The Volkswagen emissions scandal didn’t happen overnight. It evolved inside silos.
Engineering teams focused on performance. Compliance teams focused on documentation. Leadership focused on aggressive market targets. What was missing was meaningful communication between these groups.
As pressure mounted to meet emissions standards without sacrificing power, unethical solutions emerged—largely unchecked. Why? Because no single team felt responsible for questioning the whole system.
This is what happens when internal communication is vertical but not horizontal.
Information moved up and down within departments, but rarely across them. Ethical concerns were treated as technical challenges. Technical decisions escaped ethical scrutiny.
Volkswagen’s case demonstrates how organizational silos can normalize misconduct.
For internal communicators, the lesson is not about more messages—but better integration:
- Cross-functional communication must be intentional
- Compliance cannot be a side conversation
- Leaders must ask questions that cut across silos
When teams speak different languages, problems hide in translation gaps. Internal communication’s role is to close those gaps—before regulators, journalists, or courts do it for you.