A Case Study of the Leadership of Elizabeth Holmes

Abstract

Leading effectively affects the success or failure of the organisation. As CEO of start-up
Theranos, Elizabeth Holms has had great success since her practises are immoral. The
strengths of Holmes explain the company's success. She exemplified constructing linkages
and networks to increase her reputation, build a positive brand image, promote her blood
testing technology charismatically and promote her narcissistic push for marketing her
technology and winning investors. Narcissism, however, became a vulnerability as its pursuit
of personal money and glory led to the company's immoral behaviour. A number of ethical
borders have been violated by Holmes. By restricting the scientific screening of her blood test
technology, she resorted to confirmation error. This resulted in low moral standards,
unhappiness and distrust. By ignoring and hiding reports of exacting problems with blood
testing technologies, it jeopardises the lives of clients.

Investors were also disappointed by Holmes. Holmes did not engage in ethical behaviours
because a hierarchical down-to-earth company culture handed sole power over the decision-
making process, and the board of directors failed to oversee top management. The decision of
Holmes to take immoral action has been influenced by external variables, including demand
for alternative blood testing services, regulatory loophole and minimal external review. An
competent leader enhances strengths while dealing with or reducing negative impacts such as
narcissism. Even with limited organisational and external disruptions, an efficient leader does
not breach moral borders as this leads to the disappearance of the organisation.

Elizabeth Holmes' Leadership Case Study

For an organisation to succeed or fail, effective leadership is crucial. The characteristics,

motivations, actions and conduct of a leader affect not just the organisation, but also other
parties involved. Elizabeth Holmes is one example of a manager whose decisions and actions
as leader have led to a company's success as CEO, and to its downfall. The case study on
Elizabeth Holmes' leadership covers her position, strengths and weaknesses in the leadership
role, the ethical limits she crossed and its impact on the community, the aspects of her
behavioural organisational culture, external factors that influenced her decisions and the
results and lessons learned from her case. her research is also available in German.

The Status

The former CEO of the startup firm Theranos is Elizabeth Holmes. In 2003 they formed the
company to develop a portable blood test device which uses just a drop of blood for a wide
variety of assays (Jaeger, 2016). This technology was very useful, comfortable, affordable
and cost-effective. The potential in the medical diagnostic sector was disruptive and
transforming (Coffin, 2018). By 2013, the company was a long way from its desired
technological development level but lacked money. Between 2013 and 2015, $700 million in
investment money was made public by the corporation and raised fraudulently (Coffin,
2018). The company's valuation increased to $9 billion from investment (Waltz, 2017).

An article published in the Wall Street Journal alleged in 2015, in place of using its own
patented technologies, that the corporation used the blood testing products of other
companies for majority of its tests (Jaeger, 2016). This has led to civil and criminal
investigations of the company's blood testing services by the Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC), the Justice Department, and the Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
Centers. Due to shortcomings, CMS ordered the company's laboratory to suspend operations
in Newark, Calif. for two years in 2015. Walgreens broke its relationships and launched the
corporate case (Waltz, 2017). A SEC settlement with Theranos was reached on 14 March
2018. Holmes was fined at $500,000, a 10-year ban on the administration of a publicly owned
firm, and loss of management of the earnings of the company until full return was made to
investors (Coffin, 2018). In September 2018 Holmes was convicted of many fraud offences,
which amount to a $250,000 fine and up to 20 years' imprisonment for every count and (Neff,
2018).

Strengths and weaknesses of leadership

Elizabeth Holmes showed strength and weakness as a leader. Her strengths have explained
her capacity to determine her blood testing technique in public, recruit talent, advocates and
investors, and increase the valuation of the company. Her weakness reflects her engagement
in unethical practises that eventually led to her being charged with civil and criminal charges
and the company being dissolved.

Holmes' strength is its capacity to build relationships and networks on the basis of its
intellectual expertise in medical technology to enhance its reputation. Her main initial
contacts have been obtained by Stanford University (Waltz, 2017). First of all Holmes
established key links via a Stanford professor who introduced him to a person with essential
contacts to a start-up in health technology. Holmes has built up its credibility and its
reputation for its organisation through this early network.

Holmes's excellent brand image is another strength. She had an attractive narrative (Neff,
2011). By leaving the university and using her taught money to build an enterprise that strive
to produce a health technology which will assist many people worldwide, she has gained a
visionary and scientific brilliance. The traits of Steve Jobs were also embraced by her. She
chose a black turtleneck primarily to give her a sensitive appearance. In a low and deep voice,
she talked. She had wide unblinked eyes, which made her look exciting, determined and
dedicated. She too worked sixteen hours a day, leaving her office rarely. She kept the
business secrets of her company diligently. She was covered in a number of prominent
reviews.

The captivating advertising of their blood testing technique is yet another strength of Holmes.
Her self-proclaimed technological discovery in blood testing was successfully supported by
personal, but widely related stories (Jaeger, 2016). The storey of a relative who died as a
result of cancer was told by Holmes. Earlier cancer might have been found through cheap and
simple blood testing. Therapy might have saved her relative's life. She was frightened of
needles, too. For persons who are terrified of needles a blood testing method requiring a
sprinkling of blood is more comfortable for multiple testing. These histories have facilitated
the understanding and utility of Holmes' blood testing technology for many.

The Holmes' strength as well as weakness was narcissism. Narcissism improves a leader's
incentive for individual achievements, including praise and respect for taking on new
initiatives (Tucker, Croom, & Marino, 2017). Holmes continued her goal for over a decade to
create her advanced blood test technology. The effective use of the blood test technology may
have led to the scientific community, health practitioners, governments and consumers
praising and admiring a wide variety of stakeholders in their approach to the health problem
and revolutionising the health industry.

Narcissism however, became the weakness of Holmes when her focus on individual gains led
her to ignore suggestions on ways to remedy the precise issues of blood testing technologies,
misrepresent test results on blood testing capabilities and commit fraud by misrepresenting
her company's value in investing.

Holmes's strengths enabled her to experience the initial stage "the hybris of success" in
examining the strengths and weakness of Holmes in the five stages that led to a company's
collapse (Collins, 2009). Through her strengths, her trustworthiness has been built up, her
positive reputation has been established and her blood tests technology has generally been
accepted. However, her narcissism has resulted to successful hybris. She vigorously guarded
her business secret and blocked her technical scientific review. This leads to the second step
of "undisciplined further action," as Holmes attempts, despite laboratory reports of
inaccurascies, to broaden the availability of its blood testing equipment for customers. In
2013-2015 it enhanced the company's value in attracting huge investments, and fired people
into opposing its questionable actions. Finally, the third stage of the denial of risk and risk
occurred. In 2015, the fourth step of "greater salvation" was when the board was rebuilt to
bring together respected people to increase the firm's credibility and to offset irregularity
reports. In 2018, with the demise of the corporation, there came the fifth stage of
"capitulation to irrelevance or death."