Business Ethics: Case of Uber, Uber and More Uber

This report discusses the case of Uber and its unethical practices, such as sexual harassment and lower level of security. It explores the application of normative and descriptive theories of business ethics and examines the impact of ethical and unethical practices on internal and external stakeholders. The report emphasizes the importance of ethical practices for establishing a positive market image and attracting stakeholders.

Business Ethics

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Present report is based upon the case of Uber, Uber and More Uber. This organisation is
operating business at global level. In order to carry out all the operations it is very important for
the entity to pay attention towards business ethics. It will be beneficial to find solution for all the
problems that are faced by it. Some of them are sexual harassment culture, lower level of
security etc. While planning to find solution for them different theories such as normative and
descriptive could be implemented. The organisation is recommended to perform all the ethical
practices so that it can help to establish good image in mind of internal and external stakeholders.

Table of Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.............................................................................................................2
Table of Contents.............................................................................................................................3
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
PART 1............................................................................................................................................1
Introduction to the case................................................................................................................1
Critical issue of the organisation.................................................................................................2
The way in which company handled the critical issue................................................................2
The concept which is being investigated.....................................................................................2
PART 2............................................................................................................................................2
Application of most relevant normative and descriptive theories of business ethics to the
organisation..................................................................................................................................2
PART 3............................................................................................................................................2
The way in which ethical practices affect the company’s internal and external stakeholders....2
The way in which unethical practices affect the company’s internal and external stakeholders 2
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................2
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................2

INTRODUCTION
Business ethics can be defined as principles that are followed by an organisation to carry out all
the operational activities in ethical manner. Main purpose of it is to implement such policies that
may help to grow the business by establishing a positive image in the market (Abend, 2016). The
different elements that are focused under it are corporate governance, corporate social
responsibility, sustainability, insider trading, bribery, fiduciary responsibilities, discrimination
etc. The case which is selected for this assignment is Uber, Uber and More Uber. It is one of the
largest cab service companies which are operating business at global level. This assignment
covers various topics such as introduction to the case, critical issues of the entity, the way in
which all of them were handles, description of the concept which is being investigated etc.
Additionally, application of normative and descriptive theories along with affects of ethical and
unethical practices on internal and external stakeholders are also covered in this project.
PART 1
Introduction to the case
Uber which is one of the famous cab service companies around the world faced different
challenges and allegations. All the unethical practices of it resulted in its decreased market and
share and value in different markets. In order to sustain in the market, it is essential for it to
formulate effective strategies for future so that it can deal with all the issues properly. Failure in
retaining the clients and the market share may result in higher losses and bad market image of it
in the market. Uber’s founder Travis Kalanick was questioned about the leadership qualities
because during the year 2017 the organisation was not performing good and it was the time when
the company lost its good market image. Due to this the entity have also lost its market value
which was decreased from 65 billion dollars to 48 billion dollars. Apart from this, the entity also
lost its market share by 10% in US. In 2016 it was 84% and due to the crisis, that were faced by
the entity it was decreased up to 74% in 2017 (Uber, Uber and More Uber case, 2017). One of
the former employees of the enterprise filed a case against Uber regarding its sexual harassment
culture.
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Critical issue of the organisation
From the case of Uber, Uber and More Uber it has been determined that there are various
issues that are faced by the organisation. All of them could be understood with the help of
following discussion:
Sexual harassment: It is one of the biggest issues which was analysed from the case of
Uber because one of the former employees of the entity cam forward alleging that the
organisation is not operating business ethically. It is following the culture of sexual harassment.
The employee’s name was Susan Fowler and the allegation was filed in February 2017 (Barry,
2016).
Illegal operations: It is another issue which is being identified from the case of Uber,
Uber and More Uber. In May month of year 2017 Justice Department revealed that a criminal
probe in the alleged use of software of Uber avoided the regulations. These were avoided in
geographic regions where the business was operating illegally. The name of the software dubbed
was Greyball.
Bad leadership of the founder: It is also a critical issue which is faced by Uber because
the founder was questioned about the leadership styles. During the year 2017 performance of the
organisation was decreasing massively which also affected the market share as well as
profitability. It was the period when Uber faced the economic crisis and its value in the market
was also decreased.
Lower level of security: In the November month of year 2017 Uber was found guilty
that its level of security is very low because it was hacked and it risked the data of 57 million
users. It resulted in ban of Uber from United Kingdom capital because of unethical practices of it
and lower level of security.
From the above discussion it has been determined that there are various types of issues
that are faced by Uber because of its unethical behaviour and practices in the market. It is very
important for the organisation to deal with all of them properly so that it can revive its market
share and create a great value (Dierksmeier and Seele, 2018). By taking appropriate actions for
responding these issues the entity will be able to enhance sustainability in the market. If the
management will not be able to find appropriate solution for each and every problem then it will
affect the market growth and development of business.
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The way in which company handled the critical issue
In order to attain success and sustainability for the purpose of carrying out all the
operations successfully it is very important for Uber to deal with all the issues in systematic
manner. There are various problems that were faced by Uber in year 2017 were sexual
harassment, illegal operations bad leadership of the founder, lower level of security etc. For the
purpose of handling all of them properly Uber took initiatives and the first step which was taken
by it to revive its market share was reducing the price of cabs. With the help of it, it tried to be
the first choice of customers and retain the large market share (Duska, Duska and Kury, 2018).
On the other hand, it also formulated new policies which reflects that it is operating business in
ethical manner were formulated. It helped the organisation to establish a good market image so
that it can sustain in the market. All the issues which were faced by Uber have taken place
because of lower awareness of corporate governance. For the purpose of enhancing value of the
business the entity makes strategies for it so that it can win back the market image and enhance
the value of it in the countries where it is operating business. All the steps that are taken by the
organisation helped it to survive in the market and carry out all the further operations
systematically.
The concept which is being investigated
The concept which is being investigated in the case is corporate governance. Detailed
description of it and other elements of it are as follows:
Definition of corporate governance: Corporate governance can be defined as the
combination of different processes, rules, regulation etc. which are used for the purpose of
controlling all the corporation. Main purpose of it, is to determine that all the companies are
following all the regulations that are imposed by legal authorities to carry out operations in
ethical manner. By analysing the case of Uber, Uber and More Uber it has been analysed that the
organisation is not following the concept of corporate governance which is resulting in different
issues for it (Pearson, 2017).
Good practices are followed by organisation or not: The case of Uber is showing the
organisation is not following good practices for carrying out operations. There are various types
of current corporate codes of UK which includes Director’s contracts ad remuneration, wages
and rewards, role of chairman, committee structure, work place ethics etc. No compliance with
all of them has resulted in different issues for the organisation. If these are taken in to
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consideration while formulating strategies for carrying out operations then the possibility of
occurrence of these issues would have decreased. In order to respond all the challenges that are
faced by Uber it is very important for it to consider all these UK current corporate governance
codes. It will be beneficial for the entity to deal with all its problems properly.
PART 2
Application of most relevant normative and descriptive theories of business ethics to the
organisation
There are various types of business ethics theories which are required to be focused by an
organisation while planning to deal with all the negative situations that are affecting the growth
of business. As Uber is dealing with different types of issues because of its unethical practices
therefore it is essential for it to get detailed information of them. It will help to figure out
appropriate solutions for all the challenges. These theories are as follows:
Normative theories: These theories are mainly focused with study of ethical action.
There are various elements of it, which deontology, virtue ethics, ethical egoism, utilitarianism
etc. From the case of Uber, Uber and More Uber it has been analysed that virtue ethics is applied
on the case. It is mainly focused with ethical behaviour of an individual who is responsible for
formulating ethical decisions for whole entity. It is related to the case of Uber because the
founder’s incapability in leading the entity resulted in different issues for it. Deontology is
another theory which is related to the case of Uber which is based upon the action of an
individual whether it is right or wrong according to rules and regulations. As the information of
Uber was hacked which was the result in lower level of security. If the organisation would have
followed all the rules of government then this situation may not have resulted (Robertson,
Voegtlin and Maak, 2017).
Descriptive theories: These are mainly focused with uncovering all the beliefs, values,
ethics etc. of individuals and help to determine that these are right or wrong. There are two
different parts of it individual and situations factors. First one is mainly focused with ethics that
an individual follows for the purpose of handling a particular problem. Another one, is focused
with the analysis of all the actions that are taken to handle different situations. From both of them
situational factors are related with the case of Uber because the founder and board members have
take wrong steps in the bad conditions of the organisation. For example, at the time of allegation
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of the employee regarding sexual harassment the management should have conducted proper
research that it is true or false. But, at that time any strategy for handling the situation was not
formulated. Due to this, a bad market image of the company was portrayed.
From the above discussion it has been determine that there are various types of ethical
theories that are related to the case of Uber. While taking any type of action it is very important
for all the individuals to make sure that they are formulating all the decisions in ethical manner.
It will help to reduce the possibility of wrong decisions in future (Rodríguez-López and Souto,
2020).
PART 3
The way in which ethical practices affect the company’s internal and external stakeholders
For all the organisations it is very important to operate business in ethical manner as it
helps to enhance engagement level of internal as well as external stakeholders in the operations
of the company. For example, Uber will follow the role or task culture within the enterprise then
it will help to enhance employee work quality. Apart from this, a positive work culture helps the
entities such as Uber to carry out all the operations properly and meet expectations of external
stakeholders. Some of them are investors, creditors, customers, government etc. In order to meet
their expectations, it is very important for the entity to establish good market image which is
possible with the help of good ethical practices.
Good ethical practices will help to attract large number of customers and reduce
governmental interferences in the business because it results in good market image. When Uber
will be following them then all the internal stakeholders such as employees, managers,
shareholders etc. will be benefited. A company where ethical behaviour is followed will have
lower staff turn over and higher involvement of management and board in strategic decision
making. Good ethical practices affect the internal as well as external stakeholders in positive
manner (Trevino and Nelson, 2016).
The way in which unethical practices affect the company’s internal and external stakeholders
Unethical practices are the some of the activities that are conducted by an organisation in
unethical manner. In order to reach organisational goals, it is very important for all the
companies to ignore them. Uber is one of the largest international enterprises around the world
and there are various unethical practices that are performed by it. All of them are leaving
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negative impact upon mind set of internal and external stakeholders of the entity. From the case
of Uber, Uber and More Uber it has been determined that sexual harassment culture is followed
within the organisation which affected the interest of employees (internal stakeholders). On the
other hand, lower level of security is another unethical practice is resulted in lower interest of
external stakeholders such as customers because their data was hacked in year 2017 (Vazquez,
2018).
All the unethical practices of the organisation are resulting in bad market image of it and
affecting its market share. The negative effects that are left by them on internal and external
stakeholders of the organisation are as follows:
 Higher staff turnover because of sexual harassment culture of the organisation.
 Switching nature of customers due to lower level of security of Uber.
 Lower interest of investors in Uber because of bad market image of the entity.
 Higher restriction of government upon the business and ban in UK capital because of
unethical practices of the company.
All the above described negative situations are taking place for Uber because of unethical
practices of it. These are resulting in lower engagement level of internal as well as external
stakeholders within the entity. It is essential for the organisation to deal with all of them
appropriately so that adverse impact of them on business could be reduced (Werhane, 2019).
CONCLUSION
From the above project report it has been concluded that business ethical is the set of
different values that are required to be followed by an organisation to operate business in ethical
manner. In order to carry out all the operation ethically it is essential for a company to ignore all
the unethical practices that are performed by it. There are various critical issues that are faced by
companies. Some of them are sexual harassment, illegal operations, bad leadership of the
founder, lower level of security etc. All of them may result in bad market image of an entity.
There are various normative and descriptive theories that are required to be focused by
organisations in such situations. These are deontology, ethical egoism, utilitarianism, virtue
ethics, individual and situational factors etc. All the ethical and unethical practices of an
organisation leave positive as well as negative impacts upon internal and external stakeholders.
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RECOMMENDATIONS
Some of the key recommendations that are provided to Uber are as follows:
 The top level executives of Uber should make sure that they change the culture of the
entity and fulfil all the requirements of employees.
 The level of security of data of all the clients should be enhanced as it will help to keep
the information of all the customers confidential.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals:
Abend, G., 2016. The moral background: An inquiry into the history of business ethics (Vol. 60).
Princeton University Press.
Barry, N., 2016. Business ethics. Springer.
Dierksmeier, C. and Seele, P., 2018. Cryptocurrencies and business ethics. Journal of Business
Ethics, 152(1), pp.1-14.
Duska, R.F., Duska, B.S. and Kury, K.W., 2018. Accounting ethics. John Wiley & Sons.
Pearson, R., 2017. Business ethics as communication ethics: Public relations practice and the
idea of dialogue. In Public relations theory (pp. 111-131). Routledge.
Robertson, D.C., Voegtlin, C. and Maak, T., 2017. Business ethics: The promise of
neuroscience. Journal of Business Ethics, 144(4), pp.679-697.
Rodríguez-López, Á. and Souto, J.E., 2020. Empowering entrepreneurial capacity: training,
innovation and business ethics. Eurasian Business Review, 10(1), pp.23-43.
Trevino, L.K. and Nelson, K.A., 2016. Managing business ethics: Straight talk about how to do
it right. John Wiley & Sons.
Vazquez, P., 2018. Family business ethics: At the crossroads of business ethics and family
business. Journal of Business Ethics, 150(3), pp.691-709.
Werhane, P.H., 2019. The normative/descriptive distinction in methodologies of business ethics.
In Systems Thinking and Moral Imagination (pp. 21-25). Springer, Cham.
Online
Uber, Uber and More Uber case. 2017. [Online]. Available through:
< https://fortune.com/2017/12/31/biggest-corporate-scandals-misconduct-2017-pr/ >
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