New Work and Collaborative Cheating – Lessons from the VW Emission Scandal

Abstract

New Work culture calls organizational hierarchies into question and emphasizes the creating of a purpose-driven economy where workers come together, bettering our society and jointly pursuing deeper meanings of their work. This vision stands in stark contrast to “Old Work” culture, which emphasizes such things as a bottom-line mentality and prioritizes short-term increases in financial outcome (e.g., stock prices) above the concerns of other stakeholders. We see much merit to this vision and these work arrangements can serve deeper psychological and social needs. In this chapter we shall highlight a provocative case of an organization that, for a significant period of time, can be characterized by the old work culture— Volkswagen (VW)—and use a recent emissions scandal to highlight lessons that New Work managers should consider if they are to apply New Work philosophy thoughtfully. We highlight the VW emissions scandal because, although New Work emphasizes such outcomes as strong identification and increased collaboration, the scandal reveals a dark side to these phenomena that managers should be explicit about managing.