From Brewer to Bio-Tech Entrepreneur Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw trained to become a master brewer and learned about enzymes, the stuff from which bio-pharmaceuticals are made. Discovering it was impossible for a woman in India to become a master brewer, the 25-year-old Kiran decided to create a bio-pharmaceutical business. Kiran’s firm, Biocon, employed uneducated workers who loved their jobs and the living conditions made possible by their high wages. But when a labor union entered the scene and unionized the workers, a furious Kiran fired the workers, automated their jobs, and hired a smaller number of educated workers. Biocon continued to grow and today, Kiran’s wealth exceeds $1 billion. Kiran has become wealthy by developing and producing bio-pharmaceuticals that improve people’s lives. But Kiran is sharing her wealth in creative ways. She has opened a cancer treatment center to help thousands of patients who are too poor to pay and created a health insurance scheme.

QUESTIONS

■ Whose decisions in the story were taken in self interest?
■ Whose decisions turned out to be in the social interest?
■ Did any of the decisions harm the social interest?