Developing a Change Management Plan for Johnson & Johnson

1. The reason for the recommended change [align with goal(s)];

2. The specific business needs driving the change (reason for);

3. The implementation steps necessary for the change  (procedure/responsible party / timeline); and

4. A change theory that will help the organization reach the goals. Determine the intervention that supports the organizational strategy (align plan with organization's vision).

1. Who makes the decision;

2. What is the strategy; and

3. Factors the team finds necessary and applicable

· Explain the monitoring, controlling, and progress reporting procedures during implementation of this plan. Include the measure used to handle the most likely areas of resistance. Include and discuss your communication plan, (how will you break the news to existing employees).

Important Information:

The Developed Change Management plane must be added to these pages, and I need at least 800 WC, APA Format

Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is a massive pharmaceuticals and medical device company that includes 250 subsidiary companies operating in 60 countries with worldwide sales totaling $71.9 billion in 2016 (Johnson & Johnson Annual Report 2016). The size of this company and the particular market it is in has led its fair share of crisis over the years. One of the most notable what the Chicago Tylenol murders in 1982 in which seven individuals died after ingesting Tylenol that had been laced with cyanide (Rehak, 2002). The company has been praised for its response of recalling 31 million bottles of Tylenol from retailers in order to protect its customers and creating new ways to package products to protect consumers (Rehak, 2002). J&J’s culture of putting customers first was lauded as the perfect example of positive corporate crisis management (Latson, 2014).

Since that time, Johnson & Johnson has been involved in multiple recalls, lawsuits, and litigations that has tested the company’s merit. The most recent of these lawsuits involve marketing and selling Baby Powder without warning that talcum powder has been linked to ovarian cancer (Bertfield, Feeley, Fisk, 2016). So far this has cost J&J over $250 million in lawsuits with more legal action already on the way (Borney, 2017). There is mixed evidence regarding the link between talcum powder and ovarian cancer (Merritt, Green, et al., 2008), but J&J seems to be in a losing battle in the legal system.

J&J failed to address the concerns of the potential health risks associated with Baby Powder being linked to cancer. Because of this, they are not only losing large sums of money, but are also losing trust with consumers due to their failure to respond to the research that was brought to their attention. Our company would like to prevent problems like this in the future and allow J&J to rebuild trust that has been lost with consumers by putting policies and standard operating procedures in place to better acknowledge and address any types of concerns related to their products that surface.

Creating new policies and SOP’s for a company with the breadth of J&J will have serious implications for the culture and leadership. There is not simply one company that will be affected by these changes being enacted, there are 250 companies that will need to make adjustments. Many of these subsidiary companies will be altered in different ways as their cultures vary; but some of the key changes that will be fostered are:

· A deeper concern for consumer wellbeing.

· A more serious stance taken on safety.

· Honesty and transparency towards others in the company and consumers.

Due to various leaders running all these separate entities, it will be their responsibility to exemplify these same qualities. They will be able to do this by:

· Sharing research that has come to their attention with employees and customers.

· Making safety in the workplace and in products of paramount concern.

· Dealing with problems that arise head on instead of trying to hide them.

· Encouraging employees and researchers to share concerns with open-door policies.

If the leaders of J&J take these responsibilities and protocols seriously, these organizational changes will be allowed to bloom instead of circumvented. If the leadership refuses to follow the new policies and SOP’s, progress will be stopped and it will be difficult to rebuild and maintain consumer trust.

The driving force behind these changes are external. Lawsuits have been battering the J&J and sapping large amounts of money. There still more lawsuits coming down the pipeline and the company needs to adapt to avoid future problems. Another major external driving force behind these changes are due to the lack of trust with customers. J&J failed to respond to research that had been presented to them and this has caused distrust to be created with consumers who rely on J&J products for their well-being. The final major driving force behind these changes is the bad publicity that is being created through the cases that are being decided in court and the media that is sharing the company’s failure with the world. J&J needs to show the masses that they are willing to make any change necessary for the good of their customers. Johnson & Johnson must use these external forces to propel them into the future and create a more transparent, caring, and trustworthy company.

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