Case Portfolio Part A

Problem statement - Elisabeth Holmes followed the individualism view in her

approach to moral reasoning - putting her self-interest first.

The individualism view focuses on the long-term advancements of self-interests and

considers whether a decision or behaviour promotes one's long-term self-interests
(Schermerhorn, 2022). From the outset of the establishment of Theranos, Holmes made
decisions which highly benefited her and modelled the company in a particular light
that she desired. Despite claiming that "[they're] trying to make a difference",
Holmes often utilised the downfall of others for her gain and deflected the
criticisms of outsiders (Gaim & Clegg, 2021). The fact that to begin Theranos, she
"used her family's retirement money" and "managed to persuade powerful people to
invest hundreds of millions of dollars" displays how the company was initially
funded by her own goals and self-interest, disregarding investors and her family
which allowed Theranos to launch (Gaim & Clegg, 2021). Additionally, Theranos were
deceiving in their claims to build trust among the public and investors as they
"overstated FDA's approval" of their technology for one test as opposed to the "200
tests" in which they claimed could be achieved (Gaim & Clegg, 2021). Furthermore,
Holmes appointed many prestigious figures to her board of directors in order to
"enhance the legitimacy" of Theranos despite few of them being involved in the
medical sphere (Gaim & Clegg, 2021). This allowed her to have "full control", only
making decisions which best suited her and her vision for Theranos while "not
hav[ing] to listen] to the board of directors despite them being responsible for
the interests of investors (Gaim & Clegg, 2021). These behaviours caused doubt to
begin to spread about to legitimacy of Theranos as a whole including their
technology, claims and results. Due to this doubt and their bold technological
claims of providing greater data with a "few drops of blood", it was revealed that
Theranos "relied on existing technology" to produce the results for their tests
(Gaim & Clegg, 2021). Therefore, Holmes decisions depict that individualism cannot
be relied upon to ensure that behaviours are ethically conducted (Schermerhorn,
2022). It is evident that the decisions made at Theranos were driven by a monetary
ethic, rather than in a way which would benefit the medical field (Schermerhorn,
2022).

Alternative solutions.

- Theranos/Holmes can be transparent within the organisation as well as the public

with the practicality and capabilities of their technology.

Advantages:

This will reduce the secrecy surrounding the company and would alleviate the doubt
among the public and medical sphere increasing their trust. The public would be
more likely to utilise their blood tests and medical practices to rely on their
tests for valid results.

This will be acting in Theranos' best interest as it will ensure longevity for the
company. If Theranos were to continue with their technological claims and decision
making, it would further damage their reputation, increasing their chances of
failure.

Disadvantages:

Revealing the ins and outs of their technology could take away from the competitive
advantage they have on other companies.

Revealing how Theranos conducted their tests could damage their reputation as it
would be revealed their technology is not as advanced as claimed and they utilise
testing machines from other companies.

- Theranos can seek continuous validation from third parties such as the FDA and
receive peer reviews.

Advantages:

Continued validation from the FDA and peer reviews ensures the credibility of
Theranos' technology and reliability providing investors and the public with
reassurance.

Peer reviews and FDA inspections allow Theranos to identify areas of improved as
well as continually improving their blood testing in order to provide accurate
results for more tests.

Disadvantages:

These processes consume many resources including time but most importantly
financial resources which will delay progress in technology and improving results

Processes in their production line and their testing trials may reveal errors,
weaknesses or flaws which will cost time and money to resolve as well as negatively
impacting position in the blood testing sector.

- For all future decisions, Theranos could consider the implications that it will
have on society as a whole and ensure that their technological claims, research and
results all remain legal in practice.

Advantages: