Uber Technologies External Environment - Research Paper

Introduction

Uber is an American worldwide service provider for transportation established in 2009 by Garret Camp and Travis Kalanick, with the idea it is operated by the push of a button (Pelzera, Frenken, & Boon, 2019). The company provides a channel where consumers can contact the drivers in their locality for a taxi service. Environmental influences such as ease of use, accessibility for the users and convenience for both the drivers and the users can explain the success of Uber Chicago.

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PESTLE Analysis

The PESTLE analysis is a tactical tool used to assess these external factors and their influence on the organisation's business model, growth curve, and its business case and market plan (Hsieh, 2019).

Political and Legal Factors

Uber Company started operation (Newcomer, 2019). Government policies at the time were vague especially if the business model fell in the service, IT or taxi sector (Sherman, 2018). The company was influenced by political and legal questions like whether minimum wage policy would be adopted, whether rules and regulations should be the same for Uber and other companies, whether the drivers were allowed to drive using their driving licences (Smith, 2018)

Economic Factors

Uber's economic model depends on sharing economy between the organization and motorists, creating plenty of employment opportunities for the drivers who had no medium of finding their customers. The model has also overcome the charging issues with traditional taxi companies (The Conversation, 2019).

Social Factors

Uber services are internationally accepted and recognized. Customers opt for the company cabs due to their reasonably lower fares and quality services (Tophan, 2019). Additionally, Uber social image is also influenced by motorist's professional ethics and a competitor's marketing plan. Uber users share their traveling experiences on social media which encourage new users to choose it.

Technology Factors

Technology has been fundamental for Uber both internally and externally- internally since the organization uses outstanding technology in its mobile application and externally, since the progression in technology aided the company obtains new users.

Overall, environmental influences such as ease of use, accessibility for the users and convenience for both the drivers and the users together cement the success of the Uber Chicago Company. Uber Company has taken up environmental friendly initiatives in numerous forms such as UberPool- reduction in traffic congestion by carpooling and UberGreen- using electric cars to reduce pollution.

References

Hsieh, B. (2019). Year in Review: 2018 highlights from Uber Open Source. Retrieved from <https://eng.uber.com/uber-open-source-2018/>(Accessed 29 March 2019)

Pelzera, P., Frenken, K., & Boon, W. (2019). Institutional entrepreneurship in the platform economy: How Uber tried (and failed) to change the Dutch taxi law. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 2(1), 112-121. doi.org/10.1016/j.eist.2019.02.003

Newcomer, E. (2019, February 15). Uber Revenue Growth Slows, Losses Persist as 2019 IPO Draws Near. Retrieved from <https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-02-15/uber-results-show-revenue-growth-slows-amid-persistent-losses> (Accessed 29 March 2019)

Sherman, L. (2018, July 18). Is Uber For Everything A Good Thing? Retrieved from <https://www.forbes.com/sites/lensherman/2018/07/17/is-uber-for-everything-a-good-thing/#3ace71d510ef>(Accessed 29 March 2019)

Smith, Y. (2018, December 10). Uber Is Headed for a Crash. Retrieved from <http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/12/will-uber-survive-the-next-decade.html>(Accessed 29 March 2019)

The Conversation. (2019). Work in the 'gig economy': one-night stand or a meaningful relationship? Retrieved from <https://theconversation.com/work-in-the-gig-economy-one-night-stand-or-a-meaningful-relationship-111047>(accessed 29 March 2019)

Tophan, G. (2019, February 26). Uber survives legal challenge brought by London cabbies. Retrieved from <https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/feb/26/uber-survives-legal-challenge-london-black-cab-drivers>(Accessed 29 March 2019)