Key Concepts in Case Study
Organizational Ethics
This incident is a clear case of differing organizational ethics. When the products were tampered with, the senior executives were initially told to do the moral minimum which was removing products only from the area surrounding the incident. This meant that somewhere along the chain of authority, someone believed that this was the right thing to do. There was a clear case of Conflict of Interest in regards to the crisis management resolution. If the senior executives had followed the instructions, they would be adhering to one set of beliefs about what was the "right thing to do", while potentially hurting the lives of others or even the company's overall image.
Johnson & Johnson displayed Utilitarianism in their decision making because they disregarded the initial advice and instead removed $100 million of Tylenol product nationwide which was acting in the best interest of the greatest number of people rather than the amount that the executives believed to be necessary. As a result of the product tampering, Johnson & Johnson put research and development into their value chain of production, and discovered the opportunity of a safer seal on Tylenol bottles.
This incident is a clear case of differing organizational ethics. When the products were tampered with, the senior executives were initially told to do the moral minimum which was removing products only from the area surrounding the incident. This meant that somewhere along the chain of authority, someone believed that this was the right thing to do. There was a clear case of Conflict of Interest in regards to the crisis management resolution. If the senior executives had followed the instructions, they would be adhering to one set of beliefs about what was the "right thing to do", while potentially hurting the lives of others or even the company's overall image.
Johnson & Johnson displayed Utilitarianism in their decision making because they disregarded the initial advice and instead removed $100 million of Tylenol product nationwide which was acting in the best interest of the greatest number of people rather than the amount that the executives believed to be necessary. As a result of the product tampering, Johnson & Johnson put research and development into their value chain of production, and discovered the opportunity of a safer seal on Tylenol bottles.