Johnson and Johnson Tylenol case study Answers
Crisis needn’t strike a company solely because of its own neglect or disaster. Sometimes, situations emerge where the company can’t be blamed—but the company realizes quickly that it’ll get much blame if it fumbles the ball in its crisis-response. Show
Ever since cyanide-laced Extra-Strength Tylenol killed seven people in Chicago in 1982, corporate boards and business school students have studied the response of Johnson & Johnson (J&J,) Tylenol’s manufacturer, to learn how to handle crises. The culprits are still unknown almost 40 years later. Successful Crisis Management: Full Responsibility, Proactive StanceIn 1982, Tylenol commanded 35 percent of the over-the-counter analgesic market in America. This over-the-counter painkiller was the drugmaker’s best-selling product, and it represented nearly 17 percent of J&J’s profits. When seven people died from consuming the tainted drug, Time magazine wrote of the tragedy’s victims,
A panic ensued about how widespread the contamination may be. Moreover, Americans started to question the safety of over-the-counter medications. Advertising guru Jerry Della Femina declared Tylenol dead:
The ‘Grand-Daddy’ of Good Crisis Response
Business Principles Should Hold True in Good Times and BadWhen the second outbreak of poisoning occurred four years after the first, Burke went on national television to declare that J&J would only offer Tylenol in caplets, which could not be pulled apart and resealed without consumers knowing about it.Burke received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2000. He was named one of history’s ten most outstanding CEOs by Fortune magazine in 2003. In Lasting Leadership: What You Can Learn from the Top 25 Business People of Our Times (2004,) Burke emphasized,
Idea for Impact: A Crisis Makes a LeaderThe first few days after any disaster or crisis can be a make-or-break time for a company’s and its leaders’ reputation. The urgency experienced during a crisis often gives leaders the go-ahead to enact change faster than ever before. Admittedly, the Tylenol case study is more clear-cut than most crises because, from the get-go, it is clearly evident that criminals, not Johnson & Johnson, were responsible for the poisoning and the withdrawal of Tylenol from stores was comparatively easier to execute. How did Johnson and Johnson respond to the Tylenol Crisis?Johnson & Johnson used the media to issue a national alert to tell the public not to use the Tylenol product. In the first week of the crisis Johnson & Johnson established a 1-800 hot line for consumers to call. The company used the 1-800 number to respond to inquires from customers concerning safety of Tylenol.
Did the Tylenol murders ever get solved?Three key suspects appeared. One, James Lewis, spent 13 years in prison for a conviction related to the crime. But no one has ever been charged for the poisoning murders themselves.
What changes were made by Johnson and Johnson to its Tylenol brand to prevent the same incident from happening?Even though Tylenol products were generating approximately 17% of Johnson & Johnson's annual income, the company acted quickly and decisively to remedy the situation. It removed the products from shelves, offering refunds and safer tablets as replacements, free of charge.
What happened in the Tylenol cases of 1982?Investigators and toxicologists quickly identified the culprit: tampered capsules of Extra-Strength Tylenol. Someone had opened the capsules and replaced the pain-relieving medicine with deadly doses of potassium cyanide. One of the most common over-the-counter pain relievers had been turned into a murder weapon.
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