Managing a Crisis Effectively: A Blueprint for Pharmaceutical Companies

Abstract

Large pharmaceutical companies are highly complex owing to their often global presence, and multiple products, interfaces, and organizational components. This complexity increases the likelihood that a pharmaceutical-related crisis will develop, thus underscoring the need for pharmaceutical companies to have guidelines for effective crisis management in place. In this report, we have proposed a set of guidelines to effectively manage a crisis associated specifically with a pharmaceutical product or activity. The steps are clearly delineated and include: 1. Identifying the crisis, 2. Establishing objectives, 3. Conducting a baseline assessment, 4. Devising communication action plans, 5. Creating a communications infrastructure, and 6. Agreeing to and expediting the action plans. The potential benefits of managing a crisis effectively as well as the negative implications of mishandling a crisis on various stakeholders such as patients, prescribers, regulators, shareholders, the legal and investment communities, employees, and other internal and external customers are also addressed.