WRITE THE CASE STUDY PLEASE AND FOLLOW THE RUBRICS LISTED BELOW

RUBRIC

1. Identification of most important facts in the case: provide detailed context 10 pts

2. Key issues: describe major problems and their impact on strategy or performance 20 pts

3. Specify alternative courses of action: have at least two alternatives 20 pts

4. Evaluate each course of action: pros and cons of each alternative and what the implementation would mean for the company. Paint the picture to help the reader visualize and understand the implications 20 pts

5. Recommend the best course of action: provide details and your reasoning 10 pts

Case Study: New Health Labs Targeted by Animal Rights Activists Adapted from material from APR (2013). Situation You are the director of public relations for New Health Labs, a large chemical research company in Troy, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. Your privately held company has been in business for 21 years and has specialized in providing research and chemical analysis in a variety of areas. Virtually all your work is based on contracts from federal and state agencies and on grants from foundations. The majority of your work involves developing sewage treatment and water purification programs for applications in the United States and developing countries. Your researchers have been recognized frequently for their work in this area, and the lab has a reputation for producing environmentally sound, socially aware solutions to problems. As PR director, you have conducted an aggressive and successful campaign to generate publicity for the labs research program. However, the company has kept one research program under wraps. For the last 10 years, the lab has had a small contract to test Ragus-A, a new medicine that appears to reverse a genetically based deficiency of the hormone insulin, which is the cause of diabetes mellitus or Type 1 diabetes. To test Ragus-A, the lab has modified the genes of chimpanzees to cause them to lack the insulin hormone and to pass that trait on to their offspring. The offspring are then treated with Ragus-A. The experiment involves regular injections of Ragus-A. The control group is not treated and exhibits symptoms of diabetes, including episodes of insulin shock under certain circumstances. As part of the test, mature monkeys are euthanized so the long-term effect of Ragus-A on the brain and other body parts can be determined. In 10 years, 30 monkeys have been used in the experiment, and 10 have been euthanized for examination. The tests are scheduled to last another six months. The Ragus-A experiments have not been publicized nor has the contract ever been announced. In fact, most New Health employees do not know about the program, and the public knows virtually nothing about the Ragus-A contract. You learn that ROAR (pROtectors of Animal Rights) has found out about the Ragus-A program and is planning to demonstrate outside the lab in just over a month. ROAR has been successful in generating media coverage of demonstrations at the National Institutes of Health and other private laboratories in the Washington area.

You are concerned about the negative publicity that could come from the protest especially the impact of publicity on New Health employees and on decision makers at New Health Labs at federal and state agencies and foundations that support the vast majority of the labs work. When Dr. Roxan Nagel, director of the Ragus-A program, is informed of the planned protest, she suggests that the entire project including all the monkeys and the four- person research team be moved quickly to a small New Health facility in another state. The lab could then deny the existence of the program and stall reporters and demonstrators for six months until the project could be concluded quietly. You inform Dr. Adam Davis, president of New Health Labs and a distinguished researcher, of the planned demonstration. Dr. Davis asks you to consider Dr. Nagels suggestions as you continue to develop your action plan. He asks you to develop a communication plan for what the lab should do.

Individual Assignment For this assignment, you are to write a memo (using your own name) addressed to Dr. Adam Davis outlining your plan to resolve this issue. Remember, that your memo will be made available to Dr. Nagel and others within the organization. In your recommendations, you should state what ethical issues you feel Dr Nagels suggestion may have. You should provide both long and short-term strategies that would solve this problem. To solve the problem you should note if additional resources or expenditures would be need to achieve the goals that you define. When writing the memo you should provide a brief description of the problems, you have found. What are the facts about major issues? Identify facts about key players in the case, the business problem(s) and then rank order the critical issues. Consider relevant information and underlying assumptions. Finally provide your recommendations. As you write your recommendations, think about the following; How do the cultural values at the company relate to communication, technology, information flow and openness? How would you suggest that they resolve this disparity? In other words what should they do? Provide specific suggestions that will help the organization as they go forward. In the closing, highlight benefits of your recommendations. As a PR director, you need to be honest but tactful in your recommendations.