Professional Ethics: A Theranos Story

About the course

The downfall of Elizabeth Holmes, founder of Theranos, has been told in many formats (books, podcasts, television). However, the story of Theranos, the company, the employees and other stakeholders have not been examined in-depth, especially from the perspective of ethical decision-making and organizational culture. In this on-demand, we will explore the Theranos fraud and key stakeholders using IESBA’s (International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants) five fundamental principles of ethics as the framework for our investigation: Integrity Objectivity Professional competence and due care Confidentiality Professional Behavior We will also examine how a lack of psychological safety and a toxic organizational culture compromised the ethical decision-making process of numerous stakeholders. After completion of this course, participants will be able to: 1. Identify elements of the fraud risk triangle 2. Identify behaviors that violate the IESBA Code of Ethics 3. Identify characteristics of an ethical organization 4. Describe characteristics of effective governance 5. Describe the relationship between psychological safety and ethical decision-making 6. Differentiate between the four quadrants of the productive conversation matrix 7. Identify characteristics of ethical leadership