Crisis communication in the pharmaceutical industry a case study of Tobinco pharmaceutical limited

Abstract

This qualitative study examined crisis communication strategies in the pharmaceutical industry. Crisis communication is one of the relevant issues which has become area of interest to many PR scholars but most of their studies focused on crisis communication in the financial sectors. This points out a gap in the literature on the peculiar strategies and approaches employed Pharmaceutical industries in Ghana during crisis event. The study specifically focused on the 2013 crisis of Tobinco Pharmaceutical Limited (TPL). This case study draws on Coombs’ situational crisis communication theory and William Benoit’s image restoration theory to assess the nature of crisis in TPL, the response strategies employed by the company and how those response strategies were communicated by TPL. Interview and content analysis were used for the study and the data collected were thematically analysed to get the key issues raised by participants for the purpose of the study. The study revealed three nature of crises: organisational, financial and natural crises. The study also discovered denial, diminish and rebuilding response strategies used by TPL. Findings from the study confirmed that TPL communicated the response strategies through open communication, media engagement and apology to deal with the 2013 crisis events. The study highlights the importance of rebuilding strategy during the events of crises and the need to engage stakeholders and communicate the truth during crisis. The study recommends that pharmaceutical industries should prioritise stakeholders’ engagement and make their institutions easily accessible to national crisis management institutions.