Paper Example on Uber: Transforming Mobility Across 50 Countries

Introduction

Uber is a company co-founded by former CEO Travis Kalanick and Garret Camp back in the year 2009, as Ubercab and it operated only in the United States (Arrington, 2010). It offers internet-based ride-hailing taxi services to travelers in many cities across the globe. The traveler requests the services of Uber through an online application and a nearby Uber driver comes to convey them to their respective destinations. As the business grows, Uber has extended its services in over 50 countries worldwide (Arrington, 2010). The technological innovations such as the launch of a mobile app have been the cornerstone of its success. Another important factor behind Uber's success is in its reliability and efficiency in transportation.

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Uber continues to prosper at international level even though it faces competition from other taxi-like companies such as Lyft and the public transit vehicles (In Bozek, 2018). Uber charges considerably more compared to the public vehicles and therefore its customers have to decide which of the two is more advantageous. In spite of these high costs of traveling with Uber, some people will choose Uber over the public transit due to its flexibility of routes. Furthermore, one travels at a time of their convenience since you do not have to wait for other passengers to board like in the case of buses. Uber's existence has also increased diversity in the transportation sector. Travelers now have various options to choose from depending on urgency and other factors.

Challenges Faced by Uber

Uber faces several challenges which continue to slow down its vast growth. Some of these limitations are discussed below.

The first challenge that Uber faces regards legal matters (In Bozek, 2018). Usually, as any business expands, more and more regulations are imposed on it. Uber business is no exception. The more Uber invests in more markets, the likely the rise in regulations. Also, due to the increase in competition, taxi operators in some cities have urged their local authorities not to legalize Uber business. These taxi drivers have claimed that the Uber drivers are at an advantage over them since they are not subject to as many restrictions as them. Another legal challenge Uber faces concerns the level of responsibility it has on its independent drivers. On several instances, Uber has denied any relationship with some of its drivers who have caused accidents. Other cases, such as Uber drivers being accused of raping their customers, has tarnished the image of Uber and resulted in a lack of trust by people in some places (Raghuram, 2017). In addition to the above challenges, Uber's policy of insurance has faced great criticism with many critics pointing out its inefficiency. Rideshare insurance, which is the company that offers covers to Uber drivers, has been unreliable in its responsibilities to the drivers with some of them threatening to leave it for another insurance body.

Another challenge that Uber faces is in its plans to expand internationally (In Bozek, 2018). The more significant obstacles Uber faces in the global market are poor road networks, reduced use of credit cards and limited use of smartphones. Most parts of American cities enjoy a good infrastructure. Uber, therefore, encountered a few challenges during its inception. Some of Uber's investments outside U.S.A haven't picked well owing to the poor road networks in those places. Some parts of Africa and India have in particular been a challenge operating. The other global challenge Uber has faced involves unfavorable regulations in some countries. Acquiring licenses from local authorities, even after they have verified all minimum requirements are met, have not been easy. Uber business has even been banned from operating in some countries like Australia.

Ways in Which Uber Stakeholders Can Influence Its Profitability

Uber has enjoyed success in the market enabling it to grow in leaps and bounds since it was founded. The Uber business, after over ten years, is now valued over $50 billion (Arrington, 2010). A bigger part of this success may be attributed to the acceptance Uber has received worldwide and its advanced technology where a rider requests for a cab through a mobile phone app. Despite its acknowledgeable success, Uber has made some losses in recent times. Uber's CEO, Khosrowshahi, has however sent messages of hope assuring the stakeholders that there are measures in place to correct the situation. These measures are explained below.

To begin with, the company should invest heavily in diversifying to other complementary transport sectors (Cramer & Krueger, 2016). An example being venturing in the less regulated food and other products delivery industry. Settlement of legal claims arising from issues of passengers' security and safety will be eliminated from company expenses and transferred to more profits. Other transport sectors like the use of self-driving cars and electric bikes will lead to fewer expenses associated with settling legal rows involving drivers hence more revenue will be accrued by the company.

The second measure that stakeholders should aspire to implement for the sustained success of Uber Company is imposing more stringent driver regulations (Cramer & Krueger, 2016). A thorough background check of drivers' integrity against police criminal records would entrench the company's stance against sexists and women harassers. This would ensure that drivers with bad records are not allowed to compromise passengers' safety and security, which can lead to legal battles and tarnish of the company's reputation. Millions of money saved since no legal claims are settled will, therefore, be directed to other company building projects.

The third way that stakeholders can ensure that Uber is profitable is by ensuring that the company doesn't turn against the major builders of it (Cramer & Krueger, 2016). The policies instituted by Uber that aims at taking a 30% cut from its drivers should be made more reasonable and friendly. The drivers are the main heroes in building the economy of Uber, so they should always be considered and made happy. This will eliminate the grumbling already observed and also eliminate legal fights started by drivers all over the world. It would also ensure that the drivers don't run to other competitors like Lyft hence more revenue generated.

Controversial Corporate Responsibility Concern Associated With Uber

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is essential for businesses to monitor their influence on social, economic, and environmental factors where it operates. A CSR concern facing Uber concerns women harassment by senior employees or by Uber drivers and sexism by Uber senior employees (Raghuram, 2017). Susan Fowler, a former employee of the Uber Company once wrote on her blog of how the company's senior employees were harassing women which sent a worrying picture of the kind of culture Uber was blooming on. She recounted on the sexism demonstrated by Uber administration such that of the 150 engineers at the time she left, only 3% were women (Raghuram, 2017). In September 2013, a Washington DC resident by the name Bridget Todd also reported via twitter of physical harassment she encountered from an Uber driver (In Bozek, 2018). Uber's CEO, Khosrowshahi, has noted on this concern and updated the existing company norms to serve as a better reflection of the company's mission and what it stands for. Khosrowshahi insisted on the importance of the company's employees to carry themselves with proper decorum while offering services to customers and other employees. This negative CSR concerns strained relationships existing between Uber's contractors, stakeholders, and its customers such that Uber fell to its knees due to this exposure.

Conclusion

Uber, displays its capability to transform the transportation industry technologically and through its convenience. Even though Uber business has its share of challenges ranging from legal battles between the company, its stakeholders, and its customers to regulatory challenges in new international markets, it is one of the few investments in the global markets that can improve even further. Uber faces CSR challenges especially involving male boorish behavior and sexism among its employees, but the CEO, Mr. Dara Khosrowshahi has promised to remedy this concern. This paper recommends various approaches that can be undertaken by Uber stakeholders to ensure that it sustains its profitability. The stakeholders should commit to diversifying Ubers industry by venturing in other less regulated markets like deliveries. They should also deeply vet the qualifications of the drivers even on a criminal basis to ensure that they rid the company of any legal issues that could arise due to compromising of the customers' safety and security. And finally, the stakeholders should also ensure that the company doesn't turn against its builders.

References

Arrington, M. (2010). UberCab Closes Uber Angel Round.

Cramer, J., & Krueger, A. (2016). Disruptive Change in the Taxi Business: The Case of Uber.

In Bozek, R. (2018). Uber, Lyft, Airbnb, and the sharing economy.

Raghuram, G. (2017). Delhi Transport Department: Case of Uber taxi rape.