Mead Johnson Nutrition Company: A Controversy Over Enfamil

Authors
Broderick, J., Bussa, J., and O'Rourke, J. S. (Editor)
Region
North America
Topic
Strategy & General Management
Length
11 pages
Keywords
flagship product
flagship
Product
contamination
crisis
Copyright Holder
Notre Dame
Student Price
$4.00
Target Audience
Graduate Students
Undergraduate Students

Infant formula producer Mead Johnson Nutrition Company needs to determine what its response should be when its flagship product, Enfamil, is linked to an infant’s death from Cronobacter sakazakii. Despite no hard evidence of contamination, retailers voluntarily pulled the item off the shelves as a precaution.

Learning Outcomes
  1. To illustrate how public and media perceptions (accurate or not) can affect a company’s stock price.
  2. To demonstrate how issues pertaining to just one of a company’s numerous brands could be viewed as issues connected with all of a company’s products.
  3. To show how a company’s retailers can have a substantial impact on public and media perceptions.
  4. To highlight how the timing of a scandal or crisis could put additional pressure on a company to respond even more quickly.