Management Analysis of The 1982 Tylenol Crisis

Johnson & Johnson is a medical supply company that owns the brand Tylenol. According to their website the Johnson & Johnson corporation have been in business since 1886. On September 1982 they faced one of the most well-known crises in history. There crisis management techniques used could still be implemented and educate issue management when crises arrive. Today’s climate may be different, however the way the Johns & Johns company utilized public relations in this particular circumstance laid the foundation for corporate responsibility and left an influential precedent for many companies.

According to CNN 7 victims in total died during this catastrophe. James Burke was elected to formed a crisis management team on behave of Johnson & Johnson. He was the sole spokes persons for the company. He was a strong leader that led the crisis management campaign. One of the many tasks he accomplished was setting up a call center to receive calls day and night from the public. The entire system of communication was professional and completed their tasks efficiently.

One example was they were effective in communicating with stakeholders. Every step they were updated and informed about. In addition, the Johnson & Johnson company offered a 10,000-dollar reward to anyone with information about the killer. Even though he was never caught, the gesture helped remind the public that the Tylenol was not the cause of the deaths. As well as providing finical assistance and causing to the families of the victim. The company also placed half a million dollars in ads that warned the public of the dangers that were currently present. Finally, they offered to exchange all bottles of Tylenol that were already purchased.

The crisis arose when an extortionist planted cyanide tablets into Tylenol products. After the death reports reached corporate headquarters when a reporter called for a statement, they made the executive decision to recall all Tylenol from every store in every state. They made the utilitarian decision based off their company’s mission statement. This was an attempt to live up to their policy by putting people first. The public perception was excepting of this action. The company could have recalled only the states that were affected by this tragedy. However, the act of keeping people’s safety first, no matter the cost, was meaningful and had a positive impacted the Johnson & Johnsons publics.

The conciliation to the families lost as well as their new campaign to improve area tight seals on their products help fully vindicate the company. This set a president for all medical supply companies to start introducing compatible safety measures.

The crisis the Johnson & Johnson company faced was handled incredibly well with the tools and facilities they had available during the time period. They would have needed a much larger work forced to handle the allegations by News platforms on the internet. In today’s climate news is updated and released on social media twenty-four hours a day. The Johnson & Johnson company can still teach us a valuable lesson about the basics of effective communication in crisis management techniques that still carry over into our time period.

ePortfolio 5 "Review"

I have learned practical skills throughout my internship at the Fastenal company. I learned how to be more self-reliant and work minded. Taking responsibility of one’s self is a crucial part to any employee’s development. My problems solving skills have grown in general. However, the Fastenal internship provided me with the opportunity to learn about the manufacturing industry. I have garnered so much knowledge about bolts, screws, and an endless amount of other equipment. While I ended up not taking the job or pursue another one in the industry, the pragmatic skills learned on the job make the experience well worth it.

The self-confidence I developed should not go without mention. Not only did I grow in my ability to articulate with co-workers and employers but with customers as well. It’s difficult to sell bulk industrial supplies, especially if Fastenal is not the cheapest vendor. Consequently, Fastenal focuses on building relationships with businesses and customers to stay relevant in the industry. It takes a lot of confidence to sell thousands of dollars’ worth of materials. Not to even mention, construction workers tend not to be the most cordial people by any means.

If I were to redo my internship there are a few things I would have done differently to prepare. One of many things would have been to do better research. The learning curve when stepping into a new industry will be vast. The best thing I could have done to better prepare is to study basic terminology in the field. None the less, understanding is not enough in the workforce. Workers must perform. Therefore, to perform at the level the company required I should have made at least a hundred flash cards and committed them to memory.

In order, for me to do my internship effectively, it also would have been immensely helpful to also visit a store near me and maybe shadow for a day. That way I could have had a better understanding of the products and to foresee whether the job was a right fit. In the end of the day. Every internship has growth potential. But a Fastenal internship. It’s guaranteed.

On top of all the construction supplies and equipment I had to learn and test out of, I grew in my ability to critically analyze customers and make larger sales. I learned these techniques from my supervisor which lead to generating or closing more quote for companies. One of the most interesting skills I got to grow in was price setting. Fastenal employees have the privilege of determining what merges our made on a sale.

I believe I have grown my professional presence in several ways after completing this course. Firstly, the practical skills and experience learned on the job will serve my resume as a great asset. In addition, the Professional ePortfolio Project was a nice modern touch. We are ever evolving into the digital age were paper is becoming less ubiquitous and digital copies are expected. An ePortfolio has the capability to be interactive as well as providing control over the length. Juxtaposed to a paper resumes that are only about a page long. This project gave us the ability to demonstrate our media savvy to potential employers.

Finally, this course along with my internship at Fastenal has helped me to experience new work climates. Lastly, the modules in this course like the one about interviewing had terrific insight on how to conduct ourselves professionally. I believe that my ability to deal with high stress situations has improved enormously. I now feel more prepared for future work prospects.

White Pages – Conflict Management

Conflict management is an intricate aspect of interpersonal communication in the work place. Because time is money, performance corrections tend to be completed with brevity but effectively managing conflict requires the correct training, attention to detail, and preparation. We often take corrective behavior at face value however; an employee’s growth affects employee job satisfaction and therefor employee longevity. These interpersonal communication methods can help retain the best workforce possible, performance, job satisfaction. Consequently, saving the company time and money. In the following white pages, we will discuss complex scenarios, conflict management techniques and why they come as great value for long term growth for any company’s management.

How to know if your company has poor conflict resolution. Does your company have reoccurring issues? Are they resolved in a timely manner? Do they negatively affect workplace relations? Are they adequately prevented in the company’s future? If any of these problems consist in your company, most likely there is a breakdown within conflict management that could be improved. Downward communication must be strong but also understanding of the causation and be dealt with in a professional manner that prevents future occurrence.

A broad amount of interpersonal issues can arise in the workplace. Dealing with these dilemmas can be frustrating, timely, and even emotionally damaging. Let’s propose there is an employee who has been working for the company for several years. They have made a careless mistake that needs to be addressed. Confronting said employee is not as simple as chastising the negative behavior.

If the correction consists of belittling language or yelling. This can be seen as a lack of unprofessionalism. Nonverbal inferences will be taken into account Intragroup when conflict/ Intradepartment Conflicts arise. New hires determine future treatment based on how existing employees are dealt with. Utilizing ego or “I” language for example “This has become a pain in my back, that I don’t want to waste my time with!” can generate feelings of ostracism for some employees or unappreciation for other opportunities they have given up to work with your particular company.

Instead, communication methods that convey messages of personal development within the employee can create a team building environment. For example, “I understand things can become mundane or personal issues can distract us. But at the workplace we are required to be professional and complete every job to the best of our abilities.” Communication Apprehension can be negatively influenced by high levels of anxiety, avoidance or communication withdrawal, and others that tend to view those with extreme cases of communication apprehension negatively

T.R.I.P. or Topic, Relational, Identity, and Process can be used to help resolve conflict. The Topic at hand, Scheduling/budgeting ect, Relational issues; feeling unappreciated, resentful, Ego/Identity issues; glory hog or sexist nerd, The Process; line of command and communications within the organization.

Avoidance can be caused by poor interpersonal relations. Negatively communicating with others prevents co-workers from perceiving positive feedback. This in turn can manifest feelings of resentment and distain. These feelings keep up from adequately dealing with issues in the work place and are generally considered unprofessional. If employees feel like they have no chance of winning, why try? Or for that matter, when the potential for disruption outweighs the benefits of resolution.

It is important to remember to calm down and gain perspective on situations, think through how they could be appraised, and be addressed in a timely manner that communicates needed information. The long-term cost of winning almost always outweigh the short-term gains. Remember that misunderstandings occur as a natural part of organizations, that certain characteristics of social interaction should be encouraged and supported, and finally that strategic communication planning is important.