Theranos, the blood-testing startup once beloved by investors. has recently been under fire. Regulatory boards have frowned upon their lab's lack of compliance with CLIA laboratory testing standards, and as a result, the CEO of Theranos has been banned from operating labs in the United States. This resulted from a lack of efficient sharing of information, and it poses a ripe problem for the future leadership of the company to solve.
What is the best way to solve this problem? Should the leadership listen more to employees or consultants? After spending an entire quarter in my management class studying Theranos, it became more and more clear that the answer was not as simple as this essay's prompt would frame it to be. To solve major issues, such as those faced by Theranos, one must use consultants that listen to employees. …show more content…
If the technology is a blood test, and the process the standard protocols for running the test, then the people are the laboratory technicians. Yet if one is to enact major change in a company, all three components must be accounted for. In fact, a solution often involves 50% people-work, 30% process-work, and 20% technology-work. A careful study of the people component, particularly employees, is a vitally important for improving companies. Yet that will only take you halfway.
That is why the quote presented in the prompt is not exactly true. Sure, employee's opinions are critical to improving company efficiency, yet employees are experts on presenting information about themselves, and not so much the overarching processes they are involved in, or the technology that they use. To say that consultants who specialize in process and technology would be rendered unnecessary by just listening to employees would not be the whole
What is the best way to solve this problem? Should the leadership listen more to employees or consultants? After spending an entire quarter in my management class studying Theranos, it became more and more clear that the answer was not as simple as this essay's prompt would frame it to be. To solve major issues, such as those faced by Theranos, one must use consultants that listen to employees. …show more content…
If the technology is a blood test, and the process the standard protocols for running the test, then the people are the laboratory technicians. Yet if one is to enact major change in a company, all three components must be accounted for. In fact, a solution often involves 50% people-work, 30% process-work, and 20% technology-work. A careful study of the people component, particularly employees, is a vitally important for improving companies. Yet that will only take you halfway.
That is why the quote presented in the prompt is not exactly true. Sure, employee's opinions are critical to improving company efficiency, yet employees are experts on presenting information about themselves, and not so much the overarching processes they are involved in, or the technology that they use. To say that consultants who specialize in process and technology would be rendered unnecessary by just listening to employees would not be the whole