Learning from a Crisis

A few weeks ago, I wrote a post about Pfizer being under investigation by the DOJ for its marketing of an immunosuppressant drug, Rapamune. Until the results of the probe are revealed, it is hard to say what effect it will have on Pfizer; however, in the meantime their communications department and Crisis Management Team should be evaluating what can be learned from this potential crisis.

Many experts believe that crises are both negative situations and opportunities for organizational learning. The success of crisis communications is defined by whether or not an organization learns from each crisis. Levels of learning differ, but the most advance level is to change organizational policies and procedures to prevent a crisis from happening in the future.

In the case of Pfizer’s DOJ probe, the learning should be easy. The Crisis Management Team should begin by evaluating what advertising and marketing is being done on Rapamune and all other drugs. This process could include monitoring any complaints that have been turned in by consumers. Should any violations or problems present itself, Pfizer needs to change its marketing policies and techniques to ensure the problem does not happen again.

Any crisis can be turned into an opportunity if an organization takes the time to evaluate and learn from the crisis. This includes taking steps to change organizational policies and procedures to ensure future crises do not repeat themselves.