Five carmakers are involved in a case at the High Court in London over claims that they cheated on emissions tests. A decade ago, the “dieselgate” scandal broke, eventually forcing Volkswagen to pay billions of euros in fines and settlements. These carmakers (Mercedes, Ford, Peugeot/Citroën, Renault and Nissan) have all faced accusations that selling cars was more important to them than their environmental responsibilities. They all deny the allegations.
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…When aspiring managers or leaders watch the alleged suspension of ethics, responsibility and sustainability, they learn a destructive lesson. Values might come to be viewed as optional add-ons.
These leaders risk grooming a new generation of “crisis relativists”, who believe that the rules of ethical and sustainable conduct can be temporarily waived in times of crisis.
If tomorrow’s CEOs, managers and policymakers come to believe that social and environmental responsibility is discretionary, societies risk losing hard-won gains. This could take the form of labor rights, fair supply chains, environmental stewardship or social fairness. Any or all can be rolled back whenever there is an economic downturn or geopolitical shock.
But what does this have to do with carmakers? More than it may at first seem. The deeper issue is what can be called crisis relativism: the belief that ethical and sustainability commitments can be softened, deferred or quietly abandoned when organizations feel under pressure…
