Official Review: Leadership Lessons from the Volkswagen S...

[Nhien Vu]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Leadership Lessons from the Volkswagen Saga" by Steven Howard.]

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2 out of 4 stars

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This is a story about the betrayal of a German automotive empire. Volkswagen, whose brand was originally built on trust and integrity, has cruelly turned its back on its customers and dumped thousands of liter of nitrogen oxide, a dangerous chemical that causes many respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, into the atmosphere for more than a decade.

Back in 2015, Volkswagen was still hailed as one of the “greenest” car brands in the world by trustworthy institutions. The charade abruptly came to an end when the United States Environmental Protection Agency issued a Notice of Violation of the Clean Air Act on September 18th. After further investigations, it was proven that there was an illegal device helping Volkswagen’s products cheat in the emissions tests. This device was used in 11 million vehicles worldwide, including 8.5 million in Europe and 480,000 in the U.S. Since then, the company has been involved in a series of bitter denials and blatant lies in order to cover up the scandal and avoid responsibilities. Leadership Lessons from the Volkswagen Saga examines how this disastrous situation came to light and what those in leadership positions should learn from it.

The book explores many facets of the Volkswagen scandal: what happened, its aftermath, and the valuable lessons it offers. The author leaves no stone unturned as he helps us look into the brand’s history, management style, corporate culture, leadership decisions, and crisis communications to figure out the roots of the problem. The findings are comprehensible, concrete, and enlightening.

I applaud the author’s effort in researching and collecting useful information. He provides three different timelines, specific statistics, quotes from professionals, survey results, rankings, and references to other businesses’ malfeasance. Even if you start the book with no knowledge of the scandal, you will gain expert understanding after finishing it. Therefore, Steven Howard earns a solid A for his sheer passion and dedication to the project.

However, the book has two major problems.

The first one concerns the nature of the book. It was titled Leadership Lessons from the Volkswagen Saga, thereby putting the spotlight on the lessons part. However, that only comprises about twenty percent of the whole book, which is a bad ratio. Besides the imbalance in quantity, the quality aspect also poses some questions. While the exposé part contains in-depth information, the lessons part stays on the general, idealistic, and feel-good sides without proposing practical and detailed solutions. Interestingly, I find that the most clever and insightful suggestions come from citations from outside sources, not from the author himself.

The other downside of the book is how dull and confusing it is, which results from the way information is presented and delivered. The author has the tendency to shove a lot of random tidbits into a complex sentence, making it slower for readers to differentiate which detail is actually essential and which one is just supplementary. I strongly suggest some simple styling changes, such as italicizing or emboldening the main points while using footnotes for unimportant ones. Besides, the book’s tone is very monotonous. Occasionally, I had flashbacks of my middle-aged college lecturer droning on about financial management while I struggled to open my eyes. It is sometimes better to opt for visual alternatives when communicating an idea. For example, instead of spelling out how the stock price has changed before and after the scandal, you could use a line graph to show the trend. Words alone can be sufficient if the author has a distinctive and captivating writing style, something that this book’s author does, um, not have.

The book has many editing errors. Overall, I rate it 2 out of 4 stars since it is a beneficial yet tiring read. Obviously, Leadership Lessons from the Volkswagen Saga will satisfy those interested in the Volkswagen scandal and want to learn more about its origins and impact. But besides that, I find it hard to pinpoint the general target of the book. Business novices would lose interest soon after the initial chunks of statistics, but long-time leaders would find this book offering clichéd advice. Nonetheless, business students should give it a try to learn about a typical scandal and core values of a leader. People who dread dry details should definitely avoid this.

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Leadership Lessons from the Volkswagen Saga
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Like SpencerVo's review? Post a comment saying so!

[kandscreeley]

I work for a law firm that was involved in suing Volkswagen on behalf of the car owners, so I understand this more than most probably. I never bought Volkswagen before, and I definitely wouldn't now. However, I understand where you are coming from on the leadership part of this. I would think that would be a big part of the book; if it isn't, they should have changed the title. Thanks.

[Manang Muyang]

What a disastrous end for this erstwhile respected company! It may be a cliche, but crime truly does not pay. Or maybe crime pays a lot; in this case, Volkswagen has already shelled out USD25 billion.

This is another impressive review, SpencerVo! I've had my share of boring speakers, in and out of school.