Archives de l’auteur : yoannbazin

Entrepreneurship & Deception

Cases of deceptive entrepreneurs

  • Elizabeth Holmes at Theranos. Using the Theranos case study and the sources suggested below, retrace the evolution of the entrepreneur’s claims about the company, from slight exaggerations all the way to clear frauds. Present the chronological evolution of these claims showing how far/detached from reality they were at each point in time. Use the table below to evidence the deceptive claims, and try to identify the point at which exaggerations became lies, if not fraud.
  • Adam Neumann at WeWork. Using the sources suggested below, retrace the evolution of the entrepreneur’s claims about the company, from slight exaggerations all the way to clear frauds. Present the chronological evolution of these claims showing how far/detached from reality they were at each point in time. Use the table below to evidence the deceptive claims, and try to identify the point at which exaggerations became lies, if not fraud.
  • Elon Musk at Tesla. Using the sources suggested below, retrace the evolution of the entrepreneur’s claims about the company, from slight exaggerations all the way to clear frauds. Present the chronological evolution of these claims showing how far/detached from reality they were at each point in time. Use the table below to evidence the deceptive claims, and try to identify the point at which exaggerations became lies, if not fraud.
  • Bill Gates at Microsoft. How did Bill Gates get Microsoft’s first contract with IBM? Using the sources suggested below, describe the conditions under which the negotiations between IBM and Microsoft took place, their respective market positions, and the opportunity that Bill Gates detected in this context. Use the table below to evidence the deceptive claims, and try to identify the point at which exaggerations became lies, if not fraud.

Suggested template for the table

Quote of the entrepreneurSourceReal state of the companySourceType of deception
     
     

CIM – Theranos

The case study

CIM Theranos caseTélécharger

Assignments

  • A team of journalists specialized in corporate scandals. They will provide a legal update on the Theranos case. Since the scandal occurred and the case was written, both Elizabeth Holmes and Sunny Balwani were put on trial. Explain why they were trialed separately, how these trials went, the legal arguments of the accusation against both of them, and the final decisions of the judges.
  • A boutique consultancy specialized in corporate PR. They will provide an analysis of the construction of Elizabeth Holmes’ public image. Based on the case and additional sources (see suggestions below), they will detail how she presented herself in the media, with precise quotes and illustrations. Attention will be paid to the chronological progression of this image.
  • A group reads and analyses Gottschall (2016). The group will present the article’s thesis and main arguments, trying to illustrate with concrete examples as much as possible. After objectively synthesizing the text, some critical perspective will be given, based on other academic material (from the group’s own research), and the conclusion will express the group’s position regarding the thesis of the article.
  • A crisis management consulting firm. They will analyze Elizabeth Holmes’ defense after John Carreyrou’s article was published in the Wall Street Journal, both in the media and during the trial (see suggestions of sources below). In particular, they will underline the claims and arguments she used to justify that she was not responsible and/or could not be held accountable of what happened in Theranos. Particular attention will be paid to the diffusion strategies (how she blames other) and their organizational aspects (delegation of responsibility, size of the company, lack of experience or expertise, etc.)
  • A group reads and analyses Beu & Buckley (2004). The group will present the article’s thesis and main arguments, trying to illustrate with concrete examples as much as possible. After objectively synthesizing the text, some critical perspective will be given, based on other academic material (from the group’s own research), and the conclusion will express the group’s position regarding the thesis of the article.

Papers on Koch Industry

Doreain & Mrvar (2021)

  • Explain why it is relevant to analyze the network of the Koch brothers.
  • Present the sources and methods used for the network analysis.
  • Detail the results and the relevance of the most salient ones.
_Doreian & Mrvar 2021aTélécharger

Greenpeace – Koch pollution on campus

Koch Pollution on Campus – Greenpeace – GreenpeaceTélécharger

Greenpeace – Koch Industries: Secretly Funding the Climate Denial Machine

Full report here

Executive summary:

_Greenpeace 2010Télécharger

Brulle (2014)

Brulle 2014Télécharger

Brulle (2019)

_Brulle 2019Télécharger