BUS300: Competitive Strategy Report - Uber and Amazon.com Comparison

This report provides a comparative analysis of the competitive strategies employed by Uber and Amazon. It begins with brief introductions to both companies, outlining their core businesses and current market standing. For Uber, the report highlights its innovative approach to transportation, emphasizing its reliance on technology and its impact on the industry. The analysis includes Uber's business model, focusing on its driver network, mobile application, and strategies for customer satisfaction. For Amazon, the report examines its dominance in e-commerce, detailing its revenue generation and market share. It explores Amazon's business model, emphasizing its low-cost structure, extensive warehouse network, and customer-centric approach. The report also references relevant academic sources to support its analysis and conclusions. The report concludes by comparing and contrasting the strategic approaches of both companies, highlighting their key strengths and weaknesses, and their impact on their respective industries.

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Competitive Strategy
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Competitive Strategy
Contents
Uber.............................................................................................................................................................3
Brief introduction....................................................................................................................................3
Current standing in market......................................................................................................................3
Amazon.com...............................................................................................................................................4
Brief introduction....................................................................................................................................4
Current standing in market......................................................................................................................5
References...................................................................................................................................................6

Competitive Strategy
Uber
Brief introduction
Uber Technology incorporation is a well-renowned business corporation which an
American brand name and is headquartered in San-Francisco, California, United States. The
business entity has been operating its business activities mainly in transportation and also the
delivery of food items is done. The business corporation has been providing the services to about
more than 632 regions all over the globe and earned an amount of US$6.5 billion as revenue in
2016 financial year. The business entity has established its brand name in the transportation
sector without making any kind of huge investments (Uber 2017). And this has developed and
secured a monopoly position for the business corporation in the market.
The business organization has been moving rapidly towards modernization and
mechanization. And as a result, the organization has launched their mobile application which
enables the customers to book the taxi and other services offered by the company. The drivers
who are connected with Uber are required to have an owned or rented vehicle and also they are
also required to have a smartphone which will enable them in tracking rides and customers. This
is the main criteria for getting connected with the company and eventually, this has minimized
the investment cost of the business corporation (Cannon and Summers, 2014). The corporation
has been making the riders to work for part time and this also makes them make reductions in
their labor costs. The business corporation has been operating activities in a low competitive
market. Uber is keeping the customer's satisfaction on top priority and this keeps them a step
ahead of their rivals and attaining the competitive advantage.
On the basis of the survey conducted by Jonathan (2015), the business corporation has been
operating business activities with an expert team of skillful and trained programmers and well-
qualified mathematicians. These teams’ aids in planning and managing the plans and policies of
the corporation Analysis of the data which consists of the details of the drivers and the
customers, keeping tracks of the rides and all other details regarding the applications is
monitored and operated by the experts (Cohen and Kietzmann, 2014). Updating the policies to
some improved and attracting versions which aid the business corporation in attaining and
attracting the consumers, for instance, offering discounts coupons and promo-codes for the
travelers, guaranteed prices, ease and simplicity in the booking rides and accessing other
services. These innovative strategies aid the business organization in attaining a competitive
advantage and assist in sustainable developments for a long run.
Current standing in market
Uber’s business model has been developed and made focused on establishing high standards
and quality of services and that too at affordable prices. The below mentioned are the major
components of the business model which are adopted by Uber:

Competitive Strategy
 The major requirement for getting connected with the company is having an owned or a
rented car. Moreover, the business entity also provides rented car service to the drivers if
they are unable to arrange one (Cramer and Krueger, 2016). The company has been
managing and balancing coordination between the operations and the services offered so
as to provide high scale and distributed transportation platform.
 The firm also has a web-based portal and mobile application which enables the drivers
and the customers to have an access to the rides. This application is easy to run and also
provides other details which are related to the company and the services. For instance,
easy booking offers if any, calculation of the estimated prices and tracking the rides.
Moreover, the customers are also offered with the option of providing feedback and share
their experiences during the rides.
Amazon.com
Brief introduction
Amazon.com, Inc. is a well-established and renowned brand name in the sector of e-
commerce. The business corporation is a multinational brand and was incorporated by Jeff
Bezos in 1994 as an American e-commerce organization. The business corporation is recognized
as one of the largest online retailers. The business entity has been marked on top, as presented in
the sales and capital statements of the company. US$135.98 billion was the amount which was
earned as revenue by Amazon in the financial year of 2016 and 306 was the number of the sold
items in one second at the peak times (Amazon 2017). The motive of selecting Amazon for this
analysis is that the business entity has been setting milestones which are very tough to be
attained by the competition entities and the organization is one of the top online retailers which
offers a high level of customer satisfaction.
Cloud computing is one of the biggest system use by the business entity. Along with their online
retailing services, the organization is not offering the diverse range of online services to its
consumers. The other services offered include, Amazon Prime, online movies, online book store,
cloud drive and web services. The business corporation keeps on innovating and introducing
better and improved products and services (Girotra and Netessine, 2014). These innovations are
done on the basis of the feedbacks provided by the customers, which aids Amazon in attaining a
higher level of customer satisfaction. On the basis of the survey conducted it has been noted that
the recent project of Amazon is “Alexa”, which is an artificial intelligence mechanism that is
easily accessible through mobile and other electronic devices.

Competitive Strategy
Current standing in market
The business corporation has adopted the business model which has been made focused on
attaining growth by the low-cost structure. The below presented are the major components of this
model:
 For attaining the pre-determined goals and objectives the business corporation has
focused on developing a lower cost structure in the operational activities and
functionalities (Laudon and Traver, 2013). This structure aids Amazon in attaining a high
level of growth. The organization has a large chain of warehouses and online operations
are the helping factor which assists the organization in maintaining low cost throughout
their operations.
 The low-cost structure adopted by the corporation has been aiding by allowing the
corporation in providing their products and services at affordable prices, as compared to
its rivals (Foss and Saebi, 2015). Moreover, all kind of online transactions and process
have been made very much easy, which aids in achieving customer’s satisfaction. A high
level of customer satisfaction will increase the traffic on Amazon’s web-portals,
eventually increasing their sales.

Competitive Strategy
References
Amazon, 2017, Amazon, Assessed on 23rd August 2017,
https://www.amazon.com/p/feature/rzekmvyjojcp6uc.
Cannon, S. and Summers, L.H., 2014. How Uber and the sharing economy can win over
regulators. Harvard business review, 13(10), pp.24-28.
Cohen, B. and Kietzmann, J., 2014. Ride on! Mobility business models for the sharing
economy. Organization & Environment, 27(3), pp.279-296.
Cramer, J. and Krueger, A.B., 2016. Disruptive change in the taxi business: The case of
Uber. The American Economic Review, 106(5), pp.177-182.
Foss, N.J. and Saebi, T. eds., 2015. Business model innovation: The organizational dimension.
OUP Oxford.
Girotra, K. and Netessine, S., 2014. The risk-driven business model: Four questions that will
define your company. Harvard Business Press.
Laudon, K.C. and Traver, C.G., 2013. E-commerce. Pearson.
Uber, 2017, Uber, Assessed on 23rd August 2017, https://www.uber.com/en-IN/our-story/.