Go to the government site for all categories of recalls: https://www.recalls.gov/
Each person in class chooses one category from the seven categories shown.
Report that category here. If the same category is chosen from two or more students, the one who posted first gets that category to discuss. The other study must choose a second category. If there are more than 7 students in class then there can be multiple categories chosen and used to address this Forum question.
From your chosen category, select the most recent ten recalled items. List the different kinds of items recalled. Then describe the most common item of these most recent ten for the recalled item. Why do you think that this item is the most common? What should be changed from the EPA regulations to prevent future recalls of this most common item?
Instructions: Your initial post should be at least 250 words. Please respond to at least 2 other students. Responses should be a minimum of 100 words and include direct questions.
https://www.recalls.gov/
Lecture 2
Welcome to week two.
This week you get to visit the US Government site for all categories of recalls. You will choose a specific recall category and list and describe the different kinds of items recalled.
This week is about recalls in reverse logistics. One very instructive example is Tylenol scare and the Tylenol recall in 1982. This recall is considered one of the best handled recalls because Tylenol issues a massive recall based upon limited information but it was based upon people’s trust of the brand. This recall was less about the number of problems but more about people trusting that the right thing will be done.
When the scare happened, many thought that Tylenol as a brand would suffer losses that could never be recovered due to the broken trust in the safety of the product. Many predicted that Tylenol would cease to exist as a brand. This is the same that people predicted for BP, Exxon or Volkswagen. However, Tylenol emerged quickly and thrived. During and after the situation, Johnson & Johnson did everything right to communicate positively with the public while building trust back into the brand. Just as Johnson and & Johnson built up trust, research has concluded that trust is an integral part of a successful virtual team (Anderson et al., 1998; Duarte and Snyder, 2006; Lipnack and Stamps, 1999; Tavcar, Zavbi, Verlinden & Duhovnik, 2005). Since trust is a major component of a successful virtual team (Handy, 1995; Dani, Burns, Backhouse, & Kochhar, 2006 ), the leaders of a virtual reverse logistics organization must establish, maintain and evolve consistent values and boundaries in the organization. Real trust is generated when a person completes and honors his or her promises and commitments, which is exactly what Johnson & Johnson did. They recalled all their products worldwide and then moved to develop tamper proof seals that are ubiquitous today on all medications.
Maintaining trust and good communication are essential in any recall situation but also equally important in any virtual organization. Abraham Lincoln said it best when he stated, ‘A house divided against itself cannot stand’ and so one must learn to continually build up trust in order to achieve success. Keeping in mind that trust is built over time and is done through positive communication. There is no sure way to create trust, but if a virtual project manager is attentive to the communication and social needs of the project team, it will go a long way to foster success.
In closing, people agree that trust is earned so it is important to do one’s best to earn that trust at every opportunity. Be it the trust in the person, in the company, or in the brand, the more that one can focus on trust the closer that one will be to success.
REFERENCES
Anderson, E., D. Doyle, P. Friedlander, D. Schroeder, and T. Seymour. “Telecommuting primer”. Infotech Update,7 no. 7 (1998): 1.
Curlee, W. “Modern Virtual Project Management: The Effects of a Centralized and Decentralized Project Management Office”. Project Management Journal,39 (August 2008): S83-S96.
Dani, S., Burns, N., Backhouse, C. & Kochhar, A. “The implications of organizational culture and trust in the working of virtual teams”, Proceedings of the Institution of the Mechanical Engineers, Part B, Engineering Manufacture (Professional Engineering Publishing), 220, (2006):951-959
Duarte, D., and Snyder, N. (2006). Mastering virtual teams.3rd ed. Jossey-Bass.
Gordon, R. and Curlee, W. (2011). The Virtual Project Management Office: Best practices, Proven methods. Management Concepts.
Handy, C. (1995). “Trust and the virtual organization” Harvard Business Review 73 (May/June): 40-7
Lipnack, J., and J. Stamps. “Virtual Teams: Reaching Across Space, Time and Organizations with Technology”, Canada: John Wiley and Sons, (1997)
Tavcar, J., Zavbi, R., Verlinden, J., and Duhovnik, J. “Skills for effective communication and work in Global product development teams”. Journal of Engineering Design. 16, No. 6 (December 2005):557-576
