Leadership

Talented leadership during Tylenol murders crisis

In 1982 witnessed a Tylenol poisoning murders across Chicago in the USA . The panic , wide-spread fear spread out very fast , but above all was a best-ever response of Tylenol company over poisoning murders to a major public .

James E. Burke , the CEO of Tylenol producer Johnson & Johnson died in the age of 87 . He would be known for his strong , decisive , calm and recognized as an excellent company being able to overcome crisis . He is considered one of the 10 best CEO according to Fortune magazine .

Talented leadership over Tylenol poisoning murders crisis :

James E. Burke with an oversize model of the Tylenol that replaced capsules.

In 1982, seven people died after taking capsules of Extra-Strength Tylenol that had been laced with cyanide.

The level of cyanide was claimed to be enough to cause fatal doses .

The pills were said to be tampered when sold in the drugstore and supermarket .

As a result , J&J reputation was in threat of being ruined .

However , they did not shift blame but to receive their mistakes as not control it well enough .

1.Be honest :

On the afternoon of the first deaths, the company:

Set up toll-free numbers manned by company employees ( hotline ) for assistance .

Sent 450,000 telex messages to doctors’ offices, hospitals and trade groups.

Stopped advertising .

2 .Be decisive :

Less than one week after that , Tylenol spent $100 million to recall 32 million bottles of Tylenol capsules from store shelves.

FDA and FBI felt that a recall would be an overreaction. But J&J’s management put customer safety ahead of their financial concerns.

The company also established relations with the Chicago Police Department, FDA and FBI to maintain a role in searching for the person responsible for the deaths .

Became the first company to adopt new triple-sealtamper-resistant packaging rules.

3. Be responsible :

Within months, J&J re-introduced Tylenol capsules to consumers. It distributed over 40 million $2.50 coupons (enough to purchase a good-size bottle) to compensate customers who threw away Tylenol during the scare. They also created a new pricing program that saved consumers up to 25%.

In a 1986 news conference, Mr. Burke announced that Johnson & Johnson would stop selling over-the-counter products in capsules, which could be tampered with, and switch to solid caplets.

4. Be respectful:

As the tough decisions were being made by Mr. Burke and his executive team, many were skeptical. They warned that the company's reputation would never recover.

Less than a year after re-launching Tylenol, J&J regained a 30% share of the market and once again became the top-selling pain reliever. Today, Tylenol enjoys the highest ratings for consumer confidence, and is the most prescribed over-the-counter pain reliever.

5. Be in good behavior :

Finally , the decisions were part of a wise plan to salvage the reputation and revenue of J&J, and return Tylenol to commanding market share. Even so, Mr. Burke proved that respecting each customer can help the company .

Maintaining trust among customers helped J&J overcome crisis, and in a 2003 Harvard Business School profile, Mr. Burke noted that “Nothing good happens without trust. With it, you can overcome all sorts of obstacles.”

Result :