CRISIS MANAGEMENT IS A TECHNIQUE OR A STRATEGY THAT HELPS AN ORGANIZATION TO DEAL WITH ANY SUDDEN, NEGATIVE OR UNPREDICTABLE EVENT. SUCH UNFORESEEN EVENTS ARE POTENTIAL RISKS FOR ANY COMPANY.

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Crisis management is a technique or a strategy that helps an organization to deal with any
sudden, negative or unpredictable event. Such unforeseen events are potential risks for
any
company. “A crisis requires immediate attention and decisions should be made quickly in
order
to limit damages to a company” (Baker, 2008). One such exemplar of superb ethical
behavior
happened in year 1982 with company Johnson & Johnson (J&J) wherein Tylenol
Cyanide
poisoning resulted in the deaths of seven people; this incident made the company a hero
overnight. J&J immediately recalled all Tylenol capsules in the country and provided
free
products in tamper-proof packaging. “Due to the swift action taken by the company, the
loss for
stakeholders was minimized and the brand recovered and flourished” (Rehak, 2002).
During any crisis there should be clarity of roles and responsibilities amongst
management. Moreover, quick decisions have to be made in order to reduce the damage.
There
are different types of crisis that an organization could potentially face such as:
technological,
natural disaster, terrorist attack, and workplace violence, to name a few. During such
crisis,
leadership is very critical. “A good leader will be able to reconstruct its brand; having a
reliable
Public Relations team plays a huge role” (Veil, 2011). Building a trustworthy environment,
making rapid and ethical decisions, and reforming an organization are key characteristics
of a
good leader.
Introduction
In 1982, an individual laced the Tylenol capsules with Cyanide, causing seven deaths and
panic ensued across the nation. The world was unsure how many capsules had been
contaminated with this poisonous substance. At that time, “Tylenol used to dominate the
United
States as a counter analgesic medicine market with 35 % hold” (Latson, 2014). Due to the

2. incident, the share of the company fell by $1 billion. “The company acted quickly and
recalled
its entire Tylenol product from every outlet” (Rehak, 2002); not just from the state where it
had
been tampered with but across the country. It issued a national warning advising the
public not to
take Tylenol. The company also started a hotline for customers call in 24/7. Moreover, the
company re-established the product by developing a tamper-proof packaging so that such
an
incident could be avoided in the future. The company suffered huge losses including:
money,
shares and production (destroying all Tylenol as a result of the recall) to name a few.
However,
even after such a tragic phase, the company won praise for its quick and ethical actions.
Johnson
& Johnson developed good publicity following the crisis. “Within few months, the
company had
recovered 70% of its market share for the drug” (Baker, 2008).
The primary reason that Johnson & Johnson was able to protect its brand was
because the
company acted quickly and remained transparent about what happened instead of hiding
or
burying it. Also, measures were taken in all aspects to overcome the crisis though they
incurred
costs for the product that was destroyed. They were ready to bear it in the name of
consumer
safety. Because of this, they were able to establish and maintain trust amongst its
consumers.
According to TIME’s 1982 report, “FDA officials assumed that the killer bought Extra
Strength Tylenol capsules, injected cyanide into the capsules, re-sealed the bottle and
placed it
back on the shelves of several grocery stores” (Rehak, 2002). Illinois’ Attorney General
suspects
that this act was done by an employee of Tylenol’s factory line. One victim, 27 year old
Adam
Janus, took a Tylenol for chest pain and died within hours. His young brother and
sister-in-law
were also killed after taking pills from the same bottle.
The case of Tylenol became a model of effective corporate crisis management. “The
Chairman of Johnson & Johnson was admired greatly for his ethical decision-making
by pulling
the Tylenol capsules off the market” (Rehak, 2002). He was also praised for his
forthrightness in
dealing with the media. Johnson & Johnson has become a leading company today
for its
consumer products such as baby shampoos. It has become a pharmaceutical
powerhouse.

3. Strategy Used by Johnson & Johnson and Role of Media
There were many people who thought that Tylenol would never sell again. In reality,
Tylenol is the highest selling drug in the country. Moreover, it took very little time for
Tylenol to
bounce back into the market.
“This crisis was considered one of the best handled in the history of public relations”
(Baker, 2008). The first phase was related to the handling of the crisis; and the second
was the
comeback of the drug. Johnson & Johnson’s management ensured public safety
first, instead of
focusing on the company’s profits and losses. This was unusual for a large company
facing such
crisis to think about public safety. In many similar cases, companies worry about their
profits,
which leads to more damage to its reputation. One such example of a suffering brand that
was
attacked harshly by the media is Source Perrier, where people were drinking
contaminated water
contaminated with Benzene. The company recalled only a limited stock claiming that the
contamination was an isolated incident. However, when Benzene was found in water
bottles in
Europe, they were highly criticized by the media for low integrity and disregarding public
safety.
As a result, the brand suffered tremendously. Johnson & Johnson received positive
coverage for
the way they handled their crisis, whereas Source Perrier received negative coverage.
“Johnson & Johnson has effectively demonstrated how a major business ought to
handle
a disaster” (Latson, 2014). The article stated that, “This is no Three Mile Island accident in
which the company's response did more damage than the original incident” (Latson,
2014). The
Washington Post cited many incidents where public relations programs in large
companies failed
in crisis situations. They applauded Johnson & Johnson for being honest with the
public.
The Kansas City Times published an article on November 12, 1982, by Rick Atkinson,
that was comprised of interviews with top executives at Johnson & Johnson shortly
after the
Tylenol crisis. James E. Burke, Chairman of the Board at the time of the incident, stated
that the
poisonings put everyone at Johnson & Johnson into shock. He also stated that some
of the initial
public relations related decisions pertaining to this case were very easy to make.
Media framing research suggests that “the valence of media coverage has the potential to
affect people’s perceptions of an organization in crisis”. Additionally, the public’s
perceptions of
an event or object can vary depending on whether or not the publicity is negative.

4. The media has a choice whether or not to relay any information that an organization is
sharing and they also have the liberty to communicate their ideas and opinions regardless
of the
harmful reputation that may arise from the comments. Contrarily, news media also rely on
information generators, such as public relations practitioners, to supply facts and other
news
content. “The information subsidy includes news and facts that practitioners offer to help
journalists supplement their articles” (Veil, 2011). Journalists find that it is cost effective
to rely
on organizations for information because they were not required to spend time and effort
to
gather information, which allows them to use their own resources less often and more
strategically. When unexpected issues arise within an organization, oftentimes the
problems can
be resolved without them becoming a crisis. An organization must determine if an event is
truly a
crisis based on factors such as effects on stakeholders, the bottom line and safety. The
news
media acts as an information gatekeeper by determining what information is worthy of
space in
the outlet, and what the public will deem as newsworthy. Additionally, “news media serve
in a
watchdog capacity to help keep the public abreast of information that is deemed
important”
(Simola, 2005). An organization in crisis must use strategic communication to protect the
valuable asset of their reputation. But they also must provide the information the public
needs to
take action if they are affected by the crisis. J&J’s original tampering in 1982 should
be
categorized in the victim cluster because J&J and was not at fault for what occurred.
“Organizations employ three different crisis responses: 1) instructing information, 2)
adjusting information and 3) internalizing information” (Simola, 2005). Internalizing
information
is also referred to as reputation management strategies. Instructing information tells
people how
to protect themselves physically and financially during a crisis. It also instructs the
business
community how to act regarding normal business operations. “Adjusting information
helps
people cope psychologically with the crisis and begins to explain what is being done to
rectify
the situation and prevent it from recurring” (Simola, 2005). Instructing and adjusting
information
should be at the core of any crisis response and that no reputation management concerns
should
be addressed before providing these information-giving strategies. These are important in
the

5. direct aftermath of a crisis because people are in the information seeking stage. It is
beneficial
for the organization “to provide information regarding the crisis to reassure the public
that the
organization is in control of the situation” (St. John III & Pearson, 2016). Johnson
& Johnson
played smart and followed all of these strategies, therefore, won the hearts of people even
during
a crisis.
Conclusion
“Johnson & Johnson (J&J) has been viewed as a role model by many
organizations for its
successful handling of the 1982 crisis involving Cyanide-laced Tylenol capsules that
resulted in
seven deaths” (Latson, 2014). The public relations community applauded J&J for a
swift
response and promptly implementing actions to prevent a similar crisis from occurring in
the
future. Strategies used by the company in order to overcome any crisis include:
instructing
information, adjusting information and internalizing information. Moreover, “the role of
media
and its reports also play an important role in creating a positive and negative image of a
brand”
(St. John III & Pearson, 2016). This crisis of Johnson & Johnson is considered a
great model of
corporate public relations.
Crisis management is aimed at better understanding how disasters occur and what
management can do to mitigate their consequences. Most authors in the field of crisis
management agree that there is no one best way to prepare for crisis. Disaster can strike
at any
time and in many forms. And consumers have clearly responded to many corporate
disasters. The
string of Cyanide-laced Tylenol capsules made some wonder if Johnson & Johnson
could ever
recover. “Less than ten years later, the company's sales actually exceeded those prior to
the
crisis” (Baker, 2008).
[Part 1B]
Annotated Bibliography
Baker, M. (2008). “Johnson & Johnson and Tylenol: Crisis management case study.”
Mallenbaker.net. Retrieved from
http://mallenbaker.net/article/clear-reflection/johnsonjohnson-and-tylenol-crisis-managem
ent-case-study
The article presents a leadership and organizational management study about the 1982

6. Tylenol crisis involving American consumer health company Johnson & Johnson.
This
article also aims to provide insights into the what, why, and how of recognizing corporate
brand crisis through a synthesis of organizational experiences with threats to brand
reputation, and to offer guidelines for analytic approaches and suggested organizational
actions.
Latson, J. (2014). “How poisoned Tylenol become a crisis-management teaching model.”
Times
In. Retrieved from
This article focuses on the Tylenol poisonings and the actions Johnson & Johnson
employed to recover from this existence-threatening situation. It also reviews the 1982
case in which Johnson & Johnson literally rewrote the book on crisis management in
handling unexpected, catastrophic consumer issues. It demonstrated a high degree of
integrity and moral responsibility in its handling of the poisonings. Chief Executive
Officer James E. Burke demonstrated decisive leadership at a time when the company
needed it the most.
Rehak, J. (2002). “Tylenol made hero of Johnson & Johnson: The recall that started
them all.”
The New York Times. Retrieved from
This paper addresses and evaluates the case of Johnson & Johnson’s crisis
management.
In an attempt to analyze the case, the paper overviews Johnson & Johnson’s Tylenol
product tampering in the 1980s. Conclusions drawn from the assessment put Johnson
&
Johnson in a different spotlight than it had enjoyed during its earlier crisis management
efforts. Implications for organizational crisis management efforts are also presented.
Simola, S. K. (2005). Organizational crisis management. Consulting Psychology Journal:
Practice & Research, 57(3), 180-192. doi:10.1037/1065-9293.57.3.180
Crisis holds the potential for profound change in organizations and industries. The past
50 years of crisis management highlight key shifts in crisis practice, creating
opportunities for multiple theories and research tracks. Defining crisis, such as Tylenol,
have influenced or challenged the principles of best practice of crisis communication in
public relations. This study traces the development of crisis process and practice by
identifying shifts in crisis research and models and mapping these against key
management theories and practices. The findings define three crisis domains: crisis
planning, building and testing predictive models, and mapping and measuring external
environmental influences. These crisis domains mirror but lag the evolution of
management theory, suggesting challenges for researchers to reshape the research
agenda
to close the gap and lead the next stage of development in the field of crisis
communication for effective organizational outcomes.
St. John III, B., & Pearson, Y. E. (2016). Crisis management and ethics: Moving
beyond the
public-relations-person-as-corporate-conscience construct. Journal Of Media Ethics,

7. 31(1), 18-34. doi:10.1080/23736992.2015.1116392
In today's complex business environment, organizations may face crisis, which affect
their reputation and stakeholders perspectives both at the Corporate and brand level.
Crisis response strategies require strategic communication and action plans as part of
public relations strategy. Crisis communication as part of a strategic situation based
response, if not communicated well, would impact the brand equity and corporate identity
in the long-run and an immediate drop in sales in short-term. This research paper
examines select contemporary and classic cases of brand crisis and evaluates crisis
response strategies. The cases examined include J&J Tylenol. The paper examines
select
aspects of crisis communication and brand re-building strategies using secondary data,
action taken, spokesperson used, media used etc,.
Veil, S. R. (2011). Mindful learning in crisis management. Journal Of Business
Communication, 48(2), 116-147. doi:10.1177/0021943610382294
No organization, public or private, is immune to disaster. The product tampering
incidents, such as Tylenol, have brought home this fact quite tragically. Yet, because the
field of crisis management is still in its infancy, most organizations lack a firm basis and
rationale for developing effective crisis management programs. The authors contend that
before they actually occur, most crisis send out a repeated and persistent series of early
warning signals. If organizations can learn to recognize these signals, and understand
that
different types of crisis send off different signals, then there is much they can do to nip
crisis in the bud. Since different crises call for different preparatory and preventive
activities, a variety of organizational mechanisms must be put into place to limit the
damage and help the company recover. Unless these steps are taken before a major crisis
occurs, most organizations will be unable to recover-from or manage a crisis as
effectively as possible, given the current state of our knowledge. In this article, the
authors begin by classifying the various types of crises and the actions that organizations
can take to lessen their impact. They go on to summarize the key phases of an effective
crisis management program, as well as examine the necessary minimal concepts and
models that will help organizations reexamine, more systematically and comprehensively,
their crisis management programs.
Certificate of Originality
My assignment “Research Paper #2: Parts 1A & 1B” is original work and was not
written
in whole or in part for another course at the University of Maryland University College or
at another institution of higher learning.
Signed: Brittany N Benton
Date(s): April 3, 2016 at 11:11am ET