Corporate social irresponsibility and stakeholder ecosystems: The case of Volkswagen Dieselgate scandal

The Volkswagen emissions cheating scandal, known as ``Dieselgate,'' demonstrates that businesses can safeguard corporate social responsibility objectives and prevent or repair damage from corporate social irresponsibility by involving the stakeholder ecosystem in positive value co-creation. There is a lack of strategic management research offering a systematic approach to different stakeholders and their varied roles in responding to companies' corporate social irresponsibility. We adopt the theoretical lenses of stakeholder ecosystems and stakeholder value co-creation to re-examine Volkswagen's Dieselgate scandal to delineate the complex and evolving interactions among concerned stakeholders, which can shed light on the ongoing debate and research on brand management, corporate reputation, trust, sustainability, and sustainable mobility.