Business Crisis: A Case Study on Tylenol

In 1982, Tylenol drug faced a significant crisis where several deaths were reported after the intake of the medication as a result of someone tampering with the outlet drugs and replacing the Tylenol Extra-Strength capsules with cyanide-laced capsules, resealing them and then later depositing them into shelves of many pharmacies around Chicago area (Booth 170).

Dealing with Such a Crisis

Yes, it was the right thing for James Burke to do to deal with the crisis. James Burke’s actions restored the company’s public image and controlled the magnitude effect of the crisis. Incomparably, the current business environment is characterized by an advancing modern day communication technology that would take a few hours to magnify such a crisis to uncontrollable levels (Fearn-Banks 213).

I think in today’s modern day society, companies that deal with sensitive products on humans should be a step ahead to help deal with such a crisis. I think the companies should be prepared for crisis management in case they happen to maintain the public image and the competing market environment. Crisis management can be realized through the creation of a customer care department which deals with customer’s reviews and satisfaction. The department should have an established toll-free hotline for consumers to report on failure cases which will give the company an upper hand on emergency planning (Fearn-Banks 213).

Borrowing the ideology from the Tylenol case approach, my approach on such case would be slightly modified to incorporate the latest advancements in the business environment such as insurance coverage for affected family/patients (Booth 170). Establishing a compensation policy would improve the customer’s confidence in the company’s products showing that the firm is ready to responsibilities for such failures instead of its interests in making profits. Notably, product review task would be prudent to give crisis findings and recommendations in such situations (Fearn-Banks 213).

Conclusion

Using the media as a strategy to help solve a business crisis is one of the best approaches. The media would help improve public relations and image of the company. In case of a product crisis, it would be cautious if the business acted while having public interest as the principal aspect.

Works Cited

Booth, Simon A. Crisis management strategy: Competition and change in modern enterprises. Routledge, 2015. 170

Fearn-Banks, Kathleen. Crisis communications: A casebook approach. Routledge, 2016. 213