The Uber Case: Background Summary / Business Conditions Rarely does a technologi

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The Uber Case: Background Summary / Business Conditions Rarely does a technological innovation come along to disrupt daily existence for so many so fast. Ride hailing, and the application behind it, driven by Uber literally created a “revolution” in urban transportation. Controversial, yet so helpful for consumers, Uber clearly filled a major unmet need - legally or illegally perhaps. Customers flock to the platform in droves, making it one of the most widely used applications. Meanwhile, traditional taxi and limo drivers aren’t exactly fans. They often petition to have Uber stopped. Dissent grows. All hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing at Uber, with concerns raised about demand pricing, driver qualification, safety, insurance, and most recently just plain bad behavior. Believers shrug this off as critics always decry a good thing when it becomes top dog. Others, however, have brought forward quite serious allegations of blatant sexual harassment, abusive management and “aggressive, unrestrained workplace culture.”1 ,2 The troubles at Uber may be endemic of the Silicon Valley approach though, in highly competitive markets. Even tech giants like Amazon with similar CEOs like Jeff Bezos have come under scrutiny for tough, demanding work environments. Whether diversity lags at these kind of institutions due to lack of access, interest, skill sets, or willingness to put up with certain behavior, remains to be clarified. But from the outside looking in, many claim business climate isn’t good, and staff take the brunt of the trauma in forcing forward revolutionary gains. This assertive culture of disruption at Uber specifically, however, emboldened some to act outside norms. Going above and beyond to compete might be one thing, but there are also lines for managers never to cross. Uber took action after an inquiry led by the Board, and at least 20 employees were let go.3 Employee Values / Vision / and Loyalty Adjustment Every business may have disgruntled employees, and former staff “naysayers.” “Sour grapes” are not unusual. Yet, rumors of reported mistreatment surfaced at Uber in ways nobody expected. Could it be that “the good old boy’s club” morphed into the brazen start-up environment? As accusations came forward, execs scoffed. Reports say HR didn’t take action. Perhaps they looked the other way too often, if claims prove true. Or HR was simply too busy to notice the growing tide and manage down to the details. Suddenly, the CEO was caught off guard, and had to take “extended” time off. This sent shock waves across investors, customers, and staff alike.4 Leadership and Management Reorientation Given the negative publicity, Uber needed to bring in some other voices and approaches. New leadership and ideology have tentatively been sought to “change the tires while going 90 miles an hour.” Uber must continue to be relentless to ward off competition, and address growing waves of legislative initiatives by cities and municipalities limiting access. Changes continue to occur to enhance the Uber service value proposition.5 The founder of Uber, and driving force, Travis Kalanick (called TK), is yet another case of a rising star with a compelling vision and appetite for risk for reward. Lauded by some as a “tech world rock star” TK played the line on ethics in many cases to get success. His personal bravado lives through his guiding principles for Uber including “always be hustlin’ and super pumped” as cornerstones of his business philosophy.6 In order for workers to believe new leadership really has a vested stake in improvement, staff must see behaviors expected, and connect to the implicit assumptions that it is essential for both the business and staff to thrive. Yet, TK remains a huge presence and force as the largest shareholder potentially seeking to return (a.k.a. Steve Jobs). Driverless cars may be on the horizon, but for the foreseeable future drivers are Uber’s competitive advantage. Those people are not staff technically, but rather contractors. Uber must turn around the perception that management is self-absorbed and out of touch, drivers will have to feel connection, and high turnover must dissipate. Working Conditions and Employee Morale Overall, Uber has so many good things going. Demand continues. Scandal hasn’t devastated business so far. They aren’t going out of business anytime soon. But competitors like Lyft are gaining market share. Investors have pulled out. Some customers have even left, boycotting, reporting to friends and family that they can get around just fine (without variable demand pricing). Potential recruits are wary of working at a firm where allegations of mistreatment and abuse characterize the day-to-day environment. Many of the “founding few” are still among the hierarchy. Worries exist that Uber may not be the amazing place to work it once had been heralded. Or at least the future and draw has become less clear. You are asked to intervene to assist Uber to figure out what to do, when, and how to rebuild. Devise a strategy and implementation plan moving forward to resolve the most salient issues, and get Uber back on a growth track. Your plan should primarily focus around the challenges facing the human capital concerns and consequences. Case Study Guidelines: Write a 1,500 word case study describing how you might advise and help Uber. The issues need to be addressed on multiple levels including operational, technology, employee engagement, leadership, morale and commitment – and put into the larger context of a slow growth global economy, increased competition, and possibly additional local government disagreements involving taxi and labor factions. Specifically, what are the major areas of concern you have about the current situation at Uber in terms of the challenges in the current business context? What data might be gathered and analyzed to understcompetitors under scrutiny vs. spring uniquely from this specific situation, leadership, and originating staff at Uber? In what ways might new leader positioning and the relationships with employees improve? What benefits might be gained by suggested consultative intervention at Uber? What risks or downsides might need to be avoided? What tradeoffs need to be evaluated? How might individual staff, work teams, and the overarching organization as a whole be involved to understand what to do now? How could successful change be measured? What might indicate that the intervention had addressed the most important problems needing to be addressed? What might a realistic practical business solution involve and entail? From a personal and professional development perspective, what components from previous training, education, and work experience would help you to investigate, inform and improve the situation for Uber? Why might you be the best candidate to address these issues? What personal strengths, skills and abilities could be utilized so as to be selected in competition to earn this assignment? How might taking on this assignment through the NYU I/O Psychology program address your professional development and career aspirations? Your case study must be unique and an original work of your own creation. The document submitted must not exceed 1,500 words, not including references. The essay should be solely of your own writing and ideas. Content beyond 1,500 words will not be considered. As science, parsimony is key. You may cite research, or other ideas by including explicit references for any external resources paraphrased or copied from other sources. Evidence that this case study has quoted material or ideas lifted without proper reference or written by third parties will result in application rejection. This assignment is designed to personally engage and reflect your understanding of models of psychology, business, science, analytical methods, and your professional development goals in the service of applied problem solving.

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Requried: Introduction and overview (500- 600) words

1. Introduction

Brief introduction to Uber

2. Overview

2.1. Employee Values / Vision / and Loyalty Adjustment

Describe these items or some of them briefly.

Disgruntled employees, and former staff “naysayers

Accusations (mistreatment that has been occurred. (The reaction of HR, i didn’t take action)

Impact on stakeholder (This sent shock waves across investors, customers, and staff alike)

Explanation / Answer

Uber was one of the pioneers of integrating Technology within the transportation industry through introduction of a digital platform for availing of cab services. It was founded in 2009 and by 2014 it has become the largest venture supported company offering its services in 53 countries and over 200 cities in an aggressive and unprecedented growth model. The company is valued at well over US dollar 40 billion presently which is in excess of a complete total value of the US taxi and Limousine industry. Uber got its equation right from the beginning by filling the huge gap that existed in the transportation industry for reduction of waiting time and ease of access. It integrated both these features in its application, providing unique transportation experience for its uses through constant upgrades and extension of services to constantly increment the value provided to the customer there by optimising customer satisfaction. Being a customer service intensive industry Uber realised the value of customer support and satisfaction above all else. To achieve this it integrated customer feedback within the application to enable it to take immediate action and implement control measures in case of dissatisfied customers.

Uber has done exceptionally well in marketing with brand and creating excel and brand awareness show the results that the brand is well recognised and people world over identified with it. It focuses intensively on customer service and delivers exceptionally High Quality Services by ensuring that all the drivers extensively verified, and also provides Elite services through introduction of it's special Uber black range. The company has an exceptionally large fleet of vehicles at its disposal and its incorporation has ensured that regular taxi service regulations are not applicable for uber. The company has very low operational cause due to the fact that it does not need to pay large salaries to drivers as a does not employ any full time drivers directly. It encourages independent interaction between the customer and the driver and maintains control through customer feedback over the application. The company growth rate has ensured that it does not have any major competitors with Lyft being its strongest competitor. The introduction of cashless payment system issues it maintains control over payments and ensures that customers are not overcharged. The feedback system in the form of the dual rating system encourages trust in the company by the customers and provides a feeling of safety on the rides. The system is not only convenient for the passengers but also proved beneficial for the drivers as it offers them flexible hours and the option of rejecting unwanted and unviable clients. It ensures adequate flexibility to the drivers and thus ensures their loyalty to the organisation. Uber is able to successfully control all competition due to its exceptionally low pricing as compared to the competition especially traditional taxi operators. The high growth rate and valuation of the company ensures that it never lacks for investment in the form of capital as it has large availability of prospective investors, who want to profit from the brand image of the company and its growth trajectory.

Uber may have written a success story tough to match but is plagued by various internal and external challenges that threaten its growth trajectory and expansion, as these are creating a serious Dent in the image of the company. These challenges involve issues of general animosity towards the company buy traditional taxi drivers and rampant complaints from customers about bad behaviour of drivers, sexual harrassment and demand pricing being few of the major issues which exhibit lackadaisical management and control over the entire network. The issue does not seem to be the range of complaints but rather the attitude of the company depicted by is ignoring customer complaints and simply looking the other way. the problems encountered by Uber cannot be said to be generic. The voice at the top makes a major difference 2 attitude and behaviour prevalent within the entire organisation and Uber seems to have adopted an assertive culture of disruption focused on maximization of profits symbolic of a capitalistic approach. Welfare of employees and ethics seem to be the casualties for the organization. Human resource management seems to be non existent or ineffective due to lack of planning and strategy, or simply adequate focus not being provided to the department. Change in leadership is required but the transition and implementation can prove to be risky considering the rate at which the company is growing and attaining Global status by extending operations worldwide. Green initiative and driverless cars will both be an added advantage the company needs to exploit which is being already implemented. the management has shown exceptional skill as managing the growth and financial aspects of the organisation in an exemplary manner but is falling short on becoming an employee friendly organisation and minimising reaction time for customer complaints. Customer service could be improved by adding a more compassionate and human touch rather than maximizing technologically advanced platform. The customer service needs to be immediate and take serious note of customer complaints and ensure a monitoring and control processes in place, to ensure there is no repetition of the complain through adequate redressal of all serious concerns. Leadership needs to be transformational and highly communicator buy introduction of inclusive management whereby the entire organisation is involved in management of the network and is encouraged to take decisions and adopt leadership roles. Given the dynamic nature of the organisation agriculture needs to be adopted within the organisation to help it adapt to the change. Human resource is one of the most valuable inputs for any organisation and it is essential that the Welfare and satisfaction of employees be a major focus point for every organisation which will lead to subsequent success of the organisation, by attraction of the best talent and retention of employees.

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