Theranos, Inc.: Managing Risk in a High-Flying Biotech Start-Up

Authors
Kelley, C., Lee, S., Shields, V., O'Rourke, J. S. (editor)
Region
North America
Topic
Strategy & General Management
Human Resources & Organizational Behavior
Entrepreneurship
Length
15 pages
Keywords
Brand Management
corporate cluture
crisis management
customer communication
entrepreneurship
healthcare
investor relations
media relations
reputation management
Copyright Holder
Notre Dame
Student Price
$4.00
Target Audience
Graduate Students
Undergraduate Students

Theranos became one of the most exciting start-ups in Silicon Valley when it introduced a simplified blood testing method that had the potential to help countless people. However, a 2015 Wall Street Journal article changed everything. Suddenly, Theranos went from being viewed with praise to suspicion.

Learning Outcomes
  1. To examine the responsibility of the company in a highly regulated industry that releases a technology to the public with little to no oversight.
  2. To provide an example in which a company issues statements at odds with the available information.
  3. To analyze a company’s ability or inability to control the narrative after a whistleblower speaks to a highly credible news source.
  4. To demonstrate the conflict between transparency and secrecy in technological innovations in terms of regulation.
  5. To encourage discussion regarding the interpretation of and trust in significant technological advances.