax and immigration compliance in a highly regulated environment. Furthermore, technology can also play an important role in enhancing the individual performance of overseas assignees.

When planning and preparing for a global assignment, although the focus will primarily be on selecting the right assignee for the particular assignment and location in question, including their individual qualifications and capabilities, by offering the employee the right tools to do their job to the best of their ability, technology can help to maximise the prospects of a successful outcome.

Indeed, by investing in technology, an employer can not only maximise the productivity of an overseas assignee, but also monitor their progress and even measure assignee experience.

Further, the use of technology through, for example, mobile devices and secured wireless networks, can be extremely effective in maintaining regular communication with overseas assignees, ensuring that they don’t feel disconnected from the company or work colleagues back home. This can be crucial in avoiding early repatriation and the potential failure of the global assignment overall.

Needless to say, however, it is vital that you keep abreast of technological advancements, from connectivity to up-to-date software, to ensure that your overseas assignees can carry out their work cost effectively and efficiently, and that the use of technology is aligned to your organisational objectives and overall mobility goals.

The importance of return investment in global assignments

For you as the employer, global assignments can equate to profitable expansion into both new and existing markets, significantly boosting the global revenue, as well as the reputation, of your business. Furthermore, by sending existing employees abroad, as opposed to recruiting overseas, this can help to streamline operations and expedite growth.

That said, cost control can play a key role in the commercial viability of a global assignment, not least when factoring in the potentially significant cost of both deployment and repatriation of the overseas assignee.

However, global assignment management is not only about number crunching. It is equally about the potential return on investment in various other ways. In fact, overseas assignments can be an excellent way of developing top talent within your organisation, by offering key individual employees a career pathway to more senior promotion.

In particular, the international experience can help train promising and ambitious individuals for leadership, managerial and executive roles, as well as giving them invaluable insight and new industry knowledge to help develop your business back in the UK.

Further, for the individual employee, on both a professional and personal basis, the benefits of working abroad can be significant, not least in terms of potential career progression, increased salary or compensation, as well as the possibility of an international travel experience for their whole family.

As such, given that the overall success of the global assignment will inevitably include the successful repatriation and retention of your top talent at the end of the assignment, you will need to consider what initiatives to implement to alleviate the risk of losing key employees.

In addition to the promise of career progression and a suitably senior role to come back to, useful initiatives could include the use of competitive relocation and repatriation packages, ensuring that your overseas assignees are happy to repatriate and return home. As previously indicated, this should also include the cost of suitable benefit and support initiatives to ensure the overall wellbeing and happiness of your employees.

Understandably, you may feel cautious about controlling the cost of a global assignment, but this must be balanced against the need to attract and retain talent to ensure the continuity and success of your business in the long-term.

Flexibility in global assignments

When determining the potential success of a global assignment, you will also need to consider the nature and duration of the task to be undertaken and the best way in which this can be achieved, from the use of frequent business travel and short-term assignments to long-term assignments and relocation. There is no one-size-fits-all approach.

Needless to say, each of these different types of global assignment has different benefits and risks, although business travel is likely to prove the most straightforward and cost effective choice in many cases. Here, individual employees can attend conferences and meetings, close a deal, sign new business and network. Indeed, networking can be one of the most lucrative ways to support business growth.

Senior executives and managers can also use extended business trips to undertake various different global assignments, including opening a new office or setting up a new division, without the costs associated with other types of global mobility, and without the same personal and practical challenges of relocating to another country.

In respect of short or long-term assignments, these can be a good way of gaining invaluable insight and industry knowledge to help progress your business back in the UK. The long-term global assignment, in particular, can also be extremely effective in establishing a foothold in strategic and emerging markets. This type of assignment can provide new sales opportunities, new customer bases and significantly increased revenue. It can even enhance your reputation and global influence as a corporate organisation.

However, where you are looking to fill skills gaps or to manage operations overseas, you may want to consider the possibility of permanent relocation, not least because this can often prove to be much more cost effective than the traditional long-term assignment with the associated costs of repatriation. That said, any relocation package will need to include sufficient incentive to attract a suitable candidate to move abroad on a permanent basis.

Key take-aways 

The management of global assignments can be one of the hardest areas for employers and HR experts to master, not least when trying to control costs whilst adapting to the shifting demands of the global business environment. As such, there is a very high failure rate for global assignments.

Further, the consequences of an unsuccessful global assignment can be far-reaching for your business, not only in terms of loss of revenue and wasted expenditure, but the potential loss of key personnel and top global talent from within your organisation.

It is, therefore, imperative that you understand and address the following key global assignment success factors:

• Make a full assessment of any travel risks, tailored to the individual assignee, the specific assignment and the host destination in question, keeping abreast of any changes that may impact on this.
• Educate each overseas assignee in advance of their global assignment about the locations in which they will be working, including but not limited to any safety and security issues, as well as any legal and cultural differences.
• Always ensure the overall wellbeing of your overseas assignees at all times, from deployment through to their return home, as such alleviating the risk of early repatriation. This could be through the provision of cross-cultural training, intensive language classes and/or an ongoing benefit and support program.
• Ensure that you adequately incentivise your overseas assignees so as to avoid losing key employees from within your workforce, for example, through attractive relocation and repatriation packages, as well as a suitably senior role to return home to.
• Utilise data and analytics tools to make informed management decisions in respect of global assignments, from cost control to non-compliance.
• Keep abreast of technological advances that may maximise the productivity of an overseas assignee, or otherwise enhance any profitable business growth.
• Consider the flexibility offered by different types of global assignment, from business trips to permanent relocation, not only with regard to the nature and duration of the task to be undertaken, but also with regard to the personal and professional needs of the prospective candidate who may be undertaking this assignment.

Needless to say, this list is not exhaustive, with a plethora of other factors that may come into play when planning and preparing for a global assignment.

Guidance for HR & employers

For advice and guidance on managing  global assignments,  or any aspect of global mobility programme strategy and implementation, contact us .

Founder and Managing Director Anne Morris is a fully qualified solicitor and trusted adviser to large corporates through to SMEs, providing strategic immigration and global mobility advice to support employers with UK operations to meet their workforce needs through corporate immigration.

She is a recognised by Legal 500 and Chambers as a legal expert and delivers Board-level advice on business migration and compliance risk management as well as overseeing the firm’s development of new client propositions and delivery of cost and time efficient processing of applications.

Anne is an active public speaker, immigration commentator , and immigration policy contributor and regularly hosts training sessions for employers and HR professionals

• Anne Morris https://www.davidsonmorris.com/author/anne/ UK Visa Fees 2024
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About DavidsonMorris

As employer solutions lawyers, DavidsonMorris offers a complete and cost-effective capability to meet employers’ needs across UK immigration and employment law, HR and global mobility .

Led by Anne Morris, one of the UK’s preeminent immigration lawyers, and with rankings in The Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners , we’re a multi-disciplinary team helping organisations to meet their people objectives, while reducing legal risk and nurturing workforce relations.

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Introduction to Quality Management – Week 7 Assignment

VW and Recent CSR Challenges

Leaders are responsible for the vision, mission, and values of an organization, but in the modern global business environments leaders must also absorb the responsibilities of such areas as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and corporate citizenship. In Week 7 we discuss quality management practices that include these elements and practices that performance excellence demand from leadership and organizations. How an organization should be led is as unique as how that organization should be motivated.

Review the article: Case Study:  VW and Recent CSR Challenges

Case Study: VW and Recent CSR Challenges

Quality Management

Mark M. Glenn, MBA, FMI

In 2012, a group of West Virginia University researchers were awarded a grant to study performance testing of clean diesel cars, which included driving them outside of the laboratory. Following the study, the group was to author a paper based on the data for the International Council on Clean Transportation (Lam, 2015). In May, 2014, it was announced that the West Virginia study had uncovered a large fraud being perpetuated on the environmentally friendly public by Volkswagen.

Though the Volkswagen organization had avoided revealing the truth for over a year, Duffer (2015) cited the EPA as saying, “Volkswagen admitted to installing 'defeat devices,' software programmed to switch engines to cleaner test modes during official emissions testing. When the software is off and the vehicles are operating under normal road conditions, the affected models can emit nitrogen oxides (NOx) from 10 to 40 times more than the legal limit.”

Duffer continues: “The benefit for Volkswagen to letting the cars run dirty was improved fuel economy and better performance. The scandal is worldwide. VW estimated on Tuesday that about 11 million diesel vehicles have ‘irregularities' that need correcting."

VW said in a statement, "A noticeable deviation between bench test results and actual road use was established solely for this type of engine." The automaker has set aside $7.3 billion in the third quarter to cover the costs for the issue (Duffer, 2015). The VW CEO, Martin Winterkorn, has resigned his position (Lam, 2015).

According to Davenport and Ewing (2015), VW had been struggling to gain a competitive advantage in the U. S. automobile markets. Since the EPA investigation, VW’s sales dropped even farther. It is unlikely to recover anytime soon. “This is several steps beyond the violations that we’ve seen from other auto companies,” said Tyson Slocum, director of the energy program at Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group. “They appear to have designed a system with the intention to mislead consumers and the government. If that’s proven true, it’s remarkable and outrageous. It would merit a heck of a lot more than just a recall and a fine. We would see criminal prosecution” (Davenport et al., 2015).

The new CEO, Matthias Mueller, warned stakeholders of massive cutbacks and that the company faces serious financial challenges from the scandal. While some cars could be fixed by replacing software, others would require mechanical fixes (Finley, 2015).

Davenport, C.; Ewing, J. (2015). VW Is Said to Cheat on Diesel Emissions; U.S. to Order Big Recall.  The New York Times.  Retrieved, March 27, 2016, from: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/19/business/volkswagen-is-ordered-to-recall-nearly-500000-vehicles-over-emissions-software.html?_r=0

Duffer, R. (2015). Volkswagen diesel scandal: What you need to know.  Chicago Tribune.  Retrieved, March 27, 2016, from: http://www.chicagotribune.com/classified/automotive/ct-volkswagen-diesel-scandal-faq-20150921-story.html

Finley, K. (2015). Volkswagen CEO Warns Employees of Massive Cutbacks.  Wired Magazine.  Retrieved, March 30, 2016 from: http://www.wired.com/2015/10/volkswagen-cutbacks/

Lam, B. (2015). The Academic Paper That Broke the Volkswagen Scandal.  The Atlantic.  Retrieved, March 27, 2016, from:  http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/09/volkswagen-scandal-cheating-emission-virginia-epa/407425/#about-the-authors

Through research from sources provided in the course and from academic and scholarly resources outside of the course, evaluate and discuss the following elements:

·          Analyze how the recent leadership CSR challenges of Volkswagen, impact all organizational stakeholders.

·          As a leader, create new quality management strategies and stakeholder engagement practices you would initiate at VW.

·          Through research sources, evaluate how leadership in companies have recovered from quality control issues and what recommendations for the future leadership of VW you would make.

 The paper should contain the following APA formatted elements:

1.     Title Page

2.     Introduction

3.     Body of the essay (Your researched response)

4.     Conclusion

5.     References Section

The requirements below must be met for your paper to be accepted and graded:

1.     Write a response between 750 – 1000 words for the body of the essay (The title page, abstract, conclusion and References section are not counted toward the word requirement.) (approximately 4-6 pages) using Microsoft Word in APA style.

2.     Address all three elements fully.

3.     Use font size 12 and 1” margins.

4.     Use at least three references from outside the course material (You may use the academic resources included in the Week 8 Bibliography.) one reference must be from EBSCOhost. The course textbook and lectures can be used, but are not counted toward the five reference requirement.

5.     References must come from sources such as, academic and scholarly journals and essays found in EBSCOhost, CNN, online newspapers such as, The Wall Street Journal, government websites, etc. Sources such as, Wikis, Yahoo Answers,  eHow , blogs, etc. are not acceptable for academic writing.

6.     Cite all reference material (data, dates, graphs, quotes, paraphrased words, values, etc.) in the paper and list on a reference page in APA style. Provide citations everywhere information from the sources is used for foundational support and for validation of opinions.

7.     Use the third person narrative and avoid the use of the first- and second-person narrative and terms such as; I, me, myself, you, your, yourself, we or us (or related form such as let’s (let us) or we’ll, we’ve (we will / we have) among others). This will prevent the author or other parties from becoming the subject matter and will maintain the focus of the paper on the central theme and subject matter found in the elements.

8.     Be informational and avoid being conversational.

A detailed explanation of how to cite a source using APA can be found here ( Purdue Owl APA Citation Instructions )

View your assignment rubric .

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