Johnson & Johnson Tylenol Crisis

Johnson & Johnson had manufactured Extra-Strength Tylenol in capsule and tablet form since 1959. Tylenol became one of Johnson & Johnson’s most successful products, accounting for 17 percent of the company’s profits. Extra-Strength Tylenol constituted 70 percent of all Tylenol sales. Johnson & Johnson also enjoyed a tremendous amount of trust and goodwill from the public, nurtured in part by its adherence to the company credo of responsibility to customers, employees, shareholders, and the community. In 1982, seven people in the Chicago area died after taking Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules that were laced with cyanide. After this incident, the CEO of Johnson & Johnson was faced with very serious, important decisions; should he recall only the extra strength Tylenol in Chicago or nationwide? He was also concerned that this incident would forever ruin the Tylenol name, even after the investigation, proved that the tampering did not occur within the company. I would have advised the CEO of the company to make a public announcement, assuring the pubic that these cases were isolated to the Chicago area, that this was by no way caused by the negligence of Johnson & Johnson employees. Also, he would need to state that the company is doing everything possible to ensure that this does not occur again and that they were working closely with the authorities to determine the cause. I would also advise a nationwide recall. I believe that a recall should have been issued for the entire nation. Although this would cause a significant loss for the company, it would save their reputation. It would ensure the customers that the CEO was doing everything possible to protect them, which would help reestablish their trust in the company. If a recall were not issued, people still would not be buying the product and it would sit on shelves for months, even years, because people would always be fearful they would get a bad batch. If a recall were issued, this would not be called