Etched in stone on the side of the Johnson & Johnson headquarters building in New Brunswick, New Jersey, the famed credo been seen as an oath of responsibility and the corporate equivalent of the Ten Commandments for countless generations of employees. “We believe our first responsibility is to the doctors, nurses and patients, to mothers and fathers and all others who use our products and services,” the opening line intones. Lately, though, the commitment to the guiding principles (you can read the entire credo here) has been called into question. Quality control lapses led to the recall of millions of over-the-counter products; congressional hearings; government investigations; hundreds of job losses; the retooling of a key plant; a reorganization of its consumer health unit, and hundreds of millions of dollars in lost sales.
