Exploring Volkswagen’s CSR Outcomes by Attribution
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Abstract
Impression management involves actions performed by organisations to influence theperceptions of others, and one strategy within this field is attribution. The use of attribution isby assigning positive outcomes to the organisation, whilst negative outcomes to the externalenvironment. This thesis conducts a case study to analyse how Volkswagen used attributionin the aftermath of the company’s emission scandal in the period 2015-2022. We usedqualitative content analysis to answer this, constructing two research questions: (1)Volkswagen’s attribution of CSR outcomes in the annual and sustainability reports from 2015to 2022, and (2) Volkswagen’s evolution of attribution in relation to CSR outcomes in thesereports. The research utilised an analytical framework to categorise CSR results into fourdistinct groups: internal-positive, internal-negative, external-positive, and external-negativeattributions. Subsequently, we categorised these attributions into economic, legal, ethical, andphilanthropic domains by using Carroll's CSR pyramid. In order to address the researchinquiries, we analysed a combined total of 14 company documents, consisting of 8 annualreports and 6 sustainability reports. Our findings for the first research question suggest thatVolkswagen attributes its CSR outcomes to both internal improvements and shortcomings, aswell as external factors such as sustainable practices and market disruptions. We constructedthree time periods to answer the second research question: “Initial Phase (2015–2016)”,“Transition Phase (2017–2019)”, and “New Challenges Arise (2020–2022)”. We criticallydiscuss our findings. Finally, we present the thesis's conclusion, its theoretical and practicalimplications, and its limitations.