If Samsung could go all the way back when the Note 7 released, my course of action suggested is first that Samsung shouldn’t have rushed the first release to beat the iPhone 7 release date. Clearly the Note 7 was not ready for consumer use, and my suggestion would be for Samsung to have no even release the Note 7 when they did. If that couldn’t have been stopped and the Note 7 was released when it was then after the first reported incident of an explosion, Samsung should have sent out a mass media message with a warning, and began a recall then and there, not let the problem escalate to more explosion incidents. Samsung should have addressed the incident immediately on all platforms, including their website, Twitter, and Facebook. Samsung should be very open and honest with its customers and stakeholders, instead of beat around the bush the issue at hand. After the first recall of the Note 7, Samsung should have stopped then and there and figured out what was going wrong with the Note 7. Not jump to conclusions that it was a battery issue. Samsung should have done extensive and intensive research and testing to figure out what the real issue was with the Note 7, and be honest with their finding to the public. If Samsung were to be more honest and transparent in their addresses to the media and consumers, I think that they would be more successful in holding onto the trust of their stakeholders.
The virtue theory is what I hold behind my reasoning. I think that Samsung should focus more on the means and less on the ends. By being impatient and with release date and deadlines, Samsung displayed poor judgement and poor character. Samsung released a faulty product due to impatience, and then tried covering up their damage to keep sales going. Their greed and lack of concern for their costumers was unethical. Honesty and trust are two important virtues in which Samsung disregarded during their messy damage control. Samsung broke their consumers trust in being greedy and impatient during their problem solving.
If Samsung were to be more patient, honest, and compassionate in dealing with their crisis, their outcome would have been far better. Samsung should offer compassion to their hurt consumers, and try with their hardest efforts to fix their problems with the people, rather than the problems with the product. After all, it is the people buying the product, not the product buying the people.
Samsung Galaxy Note 7 
I agree that Samsung should have prioritized their customers’ safety over trying to beat the iPhone 7 release date. They should have devoted more time to developing and testing a quality product. The company certainly has a long way to go before it will be able to reestablish trust with its customers.
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Samsung should have never pushed the release date, and especially shouldn’t have assumed the battery issue and put out a faulty replacement.
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I wonder if they could have used a system notification to send out a notification to the phones themselves, that way maximum coverage could be ensured.
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Wow I never thought about that! That’s a great idea. Something kind of like an amber alert sort of thing you get on an iPhone.
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Trust between companies and consumers is so important because it’s what keeps customer loyalty. I agree with your virtue framework.
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Honestly is the best policy! I agree trust really is what makes or breaks customer loyalty.
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I agree with you that Samsung shouldn’t have rushed to release their product. If they put more time and care into it, then they would not have released such a faulty product.
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