Damage Control

There is no famous case other than that of the drug maker Johnson & Johnson. In 1982, the firm made a huge mistake over its Tylenol. The medicine helps treat fever and mild to moderate pain. The company recalled the product massively after 7 deaths due to the drug. It applied a damage control measure by using tamper-proof packaging.

Now, such packaging style has become the standard for the drug industry. Another instance happened to the Samsung Galaxy Note 7, which was launched in 2016. The global smartphone maker withdrew the flagship device due to its faulty batteries, which caused overheating and caught fire. Let’s explore the topic below!

What is damage control?

Damage control means any efforts to limit the impacts of an industrial error or incident. The actions can be taken in various ways depending on the effects, which include financial penalties, reputational damage, or operational disruptions. Companies may have to pay huge fines to regulatory bodies when they breach financial rules.

Reputational damage can happen when certain firms give poor customer service or harmful products. Therefore, the public spread the news and tainted their images. On the other hand, operational disruptions happen due to internal and external factors. The internal side refers to the process and system within that company.

The external side includes natural disasters and supply chain issues. They cause the firms to halt their operations and thus reduce their sales and profits. Damage control helps to lower the impact. When properly done, the strategy not only fixes the faults but also regains consumer trust gradually or quickly.

How to apply damage control

Multiple parties within a firm need to sit together in one place to discuss damage control. The top executives include the Board of Directors, Chief Executive Officers (CEOs), and management. They lead “the meeting in crisis” because they take the final decision. They will take inputs from their subordinates or those at the functional levels.

These cover project managers, customer service representatives, and a special task force on crisis handling. When the case is very heavy, like the Tylenol case, the meeting may last until late at night. But for lesser impact scales, they won’t have to hold around-the-clock sessions. Below, the step-by-step method for applying damage control is briefly explained.

• Implement corrective controls

Firms first take these actions once they find the root causes. These steps directly repair the issues and prevent them from occurring again. Examples of the actions are diverse, such as doing data backups for recovery to shortly regain the lost information. Another idea is training workers on new procedures to make sure everyone is on the same page.

• Process preparing

The second stage of damage control focuses on analysing the process that failed to run as planned. The result of the analysis leads to the embedding of compliance into every business function and process. This should occur several times, not just to address the problem at that moment. The outcome is useful for preventing the same issue from occurring in the future.

• Remediation

It refers to taking quick steps to fix the issues that arise because of not complying with the rules. The companies need to proactively find the exact causes through audits or monitoring. Next, they take corrective actions and craft strategies to ensure the issues won’t resurface. To make an effective remediation, the firms must talk to create a clear plan, document, and collaborate well.

• Post-Incident analysis

This damage control step involves full reviews from all aspects beyond each incident. In the case of a product recall, the maker of the product has to get complete information from all related workers, from the technicians to those behind the quality assurance field. Document all of the details to discover what could have been done to prevent the case.

• Update controls

What matters more after doing damage control is prevention. With the full findings on the causes, the firms should have enough inputs to reinforce their defences against similar risks in the future. In this regard, they need to update and refine the compliance controls and risk assessments. Then, make sure all staff know the updated versions.

• Communicate externally

The last stage relates to fixing the images. The companies need to conduct public campaigns to inform the public of their efforts to address the issues. They also need to communicate about these actions to business partners and vendors. Be open to public criticism when they first learn about the actions. The firms’ friendly responses to the critics will gradually help recover the bad images that were once lost.