Description
You work for Walmarts marketing team and are now on the marketing crisis team. You need to develop a strategy to address this issue.
The main marketing related problem for this scenario is that the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Walmart accusing the company of failing to stop “hundreds of thousands” of improper opioid transactions at its warehouses and pharmacies.(Mann 2020) Walmart responded by filing a pre-emptive countersuit in October stating they committed no crime. In addition claiming the Department of Justice was attempting to embarrass the corporation as part of an effort to leverage a sizable financial settlement (Mann 2020).
This lawsuit can certainly bring on negative damaging results for the company. Walmart has to remember that serving the community is what makes the company so great. Consumers depend on Walmart to facilitate all household, food and medical needs. Due to the well-known accusation the company needs to implement a new strategic way of doing thing as a business and in the Pharmacy department .
- Stronger restrictions on prescriptions for opioids, that will allow proper screening.
- Monitoring amounts of dosage being prescribed from doctors
- Verifying, tagging, observing prescriptions that may be alarming
- Reviewing medical license to ensure prescriptions are valid
- Educating pharmacist and customers on the harmful dangers of misusing opioids
- Effects of Opioid Therapy for Acute Pain on Long-Term Use
- Importance of taking the right dosage
- Proper pain management care
- Advocate for opioids awareness, by making the community aware of the harmful effects.
- Pamphlets to make awareness known
- Observe and talk with patients before distributing the medication explaining, proper usage of doses, harmful dangers.
- Pharmacist getting to know their customers and standing firm on the great values of Walmart.
Walmart needs to apply the We put our customers first, anticipate their wants and needs, and exceed their expectations, that is stated in their code and values. The internal marketing should be striving to bring the best service and well-being of all customers. All departments should undergo training, with special attention to the pharmacy department, paying attention to details and knowing when to recognize alarming situations with filling prescriptions.
Reference
Brian Mann (2020) Walmart Is Latest Big-Name Company Embroiled In Opioid Crisis retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2020/12/23/949525020/walmart-i…
Student 2
The main marketing problem that Walmart is facing in this scenario is that the company is being portrayed as contributing and benefiting from the opioid epidemic by ignoring obvious signs of drug abuse and prescription fraud. In order to address the companys problem, I recommend 3 strategic goals. The first is for Walmart to commit to stopping the opioid pandemic by donating and promoting organizations working to fight the crisis and help victims. A second goal is to create and implement an employee training programs that will teach employees how to recognize the signs of prescription abuse. Lastly, Walmart can create a strike system for physicians who appear to be overprescribing opioids or are known to partake in pill mills. These doctors will be banned from filling prescriptions at Walmart and reported to the DOJ.
There are pros and cons to these goals that need to be addressed. A pro to this plan would be that employees will feel better equipped and more empowered to address and report possible opioid abuse. A con would be the revenue lost from the decrease in pharmacy traffic. Another con is that doctors who are prescribing opioids in good faith will face more scrutiny and possibly stop filling prescriptions at Walmart. A second pro is Walmart will be creating a database of doctors who abuse opioids. A pro is that Walmart will show a strong stance in fighting the opioid epidemic which will improve public opinion of the company. As seen, the pros of this strategy outweigh the cons.
An internal marketing implementation strategy for this plan would be implementation through change. Walmart wants to change the way employees handle opioids and doctors who abuse opioids. There will be a change from tolerance to intolerance for opioid abuse. Employees who are unwilling to adapt to this change in policy would have to face disciplinary action. There are multiple strategies for internal marketing implementation, so it is important to weigh the pros and cons of this strategy. A pro to this approach is that it will be easier to implement over a large number of stores. A con to this approach is that employees might be resistant to such sudden change that they did not agree to or that was not discussed with them. A pro is that it will take less time compared to coming to a consensus and getting the opinions of workers. A con would be that employees unwilling to change might quit or be faced with disciplinary actions. Another con would be the financial investment to implement the training program and create a computer program for flagging negligent physicians.
The last step will be to evaluate the success of this strategic plan. The success should be evaluated by closely tracking the number of filled opioid prescriptions in each pharmacy. If the number of prescriptions filled is over the national average by a statically significant margin, then the strategic plan needs to be re-evaluated.
References
Ferrell, O. C., & Hartline, M. D. (2014). Marketing strategy : text and cases. South-Western/Cengage Learning.
Mann, B. (2020, December 23). Walmart Is Latest Big-Name Company Embroiled In Opioid Crisis. NPR.org. https://www.npr.org/2020/12/23/949525020/walmart-i…
