Designing a dangerous unicorn: Lessons from the Theranos case

Autor: Karla Straker, Cara Wrigley, Sean Peel, Erez Nusem
Rok vydání: 2021
Předmět:
Zdroj: Business Horizons. 64:525-536
ISSN: 0007-6813
DOI: 10.1016/j.bushor.2021.02.016
Popis: Until its highly publicised downfall, Theranos was a so-called unicorn; with a compelling proposition to popularise routine blood testing by making it more convenient, using a smaller sample of blood, and testing at a lower cost than conventional, often fear-inducing needles. Holmes and Theranos were reliant on their development of new technology to bring their idea to life, however they instead became perhaps one of the most infamous recent example of failed product innovation.In this paper we contend that, although character failings and alleged criminal activity could not have been realistically mitigated, valuable strategic and operational lessons can be learned for future technology start-ups. By conducting a counterfactual thought experiment and examining Theranos through the lens of Design Innovation (DI) we provide evaluations and predictions across strategic and operational constructs from both an internal and external perspective. A DI approach also applies methods and tools used by designers across a company as a whole – this mirrors an inventor-founder’s path from narrow product influence to broader environmental influences. We show that criticisms through the DI lens have specific and insightful bearing on Theranos because of its markedly poor strategic planning; manifest as a reliance on ideas and spin in place of tangible products and services. We use Theranos to demonstrate the value of DI to future technology-driven entrepreneurs, proposing alternative approaches to medical device start-ups.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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