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AMB374 Global Public Relations Assessment 1

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Contents
1.0 Case Summary.............................................................2
2.1 Case Study Factors......................................................4
3.0 Case Context...............................................................6
4.0 The public relations problem........................................8
5.0 The public relations action and approach......................9
6.0 Outline of decision-making criteria.............................10

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1.0 Case Summary

Nestl Indian is the parent company with Nestl S.A and subsumed
into Indian subsidiary in 1959. With the iconic product- Maggi
noodle was Indias largest brand of instant noodles with 70% in
market share (Singh, Aggarwal, & Kaur, 2016).
On 21 May, Nestl Indian has faced an emerge crisis with their 2
minutes Maggi noodles of Nestl product has been tested out that
samples of Maggi noodles contained higher level of lead and MSG
(monosodium glutamate), which was unsafe and hazardous (Fry,
2015). In the preliminary stage, Nestl has responded to the issues
with rejected and declined that the noodle product is unsafe in their
website and social media platform. However, a recall and banned
action was ordered by FSSAI (The food safety and Standards
Authority of India), then the FSSAI of Delhi also banned the sale in
their regained, so as Tamil Nadu, Uttarakahand and Jammu &
Kashmir. The Maggi noodle crisis has been a huge impact on
consumers, investors, government, Nestl global company and
employees. During the development of the crisis, the brand
reputation has been damaged and the crisis cannot be minimized in
local level but continued expanded to global level.

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2.0

Fact

Date

Development of the crisis

21 May 2015

North Indian state of Uttar Parades declared

the samples of Maggi noodles tested contained
higher than permitted levels of monosodium
glutamate and lead. Then FSSAI order Nestl
Indian to recall all the product (Singh,
Aggarwal, & Kaur, 2016).
Nestl India respond to the issues by declined
the existing problem and announced that their
products are safe in the website and Facebook
(Singh, Aggarwal, & Kaur, 2016).
Nestl India stated that an extensive testing
has taken with result of no excess lead in
Maggi Noodle (Singh, Aggarwal, & Kaur, 2016).
Bihar order s First Informational Report by
charged against Indian celebrities endorsing
the Maggi brand. Meanwhile, Nestl India have
interacted the customers through their social
platform with respond of thank their support
toward their brand (Digital marketing industry
case study library, 2015).
The government of the National Capital
territory of Delhi banned the sale of Maggi in
New Delhi for 15 days (Singh, Aggarwal, &
Kaur, 2016).
The food regulator of the state of Gujarat
banned Maggi noodle for a limited period.
Nestl India releases on its website lab test
results of Maggi samples showing that the lead
quantity is below FSSAI-prescribed levels
(Nestl, 2016)
The FSSAI banned the Maggi noodle and order
Nestl Indian to recall all product that available
in the India market. A further compliance
reposts and daily process report on the recall
actions are also requested (BBC news, 2015 ).
Sales of Maggi noodle among India were
banned for an indefinite time period by
government (ABC Net, 2015)
The FSSAI has commenced proceedings against
Maggi, the Confederation of All India Traders demand
action against the brand ambassadors and the officials
who approved the product (Nestl, 2016)
Bombay High Court allows Nestl India to

22 May 2015

1 June 2015

2 June 2015

3 June 2015

4 June 2015

5 June 2015

6 June 2015

7 June 2015

1 July 2015
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24 July 2015

export Maggi noodle from India instead of

destroy them (Singh, Aggarwal, & Kaur, 2016)
Nestl announces that Nestl India managing
director Etienne Benet will be l relocating to
Nestl Group Head Office in Switzerland and
Suresh Narayanan would be former CEO and
chairman of Nestl Philippines (Nestl, 2016).

2.1 Case Study Factors

Stakeholder involvement
In the Maggi noodle recall action, there are some primary
stakeholder affected under the situation, included employees of
Nestl India, investors, consumer and government.
Since the FSSAI banned the production, export and sale of Maggi
noddle, some employees who in charge of the production have been
relocated to manufacturing in another product line. Additionally,
some suppliers also noticed their employees did not need to report
for work as the product have been banned. On the other hands, the
investors also suffering from the financial impact, with lost nearly $1
billion dollars in one trading session (The time of India Buniness ,
2015). Consumer of Indian also lost faith in packaged food and have
negative emotions towards the crisis, by calling the crisis Maggi
betrayal in the main media channel (Roy, 2015). At least, the
government of India also is a primary stakeholder in the case
regarding the action of recall, the product test and lawsuit against
the Nestle, the government also required a daily report due to the
recall action.

Media bias
During the crisis, nestle India used digital platform (included
Facebook, twitter account and official website) reassured their
customer that the products are safe and update the process of
investigate. Moreover, nestle India opened a section of the FAQ page
on their website to assist customer understanding the situation
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(Verma, 2015). However, the responds periods are slow and have
extended gap between 22 May 2015 to 1 June, 2015.

Organisation culture
Nestle is a global organisation that one of the largest and the best
brand of food manufacturer. Good food is a primary source of good
health is attached in their logo, their mission to their product and
the guidance that drive to their organisation activity (Bindaasgrl,
2014). By making better food impact them into people better life,
Nestle pays highly attention to their food safety and believes in
themselves can bring customers foods that are safe and high
quality. Hence, the committee to achieve zero accidents as safety is
a foundation of the company value (Nestl, 2016). To create value
for the products that can be sustained over a long time for their
stakeholder, such as consumers, business partner, employees.

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3.0 Case Context

Local, national and global impact
The crisis of Maggi noodle recall action affected in the local level,
then expanded into national and global level. The Maggi noodle has
80% market share in the India market, and is one of the largest
brand food supply in the market. The test result of Maggi noodle
contained MSG and lead, that have an impact on the performance of
other instant noodle brands in the industry, withdraws sale by threefourth during the Maggi noodle crisis (Bhushan & Bailay, 2015).
Maggi noodle is a favourite food among India, popular with the
factor of cheap, convenient and tasty. The retailer has to withdraw
products from store and some roadside eateries also faced the
problem with decreased income affected the banned or Maggi (BBC
news, 2015 ). Due to the circumstance, the consumer in India leads
into angry by the withdraw action. Furthermore, in the national
trend of obesity in Indian cities and Nestle launched their product
with a symbol of middle- class opposition against the laborious
Indian cooking traditional (Lakshmi, 2015), which also become an
issue with the culture and national level. The perception of the
company has been changed through the social and culture, it is hard
to recover their reputation over the crisis (Martello, 2016 ). In the
global impact, the recall action cannot be minimum damage in local
level, but it expanded to the global level, with multiple of countries
have paced test over the Maggi noodle, included U.K, Singapore and
Delhi. Moreover, the crisis has also become big new in media as
Nestle is an international company with export their product over
the world (Chhabara, 2015).

Legal issue
After the test of Maggi noodle contained higher level than permitted
lead and MSG, the government have ordered the company took the
recall action on May 21, 2015. In July 1, 2015, the Bombay High
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Court permitted nestle continued to export Maggi noddle (MAGGI

Noodles timeline of events, 2016). However, Nestle has been facing
a lawsuit (RS 640-croe class action) against the Indian government,
with the authority sued for the sale of a defective product, the sale
of product and unfair trade practices without approval. The food and
safety department stated that Maggi mainly consumed among the
children and Nestle advertisement also target to the children, which
they afraid of the food safety problem may harmful to the main
target audience. The government of India is seeking for 6.4 billion
rupees ($99 million) based on the Nestle market size, number of
consumers and complaints that they received (Andrade, 2015).

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4.0 The public relations problem

A food and safety test of Maggi noodle was undertaken by the north
Indian state of Uttar Pradesh on May 21 ,2016, then discovered that
Maggi noodle have been tested contained with higher- thanpermitted level of lead and monosodium glutamate. A recall action
also ordered by the government with not only in local level, but also
become national and have global impact that multiple country take
tests on Maggi noodle. The crisis has huge impact on audience
perception and the credibility towards the company.
This is affected Nestle global company, consumer, employees,
government and investor. Each stakeholder has an extent to
influence the decide- making process. Nestle global company has
sent their CEO Paul Buckle to India to measure the crisis in the first
place. The crisis had directly affected the reputation and sale of
nestle global and India, the organisation value has been challenged.
Employees also affected by the crisis, as the employees may need
to address to another place to work or unemployed because the
banned action. Consumers have lost confidence in the package food
product and concern about the food safety issues, the harm become
so huge as their perception towards Maggi as a significant food
among the market. The government has shown as they pay higher
attention to the crisis not only requested to destroy and recall Magi
noodle but also wrote to Delhi for ask to ban the product and
cancelled the trading licence (Singh, Aggarwal, & Kaur, 2016).
Investor has lost around $1 billion dollars during the issue and
continued to have financial impact during the crisis (The time of
India Buniness , 2015).
This crisis has made a huge damaged towards the brand reputation
and brand image, with lost trust and credibility from their product
and the brand itself. During the development of the crisis, it also has
a different level of influence towards the stakeholder. To prevent the

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reputation damage, Nestle needs to address the problem with

approach public relations strategy though dealing the crisis.

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5.0 The public relations action and

approach
In the Maggi noodle crisis, nestle took less action towards the crisis.
After receiving the recall request from the FDA in Uttar Pradesh, the
company did not immediate access to the order or given a
formatted media press to the public. But they posted a post on
social media platform to state their product are safe on 21May, 2015
(see image 1), which is different from the government result
towards Maggi noodle. Furthermore, the Nestle India CEO- Suresh
Narayanan also stated that the test on the Maggi noodle were highly
unreliable on BBC channel (Kannan, 2015). According to Coombs
(1998), attacking the accuser is one of the crisis strategy, which is
defensive strategy, however, an accommodation strategies are
should be taken when the crisis situation becomes worsened.
Nestle shows slow responses after the recall action have been
noticed by the company. Within a week of extending a gap from 22
May, 2015 to 1 July, 2015, nestle starts to respond directly with the
customers through digital platform. However, it is important that the
crisis communication should be addressed in quickly to maintain
public confidence and minimize the damage (Levine, 1994). On 5
June, 2016, Nestle sat a press conference to the news with a short
statement that decided to withdraw the product off shelves (Singh,
Aggarwal, & Kaur, 2016). During the crisis period, Nestle has
responded to media request, but not have not much media press,
media release or public statement to inform the stakeholder of the
situation but tried to control the situation through social media.

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6.0 Outline of decision-making criteria

The crisis of Maggi noodle decision-making involves influences from
crisis communication and stakeholders, working theory.
In product harm cries of crisis communication, there are two
responses that Nestle has taken to address their problem, included
Denial and forced compliance (Siomkos, 1994). In the first stage of
the Maggi noodle crisis, Nestl decided to deny the food test result
organised by the government, claimed that there is no threat in
their noodle product. Then, moved to the forced compliance with the
government placed and forced the product recall process.
With the pressure for the government through the recall action and
lawsuit, negative effect on the sale of recall product, market share
may be affected the investor and the Nestle global company. Nestle
have the priorities to solve the crisis in a technology side by arguing
the test result of Maggi noodle, instead of communicating with
stakeholders, using consumer insight or identified the PR crisis.
In the working theory, Attribution theory has been applied and
connected in this case. Attribution theory identified that peoples
need to search for a cause of the crisis (Weiner, 1986), and as the
crisis is negative and happened in sudden, people are more likely to
address attributions of responsibility. In crisis responses with
stakeholder blame Nestle for the food safety issues and intense
action included burned Maggi noodle on the street. Additionally, to
access the crisis with the consideration of how digital media and
stakeholders opinion towards the crisis (Coombs W. T., 2014), that
Nestle also try to access in new media but not did well in the part of
stakeholder.

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6.0 References
ABC Net. (2015). Retrieved from Nestle noodles 'unsafe' and violate food
safety laws, says India regulator; Maggi products withdrawn:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-06-05/maggi-noodles-withdrawnin-india-amid-lead-safety-concerns/6525520
Andrade. (2015). India hits Nestle with $99 million lawsuit after noodle
scare. Retrieved from Reuters : http://www.reuters.com/article/usnestle-india-lawsuit-idUSKCN0QH0UO20150812
BBC news. (2015 ). Retrieved from Maggi noodles withdrawal leads to
anger in India: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-33018101
Bhushan, R., & Bailay, R. (2015). Maggi row: Sale of instant noodles from
other brands falls as much as 80% across India . Retrieved from The
Economic Times:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/consproducts/food/maggi-row-sale-of-instant-noodles-from-other-brandsfalls-as-much-as-80-across-india/articleshow/47578935.cms
Bindaasgrl. (2014). Scribd. Retrieved from Organizational Culture:
https://www.scribd.com/doc/57021171/Organizational-Culture
Chhabara, R. (2015). Ethical Corporation. Retrieved from Asia column:
Lessons from Nestls crisis in India.
Coombs, W. T. (1998). An analytic framework for crisis situations: Better
responses from a better understanding of the. Journal of Public
Relations Research, 177-190.
Coombs, W. T. (2014). Crisis Management and Communications (Updated
September 2014). Retrieved from The Science Beneath the Art of
Public Relations: http://www.instituteforpr.org/crisis-managementcommunications/
Digital marketing industry case study library. (2015). Retrieved from Crisis
management case study: Nestls Maggi noodles banned in India:
http://www.digitaltrainingacademy.com/casestudies/2015/07/crisis_
management_case_study_nestles_maggi_noodles_banned_in_india_
1.php
Fry, E. (2015). Nestls Half-Billion-Dollar Noodle Debacle in India.
Retrieved from Fortune: http://fortune.com/nestle-maggi-noodlecrisis/
Kannan, S. (2015). BBC news. Retrieved from Maggi noodles go back on
sale in India after recall: http://www.bbc.com/news/business34759615
Lakshmi, R. (2015). Maggi, Indias favorite instant noodles, is facing a ban.
The middle class is calling it betrayal. Retrieved from The
Washington Post:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/06/03/
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maggi-indias-favorite-instant-noodles-is-facing-a-ban-the-middleclass-is-calling-it-betrayal/
Levine, L. (1994). Listening with spirit and the art of team dialogu. Journal
of Organisational, 61-73.
MAGGI Noodles timeline of events. (2016). Retrieved from Nestle India :
https://www.nestle.in/aboutus/ask-nestle/answers/maggi-noodlesindia-overview-timeline
Martello, W. B. (2016 ). The Economic Times. Retrieved from Maggi ban
impact: Nestle India may take 3 years to recoVER:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/consproducts/food/maggi-ban-impact-nestle-india-may-take-3-years-torecover/articleshow/51114562.cms
Nestl. (2016). Nestl Indian. Retrieved from Performance Culture:
https://www.nestle.in/jobs/your-caree-at-nestl%C3%A9/performanceculture/home
Rana, P. (2015). The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from Nestl Recalls
Maggi Noodles in India Amid Food Scare:
http://www.wsj.com/articles/nestle-india-recalls-maggi-noodlesamid-consumer-concerns-1433476118
Roy, S. (2015). First posts. Retrieved from Taste bhi, health bhi? Betrayal
by Maggi has broken our good Indian hearts:
http://www.firstpost.com/living/taste-bhi-health-bhi-betrayal-bymaggi-has-broken-our-good-indian-hearts-2277192.html
Singh, H., Aggarwal, R., & Kaur, R. (2016). Newtlw India limited: maggi
noodles at war with the regulators . IVEY Publishing .
Siomkos, G. J. (1994). The hidden crisis in product harm crisis
management. European Journal of Marketing, 30.
The time of India Buniness . (2015). Retrieved from Nestle stock dives 11%
as its Maggi troubles mount:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Nestlestock-dives-11-as-its-Maggi-troublesmount/articleshow/47535922.cms
Verma, A. (2015). Digital Vidya. Retrieved from Nestle Maggi Noodles
Banned In India Crisis Management:
http://www.digitalvidya.com/blog/nestle-maggi-noodles-banned-inindia-crisis-management/
Weiner, B. (1986). An attributional theory of motivation and emotion. New
York: NY: Springer-Verlag.

AMB374 Global Public Relations Cases - Assessment 1 Written

critique (25%)
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Grade

Marks

20-17

16.5-15

14.5-13

You consistently and correctly integrate

and apply a very good knowledge of
public relations theory and practice.
You include both broad discipline
perspectives and discussion specific to
the public relations practice area of the
case.

You correctly integrate and apply good

knowledge of public relations theory
and practice. You consider broad
discipline perspectives and the public
relations practice area of the case.

You demo
relations t
them to y
broad dis
considera
practice a

You provide a brief, but very thorough,

summary of the case. You clearly
identify and critically discuss all key
facts, factors, and contexts of the
case. You include excellent support
from well-selected case-related
research from both the case
organisation and practice area.

You provide a brief, but thorough,

summary of the case. You clearly
identify and discuss all key facts,
factors, and contexts of the case. You
include strong support from additional
case-related research from both the
case organisation and practice area.

You provide a brief summary of the

case. You identify key facts, factors,
and contexts of the case. You include
support from additional case-related
research from both the case
organisation and practice area.

You prov
case. You
contexts
include s
case-rela
organisat

You provide an excellent definition of

the public relations problem, using
Brooms structure. You provide a brief
summary with excellent overview of
the approach and actions of the
organisation in the case.

You provide a strong definition of the

public relations problem, using
Brooms structure. You provide a brief
summary with strong overview of the
approach and actions of the
organisation in the case.

You provide a sound definition of the

public relations problem, using
Brooms structure. You provide a brief
summary with sound overview of the
approach and actions of the
organisation in the case.

You prov
relations
structure
of the ap
organisat

You effectively identify and justify the

decision-making criteria you consider
was adopted by the case organisation.
You provide excellent discussion of
the approach and actions, using
decision-making criteria.

You effectively identify and justify the

decision-making criteria you consider
was adopted by the case organisation.
You provide very strong discussion of
the approach and actions, using
decision-making criteria.

You effectively identify and justify the

decision-making criteria you consider
was adopted by the case organisation.
You provide strong discussion of the
approach and actions, using decisionmaking criteria.

You iden
justificatio
criteria yo
the case
discussio
actions, u

Knowledge and technological skills (KS)

Demonstrate and
apply integrated
discipline
knowledge across
the broad field of
business with
depth in public
relations

You consistently and correctly integrate

and apply an excellent knowledge of
public relations theory and practice.
You include both broad discipline
perspectives and discussion specific to
the public relations practice area of the
case.

20 marks

Higher order thinking (HO)

Case summary
and discussion
20 marks

Public relations
problem definition
and approach
adopted by case
organisation
20 marks
Analysis of the
approach and
actions of the
case organisation
20 marks

Professional communication (PC)

Written
communication
20 marks

You organise content clearly and

logically in a report format, and make
no technical errors. You correctly use a
recognised referencing style (eg APA),
where required. You present your
report in a professional style to the
highest of standards.

1 | Page

You organise content clearly and

logically, but make one or two technical
errors. You correctly use a recognised
referencing style (eg APA), where
required. You present your report in a
professional style.

You organise content clearly and make

few technical errors. You correctly use
a recognised referencing style (eg
APA), where required. You present
your report in a professional style.

Your conten
guide the re
technical er
using a reco
where requ
or omission
in a basic fo