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Hello everyone and welcome to our website for Chapter 3 of Corporate Social Responsibility & Ethics. Please take your time to explore the numerous pages of summaries and questions relating to our case study. We thank you for your time and hope you enjoy our website!
-Amelia, Kaitlyn, Hanna, Laura
CASE STUDY
Tylenol faced near extinction under the Johnson & Johnson household name in 1982 after product tampering in the midwest region surrounding the Chicago area. Someone had taken the Tylenol capsules, laced them with cyanide and placed back on the shelves for sale. This poisoning killed 7 people in the Chicago area. The case has never been solved and motive behind the incident is presumed to be either a grudge against Johnson & Johnson or the retail chains. The senior executives were initially advised to pull only bottles in the midwest area surrounding Chicago where the deaths occurred. Instead, they immediately removed and destroyed more than 31 million bottles of Tylenol nationwide. The cost of this removal is estimated at $100 million. Prior to this incident Tylenol had a 35% market share. Following the tampering, the share decreased to 7%. The incident inspired more proactive protection against such acts by investing millions in development of tamper-proof bottles. The development cost them an additional $100 million to win back their customers. The development paid off and in less than a year the shares returned to an impressive 28%.
-Amelia, Kaitlyn, Hanna, Laura
CASE STUDY
Tylenol faced near extinction under the Johnson & Johnson household name in 1982 after product tampering in the midwest region surrounding the Chicago area. Someone had taken the Tylenol capsules, laced them with cyanide and placed back on the shelves for sale. This poisoning killed 7 people in the Chicago area. The case has never been solved and motive behind the incident is presumed to be either a grudge against Johnson & Johnson or the retail chains. The senior executives were initially advised to pull only bottles in the midwest area surrounding Chicago where the deaths occurred. Instead, they immediately removed and destroyed more than 31 million bottles of Tylenol nationwide. The cost of this removal is estimated at $100 million. Prior to this incident Tylenol had a 35% market share. Following the tampering, the share decreased to 7%. The incident inspired more proactive protection against such acts by investing millions in development of tamper-proof bottles. The development cost them an additional $100 million to win back their customers. The development paid off and in less than a year the shares returned to an impressive 28%.