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E-Business
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E-BUSINESS 1
Introduction
The aim of this report is to analyse Careem which is a Dubai-based transportation
network company through using a strategic tool Porter’s five forces and suggest strategy to
the company for dealing with the cut-throat competition. This report will also cover the
internal environment of the company by using SWOT as a strategic tool.
Porter’s Five Forces Analysis
The structure of Porter’s five forces helps a company in measuring the competition
between distinct brands within the market and here, it is used for Careem to analyse the same.
 In Dubai, the suppliers bargaining power is low where private competitors are not
able to compete at national level under the fuel and power of government agency.
Careem is required to use outsourcing strategies for hiring labour by increasing job
opportunities and dealing against competitors such as Uber (Kerr, 2019).
 Buyers bargaining power is medium as tourist can also go for opting car rental
services whereas residents go for using their own cars rather than the options of public
transportation. There is not much use of Careem services by its customers along with
no switching cost involved for them by using online application which is free.
 There is low threat for the company of new entrants as in the country; there are high
entries barriers and high regulations as well. There is only presence of Careem and
Uber Taxi services allowed in Dubai. Other than this, all other public services are
operated and regulated by “RTA (Roads and Transport Authority)” (Alkaabi, 2019).
There are strict policies implemented by the UAE government where the only threat
to Carreem is Uber due to charging less for the similar distance of traveling.
 There is low threat of substitutes as there are no such alternatives of Taxi rides
required for Buses and Metro. Careem is provided to keep on fluctuating service rates
of the company as people are price sensitive in Dubai which can results in shifting
towards Uber due to slight increase in fares.
 There is low presence of industry rivalry as per the competition for Taxis, only
Careem and Uber are regulated and licensed by RTA and there is no competition of
public transportation area in Dubai. Uber is the only competitor of Careem in Dubai
in relation to transportation industry where Careem is older than Uber in this market

E-BUSINESS 2
and made significant investments for the growth in the Middle East (Khan, Woo,
Nam, & Chathoth, 2017).
The strategy of acquisition with Uber helped Careem to face cut-throat competition by
getting ready for much-anticipated IPO where Uber spend $3.1 billion to have the ownership
as a whole majorly in the region of “MENA (Middle East and North Africa)” (Amin, 2019).
Another strategy that helps Careem to face cut-throat competition is reduction in traveling
cost and increasing the service quality. It requires making its customer aware about the kind
of available services the company uses or serves.
SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis is done for examining a company internally to know its strengths and
weaknesses to analyse its threats and opportunities for better operations.
 Careem can generate opportunities by using MENA as its strength for position
consolidation and expansion of the company in the marketplace.
 Careem can use approaches as its strengths by building and analysing its processes
and trends for pronging the approach of market penetration while dealing with the
threats to the company (Finster & Hernke, 2014).
 To reduce the weaknesses of the company, it requires building strategies based on the
product orientation for consumers to generate opportunities through marketing and
development approach.
 In MENA, Careem can face the threat if not get out from business areas which
weakens the company’s position.
Careem use its strengths for the creation of positioning in the niche market by also
striving to remove and reduce weaknesses for competing with its rivals. The company look
towards leveraging opportunities by providing through regulations, industry structure, and
other external environment development (Nair, Paulose, Palacios, & Tafur, 2013). Lastly, it is
essential to make provisions and strategies development for mitigating threats undermining
Careem’s business model in MENA. Based on capabilities and resources in the marketplace
for leveraging or lacking to build sustainable competitive advantage and for market
positioning for further expansion:
Strengths