Business Improvement and Change: Zipcar Report Analysis

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Zipcar, a car-sharing company, focusing on its business improvement and change strategies. The report begins by assessing the essential business processes, including fleet management and booking systems, necessary for facilitating business change within Zipcar. It then delves into the company's resource allocation, detailing how Zipcar is adapting its resources to meet new demands, such as low-emission vehicles, accessibility, and technological advancements like ride-sharing. Furthermore, the report benchmarks Zipcar against competitors Uber and Lyft, evaluating their profit growth, revenue growth, and booking growth metrics to assess Zipcar's competitive position and identify areas for improvement. The report concludes with an overview of Zipcar's operational strategies and future prospects.

BUSINESS
IMPROVEMENT AND
CHANGE

Table of Contents
Introduction..........................................................................................................................................3
Task 1....................................................................................................................................................3
Task 2....................................................................................................................................................5
Task 3....................................................................................................................................................6
Task 4....................................................................................................................................................8
Conclusion..........................................................................................................................................10
References...........................................................................................................................................11

Introduction
Business change is the act of moving the company from where it is now to where it wants to be.
The change can be small as well as big. It depends upon the company to chose which change it
wants to undergo. Zipcar is a American car sharing company and is a subsidiary of Avis Budget
Group. It was founded in Cambridge in the year 2000 by Robin Chase and Antje Danielson. There
are various topics discussed in the report like various business processes and how change affects the
business. The report also include the various resources and capabilities of Zipcar.
Task 1
Assess business processes required by company to make business change feasible:
Business Process can be defined as a list of task which, if completed then will attain the
organizational goal. The process include various inputs and a known output. Different businesses
have different processes according to its capabilities and working. It can be divided into:
a) Fleet Management: there are different functions in fleet management such as vehicle financing,
vehicle maintenance tracking of vehicle etc. Fleet management reduces risk of those companies
which rely on transportation or vehicles for their business and the risk can be related to vehicle
investment, improving efficiency,productivity etc. Fleet management also include a software that
enable the company to know all the details of the vehicle. It includes all operations of vehicle from
the time of its purchase to its disposal. Vehicle details, driver details, service and maintenance
schedule, tracking of vehicle, reports of vehicle etc. can be seen in software.
b) Fleet dispatch: Fleet dispatch means the time taken by a vehicle to reach from one place to
another. There are various software which sees calculate the time taken by a vehicle to reach from
one destination to another. Fleet dispatch works with telematics respond to modern routing
challenges like providing proper location of fleet with higher accuracy, control, efficiency etc.
Technology has become a very important part of fleet. It has reduced various accidents, and
problems related to the transportation. There is always some risk when transporting goods from one
place to another like theft, accident, penalty etc.
There are different ways to book vehicle :
Booking system are those system which are made to book a particular vehicle at a time
period and no other person can take your vehicle at that time. Zipcar can be booked by different
ways according to the comfort of the customer. Some ways are:
1) Zip car Mobile application: Zipcar has launched a mobile application in cell phones so that
the customer can book his vehicle anytime and is charged the amount online only. There is

no need to go in the office to book the car. The customer can choose from variety of cars and
there are different offers too on application. Application is the most easy and friendly way to
book a car. Documents can also be uploaded from the mobile application and it is safe to pay
also from application. Approval of car or confirmation is received fast from the
company(Adebanjo and et.al., 2015).
2) Website: Zipcar can be booked from website also. It is the safest way to book a car. The
information about the company can also be known from is website and how much
trustworthy it is. Website gives more detail information about the car. It shows the pick-up
point and drop-point of car and total fair of the car. It is less used nowadays but is not
obsolete technology. They are more used by businessmen and traders. Youngsters use mobile
application more than this system.
3) Telephone: This is the another source of booking a zip car. The customer can call on the
number and agent will book the car. The customer has to go to the office to pick the car. This
source is less trustworthy as the agent can cancel the booking too if payment is not done on
time. There is no confirmation of booking unless a confirmation message is received.
Booking on telephone is less preferred as no one picks the call and there is risk of payment
too.
Various payment system are:
1) credit / debit card: There are various ways off doing payment to the company and card
payment is the most common. Card payment is generally done from mobile and website as
you have to just write the card information and the payment is automatically debited from
your account. There are various offers on card too as different banks have tie ups with
companies and they give cash-backs and discounts to some banks.
2) PayPal: It is a online payment system which support online money transfers of funds from
one account to another. It is used by many people and is becoming a main source of doing
online payment. PayPal is a subsidiary of eBay and is recognised as as the best money
transfer service(Baker, 2017).
3) Priority account: Many financial institutions give some of their long time customers an
upgrade from normal account to priority account. The services given in a priority account
are advance payment of bills, consultation on various financial matters etc. Priority
customers can pay to Zipcar directly and if they don't have sufficient balance in their
account then also they can pay.
4) Cash: It is the most common way to pay the company. Cash is the most basic and used way

to pay the company. Cash is given in hand to hand and there is no bad debt because of it.
Cash is also a very reliable source to pay the company.
Task 2
The resource allocation of Zipcar with its new capabilities
Resource allocation should be done in following categories:
1) Low emissions vehicles for greener streets: All the old vehicles which are polluting the
environment and which are not fit any more should be dumped and they should be changed
with car that have good fuel efficiency and less service cost. Due to high service cost many
companies does not maintain or service their car on timely basis and this becomes the reason
for pollution in environment(Chaplin and O’Rourke, 2018).
2) Accessible for all ages and abilities: Zipcar should be available to all age people above
certain limit. It does not mean that it should be allowed to 12 to 13 years of age, it just
means that age above 18 should be allowed as they are the most travelling and adventurous
age group and they only need a car to travel to different places. Most people above the age
of 25 have their own cars and very few will take it from outside.
3) Affordable, reliable and frequent: The cars which the customers take from Zipcar should
always be affordable and should not be overpriced. They should have all the basic things in
the car that will make the drive comfortable. The cars should be reliable and should not
require continuous repair in the way(Lin and Taylor, 2017).
4) Shared to take vehicles off the road and free space: There should be some cars with the
company which could be taken to off road and for adventurous purposes and extra charges
can be taken for those cars. There are times when there is road ahead but it's not been shown
in navigation then such roads can be taken by the customers in case of no options.
5) Slower speed, technology to yield for safer streets: The company should set speed limit in
car so that over speeding can be avoided. Safe technology should be used in the car so that
customers remain safe at the time of any accident. Different speed limit should be set in the
car in the city area so that other people are safe on the streets.
There is very much requirement of people as well as vehicle in Zipcar. Some already allocated
human resource are and new requirements in Zipcar are:
Zipcar already has more than 900 staff in the company with more than 4450 drivers and total of
5247 car which include 15 AV, 4825 cars and 407 vans. The market demand of Zipcar has increased

in the present year and it is expanding its human resource as well his car fleet. The company is
thinking to invest funds in these two sectors. These are the most important sector in this industry.
The company is giving employment to more than 2500 people and expanding its human resource
team. The company is also appointing 3000 drivers and purchasing more than 5000 cars to increase
its market. The market of Zipcar is increasing day by day because its services are good and there are
many loyal customers of Zipcar(Noori and Maktoubian, 2019).
The company is thinking to use the latest technology in the cars so that its customers are increased.
Various technology improvements are coming in the future which the Zipcar is thinking to adopt in
their cars like all the networks in the car are upgraded,previously all the cars were driven by a single
person and now company is bringing the technology of Ride sharing so that car expense is also less
and resources are also being saved simultaneously. It is a very big step of company towards the
conservation of natural resources. Now more people can travel from one place to another with
saving of fuel as well as with less cost. The company also made some vast changes in the car as the
cars before were driven by drivers and now most cars are driven without drivers. Most of the people
today know how to drive a vehicle and they prefer to drive their own vehicles so that more people
can sit in the car .
Task 3
Benchmarking concept against system and capabilities of Uber and Lyft
Benchmark Measure: There are various benchmark on the basis of which the growth of the
company is measured. Benchmark is the minimum attainable position which the company should
attain if it want to come in the category of growing companies.
There are various categories on which benchmark can be divided:
1) Profit Growth: A company is earning good or not or is able to pay all his expenses or not
depends on the profit of the company. If the company is earning good profit then it is
definitely able to pay all its expenses and is doing good in market. Profits of Zipcar are
increasing every year as its market is growing at a good speed. There are various reason for
increase in profits of the company like good services on road, timely delivery of vehicle,
good drivers, maintained cars etc. It takes time for a company to make a good image in the
market and so no wrong steps should be taken to destroy it. 15% growth can be seen in the
profits of Uber and 18% growth was seen in the profits of Zipcar as it is providing better
services then other companies. The human resource is efficient and hard-working.

2) Revenue Growth: Revenue means the total sales of the company from the sale of its product
or from the business it runs. For different companies sale of product as well as services are
revenue. Increase in revenue means that the company is performing good in the market and
the demand of it is increasing. Revenue growth is no that easy to increase as customers are
not made in a day. Uber has shown a huge growth in the revenue by 63% and Zipcar growth
was around 62% in this year. Both companies are growing at a rapid increase and more
revenue means means more profit for the organization(Stein and et.al., 2017).
3) Booking Growth: Booking growth does not increase in one day as it takes time for a
company to have growth in this sector. Booking growth means the total increase in the
number of bookings by the customers. Uber has shown some growth in the booking by 10%.
The growth is less than other companies in competition. Zipcar growth was around 22%.
Booking System of Zipcar is as follows:
a) How do I make a booking?
Ans. Booking can be made using application, website and telephone. The easiest way of doing the
booking is by application. The money can be paid for the booking by the way of online payment to
the company.
b) How do I know when my car has arrived?
Ans. When the car arrives, a message is dropped in your phone as well on the email. Other than this
the driver also calls the customer whenever he reaches the arrival point. In some application you
can check the live location of the car in the maps that is shown in it.
c) How can I cancel a booking?
Ans. Booking can be cancelled from the application or from the email. Whenever a booking is
done, a confirmation message is dropped on the registered mobile number and the customer can
cancel the booking from that mobile number. A small charges are debited if the reason for
cancellation is not valid.
S1
The general waiting time for Uber is 15 minutes but the waiting time of Zipcar is less than 10
minutes which is very less compare to other companies. The waiting time of a company depends
upon the number of free vehicles in the city.
S2
The rides per day of Uber is 4,36,000 which is less comparing to Zipcar which is 5,80,000 per day.
There are various way to pay to the company and most of the payment received by Uber is from

Credit card and Debit card. Other are received from PayPal and cash. There are some cities in
which cash is used for payment otherwise the company charge from the card only or other payment
services.
Zipcar gets the payment from various sources and there is no single fixed source. It gets its payment
from apple pay,credit card or debit card, cash or PayPal. Zipcar undergoes thousands of customers
everyday and it is very tough for companies to take the cash from each and every driver so bank
payment is best as the amount directly goes to the bank account(Stokes, 2017).
Task 4
Some change models Zipcar should adopt are:
1)Lewin’s three steps of change:
This model includes 3 steps: unfreezing, changing, and refreezing. it concentrate on
creating awareness regarding needs of the changes, implementation of the changes, and
lastly focuses on the strengthning and sticking of changes in the organisation. The main goal of
this model is to increase competition in the market.3 steps are:
a) Unfreezing:
It is very neccesary to unfreeze the present idea before doing changes with it that is
before changing idea we need to produce an acceptance in all the employess for that
communication is very important with the employees working in the company to generate
understanding about the existing state of organisation, and to create awareness about the
present level of acceptability so that employees can examine the neccesity of change for
competing with the other organisations and for their own benefits(Sutton, 2015).
b) Changing:
It is the actual step of change during which they move forward for the implementation of
new ideas in the organisation. Due to differences, employees has to face multiple problems and
they also fear about the position of the organisation and about the probability of gaining or
loosing. They also learn new logics to execute, and also get fresh processes for handling
and working of the business. This step is very delicate and reuquire high attention and the
process of its execution should be done very carefully.
c) Refreezing:

After changing, sticking, strengthening and stabilisation of the new ideas is needed that is
refreezing of it so that employees does not move backward towards the old strategy of handling
their work and also accept the new state and implement them in the positive ways to the
company.
Kotter’s 8 steps model of change:
 Creating a sense of urgency:
This is done by recognition of the consequences that can harm company in the upcoming
time, detection of the effective ideas to overcome the harm, and then convincing all the other
members by telling or requesting them to understand the need of change and to help them
with the process.
 Forming powerful guiding coalitions:
This includes creating a team or a group with the leaders to lead the group, so that they
all together can make strategies which can be execute for the benefits of the company.
 Developing a vision and a strategy:
This forces on creating a proper plans for the change and describing them to the
employees by the leaders so that they can understand and apply changes.
 Communicating the vision:
This involves connecting of the changes with the training, inspection and achievement of the
company and the discussion with the employees about the problems they are facing for their
concern and also involves the process of overcoming the issues of the employees.
 Empowering employees for action:
This step expresses that the obstacles coming into the way of new change towards vision has
to be removed and there should be motivation for the employees so that they can handle the
risky activities.
 Creating short-term wins:
This includes creation of the short term achievements which results in increment of the
motivation in the members of the company because short term wins have higher possibilities
of achieving success and are easily managable and are low priced(Ward and Cook, 2017).

 Consolidating gains:
This focus on the continuous achievements and also includes hiring of new candidates
and promotion of the old one who can implement for the new state of vision and can link it with
the new projects, or the events.
 Strengthening change by anchoring change in the culture:
This ensures that leaders continue to help, guide and support the new state of change for
increasing competition in the market and also ensures that the new change becomes visible in
every facet of the organisation.
Conclusion
Change is the essence of life and it cannot be ignored. If a business wants to survive in this
dynamic environment then it has to change. It needs to adapt new techniques, new methods
of production and new strategies. These will not only help the business to survive but also
help it to grow and flourish. It will also help the company to incur cost benefits and achieve
profit maximization. Therefore, it can be concluded that change is mandatory if a company
wants to grow.
References
Books and Journals
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Control.26(7). pp.507-524.
Baker, B., 2017. Innovating Lean Six Sigma: A Strategic Guide to Deploying the World's Most
Effective Business Improvement Process. Quality Progress. 50(2). p.60.
Chaplin, L. and O’Rourke, S.T., 2018. Could lean and green be the driver to integrate business
improvement throughout the organization?. International Journal of Productivity and
Performance Management.67(1). pp.207-219.
Lin, Y. and Taylor, B., 2017. Use online training and development to improve staff performance as
well as customer service in order to achieve business improvement.
Noori, M. and Maktoubian, J., 2019. Business Improvement Approach Based on Sentiment Twitter
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Richner, M. and Olesen, K., 2019. Towards business improvement districts in Denmark: Translating
a neoliberal urban intervention model into the Nordic context. European Urban and
Regional Studies.26(2). pp.158-170.
Stein, C. and et.al., 2017. Learning from failed policy mobilities: Contradictions, resistances and
unintended outcomes in the transfer of “Business Improvement Districts” to Germany.
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Stokes, R.J., 2017. Business improvement districts and small business advocacy: The case of San
Diego. In Business Improvement Districts (pp. 249-267). Routledge.
Sutton, C., 2015. The human sigma approach to business improvement in tourism SMEs. Journal of
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Ward, K. and Cook, I., 2017. Business improvement districts in the United Kingdom:
Territorialising a ‘global’model?. In Territorial Policy and Governance (pp. 149-168).
Routledge.