Uber's Operational Strategies and Challenges: A Business Report

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Business Report on Uber and Reflection on Teamwork
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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Uber’s Key Issue and Recommendations..................................................................................4
Benefits of CSR Projects............................................................................................................5
Possible Impact of Brexit...........................................................................................................6
Group Presentation – Individual Reflection...............................................................................7
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................8
Reference List............................................................................................................................9
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Introduction
It is essential to identify the tactics of business administration that organisations apply within
their operational strategy in order to observe their success factors. The study would provide
information regarding a major issue that Uber experiences and frame relevant
recommendations. Benefits of corporate social responsibility for the organisation is presented
as well as the impact of Brexit on the organisation would be provided in the study.
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Uber’s Key Issue and Recommendations
This report will focus on one of the key management issues of Uber – that is the
mismanagement of their drivers. Uber has an automated system of managing drivers. It
means that an AI manages the drivers of Uber. This AI records ride bookings by customers
and gives the nearest driver to the customer’s location the task of transporting that customer.
This is done in an effort to save on operational costs, as it requires a lesser work force due to
automation of the process (Gaskell, 2019). The only human resources the company needs are
the team behind managing and upgrading the AI. His has disgruntled drivers, as they are not
able to express their grievances to the managers (since there is none). They are also not able
to pitch in new ideas for improvement of Uber services. Uber has also been accused of being
unfaithful to the drivers in the sense that they are being paid less for their effort, and are often
overworked. Since Uber terms their drivers as “independent contractors,” they are not liable
for minimum wage payment and other benefits employees of an organisation deserve (Wong,
2019).
Uber can mitigate this issue by following Frederick Taylor’s Theory of Scientific
Management, where it is stated that employees can be motivated by only one thing and that is
money (Witzel and Warner, 2015). Employees deserve to get fair wages for their work done.
Uber drivers should be allocated work as per a time schedule, to prevent overtime. Uber
drivers can be provided the option of overtime, only if they are paid for this extra time. Real
managers and grievance cells should be placed to prevent drivers from getting disgruntled
from being controlled by inhumane managers (AI).
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Benefits of CSR Projects
Corporate Social Responsibility refers to the policies that a business implements in order to
improve the ethical aspects of their strategies, so that it influences the community and the
business environment in a positive way. It is important to inculcate CSR in a firm’s strategy
as it helps the company to attain a better brand image and improve the wellbeing of the
society.
Uber has started implementing many CSR projects in order to improve the organisation’s
brand image and recognition. Some CSR activities of Uber are as follows:
 Uber Hue: This activity is promoted at the inclusion of people from the African-
American community as employees since they are underrepresented. This will
provide more employment opportunities for such minority communities, and maintain
peace and harmony in the minority community.
 Women of Uber: This CSR project is aimed at employing women as Uber drivers.
The job of a driver is until now male dominant. Uber intends to change this status quo
in order to provide equal employment opportunities to women (Kaltner, 2018).
 Uber Pride: Uber feels that members of the LGBTQ community are underrepresented
as employees of Uber. This activity provides members of this community to become
Uber drivers and get equal pay as others without discrimination. This will help in
removing the social stigma that is presented against members of this community
(Dudovskiy, 2019).
Uber Sages: Uber believes that wisdom comes with age. That is why they have implemented
this project to give employment opportunities to elderly people. This is something that most
companies do not as they prefer younger employees.
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Possible Impact of Brexit
The impending Brexit referendum plays a significant role in the business decisions for
organisations operating in the global transactional environment. Uber has a global presence
and provides transportation facilities to various consumers across the UK business
environment. Regardless of the fact that the organisation considers itself as computer services
organisation, the Brexit referendum would present significant changes to the operational
procedure for the business institution. The major aspect of Brexit that would affect Uber’s
performance in the European and UK market consists of the variations in the legislative
framework.
The organisation would have to adhere to stricter regulations for operating in the EU market
as well as the UK business environment. As observed by the report generated by CNBC
(2016), it can be stated that the company may not face extreme issues while performing their
business operations in the competitive business environment. However report generated by
Bowcott (2017), suggests that legal repercussions would affect the business performance of
the company negatively. Uber may incur losses due to the fluctuating value of Sterling during
the process of Brexit. As opined by Foster (2017), it is observed that the workforce of Uber
would be able to function efficiently within the business scenario of the country during
Brexit. However, certain workers may face restrictions due to stricter regulations regarding
work permits for foreign individuals within the competitive business environment.
Thus, it can be stated that Brexit referendum would affect the functions of the organisation in
both positive as well as negative ways as per the management’s decision to integrate better
operational tactics.
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Group Presentation – Individual Reflection
Team performance is based on the ability of individual members within the group to perform
their activities within the group. As opined by Meslec and Curşeu (2015), it can be observed
that team members perform their functions efficiently within the group if their duties are
distributed evenly and their job roles are defined specifically within the teamwork. As per the
terms of Belbin’s team roles theory, it is effective for the team leader to form specific job
roles for individual members in order to gain an efficient team (Lynch et al., 2018).
Considering our group presentation on Uber, it is observed that there have been several
advantages and disadvantages while working within the team. The major advantage that I
experienced while performing the group presentation is efficiency in communication. All
members within the team were cooperative in conveying their opinions and helped each
other. The disadvantage that I faced while working in the team is the clash of ideas between
members.
Despite the issues that I faced while performing the group presentation, the activity allowed
me to identify several skills that I need to develop in order to be an efficient member within
any group. I realised my issues with communication among team members and lack of
leadership qualities that held my performance back within the group. My lack of experience
in performing group presentation also affected my performance in the project.
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Conclusion
It is observed from the study that Uber would be able to resolve their issue regarding
management of labour through the integration of theory of scientific management. The CSR
policies and activities of Uber have been presented in the study. A brief overview of the
impact of Brexit is observed in the study. Finally, a reflection on the performance of group
presentation has been presented in the study.
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Reference List
Bowcott, O. 2017. Uber to face stricter EU regulation after ECJ rules it is transport firm.
[online] the Guardian. Available at:
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/dec/20/uber-european-court-of-justice-ruling-
barcelona-taxi-drivers-ecj-eu [Accessed 1 Jul. 2019].
CNBC. 2016. Uber isn’t worried about Brexit: CEO Kalanick. [online] Available at:
https://www.cnbc.com/2016/06/26/uber-isnt-worried-about-brexit-ceo-kalanick.html
[Accessed 1 Jul. 2019].
Dudovskiy, J. 2019. Uber CSR Overview - Research-Methodology. [online] Research-
Methodology. Available at: https://research-methodology.net/uber-csr-overview/ [Accessed 1
Jul. 2019].
Foster, D. 2017. A victory for workers over Uber. But beware the Brexit roadblock | Dawn
Foster. [online] the Guardian. Available at:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/dec/20/victory-workers-rights-uber-
brexit-european-court-of-justice-gig-economy [Accessed 1 Jul. 2019].
Gaskell, A. 2019. How Uber Drivers Feel About Being Managed By Machines. [online]
Forbes.com. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/adigaskell/2018/05/08/how-do-uber-
drivers-feel-about-being-managed-by-machines/#649036b56754 [Accessed 1 Jul. 2019].
Kaltner, J., 2018. Employment status of uber and lyft drivers: Unsettlingly settled. Hastings
Women's LJ, 29, p.29.
Lynch, D.S., Lynch, M.J. and Clemens, C.M., 2018. Belbin Team Roles. The Handbook of
Communication Training: A Best Practices Framework for Assessing and Developing
Competence.
Meslec, N. and Curşeu, P.L., 2015. Are balanced groups better? Belbin roles in collaborative
learning groups. Learning and Individual Differences, 39, pp.81-88.
Witzel, M. and Warner, M., 2015. Taylorism revisited: culture, management theory and
paradigm-shift. Journal of General Management, 40(3), pp.55-70.
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Wong, J. 2019. Disgruntled drivers and 'cultural challenges': Uber admits to its biggest risk
factors. [online] The Guardian. Available at:
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/apr/11/uber-ipo-risk-factors [Accessed 1 Jul.
2019].
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