Lance Armstrong Case Analysis 2
When Bullying Leads to Believing
“Following Lance Armstrong: Excellence Corrupted case study, written by Clayton Rose and Noah Fisher 2014, of Global Research Group for Harvard Business School.”
When it came to the sport of cycling, Lance possessed characteristics that made him unique. His ability to take in and use oxygen effectively was higher than an average man by 90% and a trained and active many by 42%. Lance also produced less lactic acid than others, which allowed him to dominate the shorter races (Rose & Fisher, 2014). By the time he was 21, Lance had already ridden in his first tour and won the U.S. Pro Championship. Lance Armstrong also cheated death at the young age of 25. He won the battle against cancer when he was diagnosed with testicular cancer that then spread to his lungs and brain (Rose & Fisher, 2014). Lance vowed to return to the cycling world someday and that he did. Taking with him the hearts of Americans. Could all these achievements have create a man that thought he was so invincible that he could bully his way to the top, have people lie for him and also bring down all those around him who thought he cheated while still believing it wasn’t “cheating”?
With personal sponsors such as Nike, Oakley and Giro and creating the Lance Armstrong Foundation, Lance became an iconic figure. In 1997, when the USPS (United States Postal Service) sponsored the U.S. cycling team, they also took a chance with Lance. It was a rocky start until Johan Bruyneel became the team director and changed Lance’s training schedule and regime (Rose & Fisher, 2014). Armstrong was the key decision maker when it came to the team such as choosing the other riders, the doctors and the support staff.
In an interview with Oprah Winfrey, Lance describes doping as leveling the playing field because everyone else was doing it. This could be considered rules based (Ghillyer, 2014) as he is doing it the same as everyone else. Tyler Hamilton had doped for the
“Following Lance Armstrong: Excellence Corrupted case study, written by Clayton Rose and Noah Fisher 2014, of Global Research Group for Harvard Business School.”
When it came to the sport of cycling, Lance possessed characteristics that made him unique. His ability to take in and use oxygen effectively was higher than an average man by 90% and a trained and active many by 42%. Lance also produced less lactic acid than others, which allowed him to dominate the shorter races (Rose & Fisher, 2014). By the time he was 21, Lance had already ridden in his first tour and won the U.S. Pro Championship. Lance Armstrong also cheated death at the young age of 25. He won the battle against cancer when he was diagnosed with testicular cancer that then spread to his lungs and brain (Rose & Fisher, 2014). Lance vowed to return to the cycling world someday and that he did. Taking with him the hearts of Americans. Could all these achievements have create a man that thought he was so invincible that he could bully his way to the top, have people lie for him and also bring down all those around him who thought he cheated while still believing it wasn’t “cheating”?
With personal sponsors such as Nike, Oakley and Giro and creating the Lance Armstrong Foundation, Lance became an iconic figure. In 1997, when the USPS (United States Postal Service) sponsored the U.S. cycling team, they also took a chance with Lance. It was a rocky start until Johan Bruyneel became the team director and changed Lance’s training schedule and regime (Rose & Fisher, 2014). Armstrong was the key decision maker when it came to the team such as choosing the other riders, the doctors and the support staff.
In an interview with Oprah Winfrey, Lance describes doping as leveling the playing field because everyone else was doing it. This could be considered rules based (Ghillyer, 2014) as he is doing it the same as everyone else. Tyler Hamilton had doped for the
References: Blanding, M. (2013). Lessons from the Lance Armstrong Cheating Scandal. Retrieved from http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/7308.html Ghillyer, A. (2012). Business Ethics Now (4th ed.). : McGraw-Hill. Morlidge, M. (2015, January 26). Lance Armstrong says he would cheat again if cycling career started over…and believes it’s time to be forgiven after drugs shame. Retrieved from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/othersports/article-2927113/Lance-Armstrong-says-cheat-cycling-career-started-over.html Rose, C. & Fisher, N. (2014, October 7). Following Lance Armstrong: Excellence Corrupted. Harvard Business School, 9-314-015. Retrieved from https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu Schrotenboer, B. (2014). Lance Armstrong at impasse with feds over evidence. Retrieved from: http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/cycling/2014/12/03/lance-armstrong-at-impasse-with-feds-over-evidene