How Johnson & Johnson Should Act if Faced with Public Safety Issue in 2019

How Johnson & Johnson Should Act if Faced with Public Safety Issue in 2019
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Johnson & Johnson found itself with a major problem in the fall of 1982. However, the management of Johnson & Johnson acted swiftly and managed to salvage the situation. At the time, Tylenol, Johnson & Johnson’s prime product was “the nation’s leading painkiller, with a market share greater than the next four top painkillers combined” (Latson, 2014). The background of the story was that a person or people decided to inject cyanide into Tylenol capsules, and this led to the death of seven people. Public outrage would have been expected, but the management at Johnson & Johnson acted fast, and in the end, the company came out looking like victims of the heinous act as well. Johnson & Johnson had to recall all of its products, “a move that cost Johnson & Johnson millions of dollars” (Latson, 2014). This move sent a message to the media and the world that public safety comes first for Johnson & Johnson. However, this happened in 1982, and this article seeks to showcase or offer insight into how Johnson & Johnson should act if faced with the same issue in 2019.
First of all, several issues should capture one’s attention on the issue at hand. One of them is having the media get wind of the heinous act before Johnson & Johnson. Johnson & Johnson is a big company with enough resources to have people connect with customers and gather stories about their product and its effectiveness. When customers complain, Johnson & Johnson should be among the entities to capture this information first. If a story is already in the media then it is already in the public domain. In 2019, if a story has made its way to the media, it is already too late to try and salvage the situation because chances are that it has already been circulated on social media and product boycotts are easily achievable. So, Johnson & Johnson needs to make sure it is ahead of everyone else and that it has a team specifically tasked with being closer to the consumers and gathering any damning information about Tylenol or any of their products. Having such organization will not only help to heighten confidence in Johnson & Johnson’s response but will help protect the company’s reputation. However, there is a challenge to this solution. Currently, everyone is a journalist and has access to means of disseminating information to the world. So, it will be a major problem for Johnson & Johnson to stay up-to-date and work to prevent public outrage.
Secondly, recalling the products should happen fast. When it comes to pharmaceutical companies...