Johnson & Johnson Essay Example for Free

Johnson Johnson Essay The situation of Johnson and Johnson ethics came about in October 1982, Tylenol, a leading pain killer in medicine in the United States of America. At that particular time the company faced a tremendous crisis of seven persons reported dead in Chicago after taking the extra strength Tylenol capsules. After wards it was reported that the an unknown person suspects put 65 milligram strength of deadly cyanide into the Tylenol capsules, 10000 more than that what is required to kill a human being. It was the most important issue of this case. (Wolnik, 1984). This particular situation occurred at the time the product reached the shelves. The medicines are removed from the shelves infected with deadly strength cyanide and exactly kept in the same shelves, so that no one can able to understand. The whole thing went wrong from there itself . It badly affected the company because Tylenol controlled 37% of its share with revenue of about $1. 2 million. Immediately after this cyanide poisonings Tylenol market share went down to seven percent. (Fearn-Banks, 2007) The three ethical important issues that the company has taken is that of (a) had to make a decision to create an awareness by public announcement about the consumption of the product. Also the Johnson and Johnson company was faced with the dilemma of the best way to deal with the problem without destroying the reputation of the company and its most profitable product. The very important decision was taken by the company is that they a step of protecting the people first, and (B) second, McNeil consumer products, as subsidiary of Johnson and Johnson immediately conducted a product recall from the entire country which amounted to about a loss of $100 million dollars and 31 million bottles . Also they have halted all the advertisement of the product. But it was sure that the Johnson and Johnson company was not responsible for the tampering of the product they assumed responsibility by ensuring public safety first and recalled all of their capsules from the market. (c) In fact, in February of 1986, when a woman was reported dead from cyanide poisoning in Tylenol capsules, Johnson Johnson permanently removed all of the capsules from the market. Based on the ethical (fair) issues, what are the principal realistic (sensible) options available to the decision makers? The principal realistic options available to the decision makers is to re- introduce the product into the market by applying the ideas that are listed below, First, the product was removed from the market and the Johnson and Johnson company had to come up with a campaign to re introduce the product and bring back the confidence back to the consumers and as well as to the doctors. Second, Tylenol products were re-introduced containing a triple-seal tamper resistant packaging. It became the first company to comply with the Food and Drug Administration mandate of tamper-resistant packaging. Furthermore, they promoted caplets, which are more resistant to tampering. Third, In order to motivate consumers to buy the product, they offered a $2. 50 off coupon on the purchase of their product. They were available in the newspapers as well as by calling a toll-free number. Fourth, to recover loss stock from the crisis, Johnson Johnson made a new pricing program that gave consumers up to 25% off the purchase of the product. (Mitchell 1989). Fifth, Over 2250 sales people made presentations for the medical community to restore confidence on the product. (Fearn-Banks, 2007) Finally the considered judgment that has taken by the Tylenol Company is the best because it has the reason Tylenol reacted so quickly and in such a positive manner to the crisis stems from the companys mission statement. On the companys credo written in the mid-1940s by Robert Wood Johnson, he stated that the companys responsibilities were to the consumers and medical professionals using its products, employees, the communities where its people work and live, and its stockholders. Therefore, it was essential to maintain the safety of its publics to maintain the company alive. Johnson Johnsons responsibility to its publics first proved to be its most efficient public relations tool. It was the key to the brands survival. (Wolnik, 1984) In my opinion the ethical priorities and the right commitments of the organization are discussed below: 1. A system has to prepare that will allow to respond to the emergency- Although emergencies are unexpected by nature, and one can make a list of the predicted problems and implement a plan to possibly deal with them. For example, a good idea is to hold a brainstorming session with influential members of the organization to identify events that might bring unfavorable publicity. 2. A policy has to develop by each company that they should have a set of policies or guidelines to deal with emergencies. When asked by the media what the companys policies are about a certain situation, your spokesperson should be able to answer firmly. This assures the public that the companys employees are reliable and knowledgeable. 3. It is always necessary to create a crisis management team that will assign certain individuals to be fully knowledgeable about the companys policies and who are efficient in problem solving to deal with emergencies. The right commitment will be to appoint a team leader, a spokesperson to deal with the media, team members to deal with the victims and emergency officials, and others to guide the staff and volunteers. 4. To assemble and to organize resources one should make sure to have up-to-date information to be able to react immediately without having to do extensive research. The resources include: lists of contacts for team members, volunteers, staff, as well as emergency officials such as police, hospitals and the fire department. (Baum, 1996) 5. TO analyze the situation and gather all the facts the safety and the security have been restored, to gather the information of the incident and begin thinking of a solution to the problem. It is not necessary to blow the problem out of proportion before gathering all the facts. 6. It is required to assign the team member to personally and kindly contact the families of those involved to inform them about the situation. 7. Communicate with the media: The only way for your affected publics to be informed is by watching or listening to the media. Therefore, it is your duty to inform the media outlets as soon as possible about the situation. The above few points according to me are the right choice to boost the right commitment of the organization. References: Baum, Neil Zablocki, Elaine; 1996; Take Charge of Your Medical Practice Before Someone Else Does it for You ; Jones Bartlett Fearn-Banks, Kathleen; 2007; Crisis Communications: A Casebook Approach; Routledge Wolnik KA, Fricke FL, Bonnin E, Gaston CM, Satzger RD. 1984. The Tylenol tampering incidenttracing the source. Anal Chem; 56:466A-8A, 470A, 474A.