Analyzing J&J's Management Through Mintzberg's Managerial Roles

This essay explores how Johnson & Johnson's (J&J) managers adopt Henry Mintzberg's managerial roles, focusing on the interpersonal and decisional categories. It highlights Alex Gorsky's figurehead and liaison roles, exemplified by his representation at the Lake Nona Impact Forum and collaboration with the US government on vaccine development. The essay also examines James E. Burke's handling of the Tylenol crisis as a disturbance handler and William C. Weldon's entrepreneurial initiatives at Ethicon Endo-Surgery. The analysis evaluates the impact of these roles, emphasizing the importance of external relationships and crisis management in maintaining J&J's reputation and market position. The conclusion underscores the continued relevance of Mintzberg's managerial roles in ensuring organizational efficiency and effectiveness in today's dynamic business environment.

NAME: TAI QIN NI
STUDENT ID: 0342085
PROGRAMME: BACHELOR OF BUSINESS FINANCE AND ECONOMICS
MOBILE NUMBER: 012-5501303
EMAIL ADDRESS: [e-mail]
INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT
INTRODUCTION
This research is focused on Johnson & Johnson(J&J), a
worldwide corporation. According to their official
website, J&J is a healthcare company that operates via
three segments: consumer health, pharmaceuticals, and
medical devices. Alex Gorsky is the current chairman of
the board and CEO of J&J since 2012 (J&J, n.d.).
THE MINTZBERG’S MANAGERIAL ROLES
The purpose of this assignment is by conducting secondary research, to display how J&J’s
managers adopted Henry Mintzberg’s managerial roles. There are ten roles common to the
work of all managers identified by Henry Mintzberg (The Nature of Managerial Work, 1973).
It encompasses three main roles which are informational role that are divided into monitor,
disseminator, and spokesperson three sub-roles. Second, the interpersonal role that includes
three sub-roles such as figurehead, leader, and liaison. Finally, the decisional role which has
entrepreneur, disturbance handler, resource allocator and negotiator four sub-roles (The
Nature of Managerial Work, 1973).

INTERPERSONAL ROLE
One of Henry Mintzberg's managerial roles that can be applied to J&J is the interpersonal
role defined as dealing with and motivating employees at all organisational levels (Stimpson
and Farquharson, 2015). The figurehead and liaison are the two sub-roles that will be
discussed. A figurehead is defined as the symbolic leadership in social and legal concerns
(Stimpson and Farquharson, 2015). Alex Gorsky, for example, has represented and spoken on
behalf of J&J at the Lake Nona Impact Forum, which annually attracts more than 300 of the
country's top CEOs, health-care innovators, and thought leaders (Lake Nona Institute Impact
Forum, n.d.). Besides that, Mr Gorsky has also been on CNBC’s Healthy Returns to discuss
and answer questions regarding the J&J vaccine that the company has developed. Mr.
Gorsky, is clearly acting as a significant representative of J&J because he is the one who
attends forums and other interviews on behalf of the entire company. A liaison, on the other
hand, is defined as connecting with managers and leaders from other business divisions and
organisations (Stimpson and Farquharson, 2015). The US government and J&J have agreed
to invest $1 billion in vaccine research, development, and clinical testing (Brewster, 2020)
during the pandemic. J&J has entered into a $1 billion agreement with the US government to
co-invest in vaccine research, development, and clinical testing (Lovelace, 2021), through
building a close relationship with the government to work together in increasing the
immunisation rate. These are evidence showing the importance of a business creating and
maintaining a close relationship with external bodies, in this case J&J with the government,
to increase the rate of achieving herd immunity for the entire country.

DECISIONAL ROLE
Decisional role is defined as decision-making and allocation of resources for the objectives
of the organisation (Stimpson and Farquharson, 2015). the disturbance handler and
entrepreneur are the two decisional sub-roles that will be
discussed. A disturbance handler is the role of a manager that
reacts to changing conditions that can endanger the company
(Stimpson and Farquharson, 2015). Former J&J CEO James E.
Burke from 1976 to 1989, made an extraordinary measure during the Tylenol problem in late
September 1982 (Rehak, 2002), by recalling 31 million of J&J's Tylenol products after seven
people in the Chicago region died after eating Extra-Strength Tylenol pills (Rehak, 2002).
Although J&J spent $100 million on recalling and relaunching Tylenol (Wiggins, 1982), this
clearly shows how Mr Burke is prioritising the key individuals involved in this disaster, its
consumers. Additionally, the entrepreneur role is defined as the role of
manager looking for new opportunities to develop the business
(Stimpson and Farquharson, 2015). William C. Weldon, a former CEO of
Johnson & Johnson from 2002 to 2012, exhibited his entrepreneur role
during his tenure. Mr. Weldon brought in a significant number of
engineers and equipped them with computer-aided design (CAD) equipment when he was
hired as the president of Ethicon Endo-Surgery (EES), a newly founded J&J subsidiary in
1992, to develop new products (Reference for Business, n.d.). He also enrolled Harvard
Business School experts to assist EES in establishing a versatile, team-based environment
that was able to drastically reduce the time needed to develop new products (Reference for
Business, n.d.). Mr. Weldon’s initiatives are clearly innovative from various aspects, ensuring
EES as a part of J&J, has the ability to prosper in the dynamic and competitive medical
market.

EVALUATION
The figurehead and liaison sub-roles undertaken by Mr Gorsky, have resulted in a positive
impact for J&J in several areas. By establishing a deal with the U.S government, this enables
J&J more funds in researching, developing, and even producing vaccines for the country. If
J&J were to ignore the importance of building relationship with external bodies such as with
the government, it would have taken J&J a longer time in sourcing resources and additional
capital alone, not to mention running vaccine trials. Apart from this, we can observe how
James E. Burke handled the Tylenol incident which would have destroyed J&J's reputation.
Many people bought Tylenol, the company's most known product, but the sudden deaths
from poisoning caused by Tylenol have made the news headlines (Rehak, 2002). The first
thing J&J did under Mr Burke’s role as the disturbance handler was to withdraw all Tylenol
products, proving to the public that the firm did not want to jeopardise the safety of its
consumers (Rehak, 2020). J&J also used open communication methods at the time, including
creating a toll-free number for media to call and listen to pre-recorded messages with updated
Tylenol crisis statements (Kapugeekiyana, 2018). Mr Burke's decision to recall Tylenol
capsules, redesign packaging, promote alternatives, and rebuild markets cost J&J between
$100 and $150 million (Rosenfield, 1982). This was a huge drawback for J&J since Tylenol
was the clear market leader at that time, with 37% market share, outselling the other four
major painkillers (Public relations case study: Johnson & Johnson Tylenol crisis, 2017).
However, the effort to protect the public by taking immediate measure, has earned Mr Burke
the respect of both friends and foes of big corporations (Rosenfield, 1982). In the end, Mr
Burke was able to guide J&J through the crisis and recover its lost market share from 7 to 30
percent (Johnson & Johnson and Tylenol – Crisis Management Case Study, 2008). Mr Burke
carried out his role as a disturbance handler wisely, despite facing a dilemma such as J&J

would end up losing everything. However, he succeeds in saving and restoring J&J’s brand
image after solving the major crisis.
CONCLUSION
To summarise, Henry Mintzberg's managerial roles are still relevant and vital in today's
corporate environment to ensure company efficiency. It is crucial to understand that those
associated with the corporation's management levels must clearly demonstrate distinct roles
in light of the different scenarios which they are facing. Since the business environment is
changing rapidly, it is necessary for the organization to be efficient and effective, and its
management is mostly responsible for this.
LIST OF REFERENCES
Brewster, T. (2020). ‘The U.S. Just Signed A $450 Million Coronavirus Vaccine Contract
With Johnson & Johnson’, Forbes. Available at:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2020/03/30/the-us-just-signed-a-450-million-
coronavirus-vaccine-contract-with-johnson--johnson/?sh=4d0713c72946 (Accessed: 13
September 2021)
Johnson & Johnson and Tylenol – Crisis Management Case Study. (2008). Retrieved
September 13, 2021 from https://mallenbaker.net/article/clear-reflection/johnson-johnson-
and-tylenol-crisis-management-case-study
Kapugeekiyana, P. (2018). ‘Three Lessons in Crisis Leadership’, Management Issues, 01
October. [Online] Available at: https://www.management-issues.com/opinion/7325/three-
lessons-in-crisis-leadership/ (Accessed: 6 September 2021)
Lake Nona Institute Impact Forum. (2021). ‘Previous Speakers’. Retrieved 6 September,
2021 from https://lakenonaimpactforum.org

Lovelace, J.B. (2021). ‘Watch live: President Biden meets with CEOs from J&J and Merck’,
CNBC. Available at: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/10/watch-live-president-biden-meets-
with-ceos-from-jj-and-merck.html (Accessed: 13 September 2021)
Mintzberg, H. (1973). The Nature of Managerial Work. [Online]. Available at:
https://www.academia.edu/36232215/The_Nature_of_Managerial_Work (Accessed: 13
September 2021)
Public relations case study: Johnson & Johnson Tylenol crisis. (2017). Retrieved September
13, 2021 from https://skograndpr.com/2017/02/11/public-relations-case-study-johnson-
johnson-tylenol-crisis/
Reference for Business. (n.d.). ‘Moves Quickly Up The Ladder At Mcneil’ Retrieved
September 13, 2021 from https://www.referenceforbusiness.com/biography/S-Z/Weldon-
William-C-1948.html
Rehak, J. (2002). ‘Tylenol made a hero of Johnson & Johnson: The recall that started them
all’, The New York Times. Available at:
https://www.nytimes.com/1982/10/29/business/tylenol-recall-expense-is-put-at-100-
million.html (Accessed: 6 September 2021)
Rosenfield, S.P. (1986). ‘James Burke: The Public Face of Johnson & Johnson With PM-
Salvaging Tylenol, Bjt’, AP News, 28 February. [Online] (Available at:
https://apnews.com/article/a5c0f307cdf9e54095c98e20d2f799b3 (Accessed: 6 September
2021)
Stimpson, P. and Farquharson, A. (2015). ‘Management Roles’, In Cambridge International
AS and A Level Business Course-book. [Online]. Available at:
https://my1lib.org/book/11729954/5ab40f (Accessed: 13 September 2021)

Wiggins, P. H. (1982). ‘Tylenol Recall Expense Is Put At $100 Million’, The New York
Times. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/1982/10/29/business/tylenol-recall-expense-is-
put-at-100-million.html (Accessed: 6 September 2021)