Public Relations Plan for Uber: Enhancing Image and Ensuring Safety

PRPA 1
Uber public relations
Name of the student
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PRPA 2
Public relations issue
Uber faces the problem of negative publicity among the customers. The company has
faced allegations of sexual harassment and physical abuse on female passengers. The Los
Angeles police department has confirmed reports of rape by female passengers (Comcowich,
2017). Some of the Uber drivers conducting the harassment target the intoxicated female
passengers. The passengers also claim physical attacks by drivers with various charges of
battery reported to the police. The Uber Company has confirmed that the cases exist and that
some of the drivers fail to observe the company policy of passenger safety. Furthermore, the
Uber passengers have reported cases of theft conducted by the drivers where the persons lose
wallets and phones in the hands of the Uber drivers. The company faces the negative
publicity of insecurity to the passengers using the services. The female passengers fear sexual
harassment when using the Uber company services (Dwivedi, 2017).
Public relations goals
The Uber Company aims at developing a positive image with the public relations
strategy. Additionally, the company wishes to assure customers of safe rides to destinations at
any time of the day. The company also wishes to assure the safety of the passenger’s personal
properties such as phones and wallets (Comcowich, 2017). The company plans to achieve the
goal through laying off all the drivers connected to the sexual harassment cases and firing the
supervisors who do not respond to irresponsible behavior within the span of control.
Additionally, the company also plans to release press statements with apologetic messages to
the assaulted customers and to assure the public of strict measures to stop the bad habits
(Comcowich, 2017).
Organizational factors assessment

PRPA 3
The organizational factors include the internal and external environments affecting the
Uber operations. The SWOT analysis assists in assessing the organizational factors.
Strengths
Uber Company enjoys a strong brand that other taxi services cannot match. The brand
spreads in over 50 countries with a high percentage of customer loyalty (Bhasin, 2018).
Additionally, the company has penetrated the internet and other technologies in offering
services to the customers. The company forecasts a rapid growth over the years with more
investors and a stronger brand name (Bhasin, 2018).
Weaknesses
The company faces the weakness of depending on the drivers to market the services.
The customer satisfaction depends on how the driver offers the services. The company faces
the problem of standardizing the quality of services according to the set policies to ensure the
customers get satisfactory services (Bhasin, 2018). Additionally, the company only serves the
customers who use technology since the clients request taxis through an Uber application.
The application discriminates the customers who do not use current technology such as
laptops and smartphones (Bhasin, 2018).
Opportunities
The company has the opportunity of increasing the operations with the rise in the use
of internet usage. The use of smartphones and laptops allow more customers to download the
Uber application. Therefore, more customers could use the Uber services in the future
(Bhasin, 2018). Moreover, the company has also launched additional services to serve the
customers better. The company has launched the Uber chopper, which could cater to the
customers added needs (Bhasin, 2018).
Threats