VW’s board needed more outsiders. (2015)

“Volkswagen’s ability to manage the fallout from its emissions crisis was and remains deeply compromised by the absence of a strong leadership structure and by not having an outsider as chair.

Ludo van der Heyden, INSEAD Chaired Professor in Corporate Governance
Harvard Business Review, 17 November 2015.

“Companies that separate the roles of CEO and chairman and appoint strong outsiders to the latter position … are more likely to benefit from strong governance.

“…Take the case of BP. In managing the fallout from BP’s Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster in 2010, company Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg had to take over from CEO Tony Hayward, whose gaffes and public blaming of partners had only exacerbated the crisis… Being newly appointed, Svanberg could afford to be less defensive of BP’s past than Hayward and be more focused on moving forward.

“In contrast, Volkswagen’s ability to manage the fallout from its emissions crisis was and remains deeply compromised by the absence of a strong leadership structure and by not having an outsider as chair.”

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