Improving Airtasker: A Business Case for Technology Enhancement

This report delves into the challenges posed by Airtasker's technology, including the absence of set working conditions and minimum wages, and the dilemmas arising from its hiring processes and user experiences. It explores potential solutions such as avoiding premature commitment and understanding technology developments, while also summarizing the pros and cons of Airtasker's disruptive technology. The report concludes with a business case proposal aimed at addressing issues like inexperienced employees, communication gaps, and poor IT support by refining the "Airtasker education program" and creating a platform for user-driven solutions and improved offline communication. The proposal seeks funding to enhance the platform and user experience, ultimately improving the peer-to-peer business environment within Airtasker.

Airtasker Technology 1
AIRTASKER TECHNOLOGY
Name
Course
Professor’s name
Institution

Airtasker Technology 2
Challenges posed by Airtasker
One of the challenges that Airtasker technology poses is the fact that, they are not setting
working conditions or a minimum wage on its platform. Instead, they are recommending their
customers to users. Their model of business makes this unlikely to happen as improving and
monitoring of these conditions will be difficult considering the fact that there is no union in the
gig economy (Kaine 2018, p 7). Also, Airtasker’s model of business is based on bidding for
work by workers. These workers are pitched against one another in a reverse auction. Hence, the
system seems to be opposed directly to a minimum wage creation.
This technology impacts the market in that it drives customer preferences changes
leading to a business landscape that is more dynamic where it becomes difficult for the poorly
informed and prepared businesses to maintain the competition (Monty, 2018). Also,
organizations are unable to adapt to the business environment that is rapidly changing when
technology like this threatens them. Generally, Airtasker disruptive technology dominates in the
existing markets by tapping into new markets in which the older technologies don’t follow. It
improves and enhances its performance to a point where they displace the incumbents in the
market.
Dilemmas
Whether technology disruption is bad or good is a question that doesn’t have a simple
answer yet (Baumann, 2017). There is some concerns on how the hiring process is done as some
people might feel that it is based on how much the tasker is charging, without considering ones
experience and capability. This makes some people whether or not to join Airtasker. They attract
many users with different experiences and knowledge and some of them with the same

Airtasker Technology 3
experiences hence giving those seeking taskers a hard time choosing the right ones for the task.
Also, people who are hiring might have some fears on whether they will be hiring bad people
who are pretending to be good who will end up stealing from them but they get some comfort
from friends and neighbor who have used Airtasker successfully. They end up having some
mixed feelings about the issue
Solutions
Avoiding premature commitment to a single course of action is a good way to face the
dilemmas one might have concerning this disruptive technology. Also one should identify the
developments that will be significant and to make sure that the timing is right so as to benefit
from it (Christensen 2016, p 4). One should also understand how the technology is and how its
future developments might turn out. For those wondering whether or not they should join, it is
crucial to first seek advice from people who have the site and read some reviews to see what the
society thinks about the company. They should also scrutinize users who wish to join to prevent
criminal from infiltrating the business.
Considerations of Pros and con of disruptive technology
Pros
Airtasker as a marketplace for the community that connects people looking for help to get
their everyday errands and tasks complete has been built by people looking to make some cash
quickly in between full-time and part-time jobs. This is one of the many advantages of Aitasker
to the society (Potvin 2016, p 2). Another advantage is that it has an online platform that is
highly scalable that makes end-to-end task process easier and provides a valuable and rich data

Airtasker Technology 4
platform. They create absolute transparency of information between the people who are offering
services and those who are seeking them.
Airtasker has a good culture, a brand that is well recognized and a great team of people
who are friendly and easy to get along. They also combine the appeal marketplaces of online
popular auction sites with social media networks (Swan 2017, p 6). They majorly emphasis on
both growth initiatives and continual iteration of their product, hence putting more attention to
quality individual interactions in the marketplace.
Cons
One of the cons is that although Airstaker apps make people to have claim that the
company has a technology platform which can be termed as disruptive and innovative, some
employers feel that there is no invention and this is the reason why the company is termed to
have been using an App to use an old way of exploitation.
Also a user who is seeking for workers may receive an overwhelming number of offers,
and given the fact that the users can’t speak or email each other offline before choosing each
other, the task provider and the ones accomplishing the tasks, then this increases the chances of
problems between the parties involved. Some workers are very inexperienced where they will
lower the prices in order to secure work which often leads to poorly done tasks. Also most
people don’t have any ideas on where to start when it comes to asking the right questions. This
leads to strange conversations which end to not getting the information that is required about
each other. They also have poor IT support which may delay refunds if incase there if failure in
the process.

Airtasker Technology 5
Business proposal
After doing my research on Airtasker disruptive technology, I have realized that the
company has numerous challenges that need to be addressed. Some of these cons include having
inexperienced employees, lack of proper communication, lack of innovation to enhance customer
experience, poor IT support among others. Considering the fact that these issues may have a
significant harm on the organization, I thought of a project in which, with your assistance, we
can try to overcome these challenges by creating a better platform for peer-to-peer business. If
you give me that chance, I will use my knowledge, creativity and knowledge in this field to
ensure that we work together to create an environment where the users can regulate themselves
through verified profiles and also through user feedback. For example, we can start by refining
“Airtasker education program” whose aim is to grow and make their careers better while
working with Airtasker, and also to make sure that the users get a premium end-to-end
experience. We can also create a common framework where users propose solutions to
challenges that they might be facing which would be a very useful tool in trying to reduce any
pitfalls. Also we can create a platform that allows those seeking workers to communicate offline
for them to gauge the experiences of the workers that they want for their task. But to do this I
will need your help. That’s why am kindly requesting you to fund this project, for the betterment
of this business. Your feedback will highly be appreciated.

Airtasker Technology 6
References
Christensen, C. (2016, January, p 4). A strategic approach to disruptive technologies. (Accessed
on 13th September 2018), Available at
<https://www.cimaglobal.com/Documents/Thought_leadership_docs/cid_dispap_strategi
c_approach_disruptive_technologies_nov09.pdf>
Potvin, C. (2016, June 7, p 2). Airtasker’s growth gives greater opportunity for business
efficiency. (Accessed on 13th September 2018), Available at
<https://www.kochiesbusinessbuilders.com.au/airtaskers-growth-gives-greater-
opportunity-for-businesses/>
Swan, D. (2017, March 21,p 6). Airtasker in deep cloud push. (Accessed on 13th September
2018), Available at <https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/technology/airtasker-in-
deep-cloud-push/news-story/48874968f6bee582c9a39badd85d3b63>
Baumann, D. (2017, December 6, p 5). The dilemma of disruption. (Accessed on 13th September
2018), Available at <https://www.huffingtonpost.com/st-gallen-symposium/the-dilemma-
of-disruption_b_11653374.html>
Monty, L. (2018, April 4, p 2). The Pros and Cons of Using Airtasker to Find a Website
Designer. (Accessed on 13th September 2018), Available at
<https://www.lucyandmontydesign.com.au/the-pros-and-cons-of-using-airtasker-to-find-
a-website-designer/>
Kaine, S. (2018, September 07, p 7). All care and no responsibility: Why Airtasker can't
guarantee a minimum wage. (Accessed on 13th September 2018), Available at
<http://theconversation.com/all-care-and-no-responsibility-why-airtasker-cant-guarantee-
a-minimum-wage-76943>