Evaluation Essay on Uber

History of Uber

Uber was first formed in San Francisco, 2008 when Garrett Camp and Travis Kalanick had a challenge in hailing a cab; hence, they came up with an idea where one would get a ride by just tapping a button. Apparently, what began as a simple application is currently shifting the logistical fabrics of cities globally. Uber has spread to different countries like wildfire and currently operates in approximately 58 countries. The application provides flexible opportunities for both men and women to earn income. In addition, Uber strengthens local communities and improves the access to transport as well as the security in streets. The valuation of Uber has improved and attracted investors from different places. It has also fought regulators and rivals as it has confronted threats from its own drivers and alsotaxi drivers(Gloss, McGregor, & Brown, 2016).

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Mission Statement

Uber`s mission statement is "Tomake transportation as reliable as running water, everywhere, for everyone" (Geradin, 2015). As a result, Uber has been able to transform the fabric of more than 170 cities globally, create a safe way to move around different cities, and providing more than 20,000 employment opportunities monthly.

Form of Business

Uber Company operates under Partnership business model where it does not own vehicles but instead collaborates with owners of drivers where they drive and use their own vehicles. Also, Uber collaborates with the drivers by making a deal using its brand name and consequently coming up with a contract where the drivers are supposed to sign indicating they will abide by the terms and conditions, which are normally concerned with the quality and salary. Apparently, Uber has argued on several occasions that it is not a transportation company but rather a service provider or technology. The drivers come up with their own work structure and hour interval under a nominal role and may opt to accept or reject the terms of working.

S.W.O.T Analysis for Uber

SWOT analysis is a kind of a study that is conducted in companies or organizations aimed at identifying the internal strengths and weaknesses as well as the opportunities and threats in the external environment of an organization.

Strengths

The strengths of Uber is related to its evolution in the paid car ride industry where there is unlimited fleet of cars and flexible working schedules that supersedes anything that was offered by traditional providers. Apparently, the traditional taxi limits do not apply to Uber and as a result, the Taxi Company struggles to compete with Uber Company. In addition, since the company does not apply full-time drivers, their operational costs, as well as obligations to employees, are lower. Furthermore, the Services of Uber are based on automated customer-driver interaction and hence there is a reduction in the human capital required in running operations. With the current customer-centric approach of Uber, a client is able to grab a taxi regardless of where his or her location is and show the total costs of the services upfront. Additionally, Uber has an application, which is efficient and easy to use despite the literacy level of an individual. Finally, Uber has a cashless payment system, which makes it easier to track the flow of money.

Weaknesses

There are numerous questionable concerns about Uber`s driver's ethical relationships as there is lack of trust and connection between the drivers and the company. Therefore, many employees tend to switch to competitors easily. In addition, there is a great concern relating to its imitability where it is very easy for competitors to copy its operations and advance internationally. Apparently, the business model it operates in is very unpredictable and the employees are afraid that their contract may end any time without notice. Also, the company is facing a huge dislike by the government and its competitors. The company has conflicts with the local authorities because of skipping and ignoring regulations frequently. Ostensibly, the Uber drivers are the face of the company and any bad behavior by the drivers may ruin the company`s public image. Also, the application is heavily dependent on the internet and may not operate effectively in areas where there is no internet connection or where the internet speed is slow.

Opportunities

In many regions of different countries, there is a lot of dissatisfaction with the services offered by the traditional cab companies because of the low quality of services, which are of high costs. Customers continue to demand alternatives and therefore if Uber expands to such regions it might be a great opportunity. The opportunities are found in emerging cities such as the BRIC countries where taxi services are low and at times not available. Therefore, local drivers can provide Uber services as well as access the population with ease. Additional services apart from transporting people to places of work include transporting pets to veterinary hospitals, children to schools, and older parents to hospitals. In addition, the initiative by the government to digitize India provides an opportunity for the Uber Company whose applications greatly rely on the internet.

Threats

There is an unclear government regulation where there is a disagreement between the government regulators and the cab aggregators concerning their legal status and whether they should be treated as IT companies or cab aggregators. Also, the company offers low margins, where it encourages the drivers to increase the frequency of their daily rides and consequently offer the drivers low-profit margins. Apparently, the conflict between the Uber Company and the local authorities may lead to heavy fines as well as earn a bad public image. In addition, the drivers and the customers may influence the image of the brand through social media and a negative review may negatively affect the public relation of a company. Finally, there is a threat of a decrease in prices as a result of the growth in competition. The decrease will discourage drivers from forming a partnership with the company hence leading to dilution of the company`s revenues.

How Uber can Address the Threats

Uber can address the threat of public image in social media by improving on its marketing strategy and working towards customer's satisfaction to reduce the rate of negative reviews from customers. The issue of conflict between the company and the authorities can be mitigated by coming up with policies that favor both parties.

References

Geradin, D. (2015). Uber and the Rule of Law: Should Spontaneous Liberalization Be Applauded or Criticized?.

Gloss, M., McGregor, M., & Brown, B. (2016, May). Designing for labor: Uber and the on-demand mobile workforce. In Proceedings of the 2016 CHI conference on human factors in computing systems (pp. 1632-1643). ACM.