The document presents a detailed analysis of change management practices at Uber, emphasizing the application of the 'blue ocean strategy' to differentiate from traditional taxi services. It discusses leadership behaviors of CEO Travis Kalanick and the company's innovative communication and motivational strategies. Additionally, it highlights the successful implementation of change management in response to a rapidly evolving transportation industry and the importance of creativity and employee engagement.

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LEADING PROCESS
Assignment - Group
Executive Diploma in Business Administration 2016/17
Management Process
University of Colombo

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GROUP MEMBERS
Himali Wanniarachchi - 2016/EDBA/28
Dilhani Priyanga - 2016/EDBA/ 02
Irenujan Asaithamby - 2016/EDBA/20
Joy Veronikka Anpurajah - 2016/EDBA/30
Sakula Perera - 2016/EDBA/15

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Table of Contents
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.................................................................................................................................. 4
EXCUTIVE SUMMERY ................................................................................................................................... 5
INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................... 6
PRESENTATION OF INFORMATION............................................................................................................... 7
Management Process................................................................................................................................ 7
What is Leading/Directing?...................................................................................................................... 8
LEADER SHIP.................................................................................................................................... 8
COMMUNICATION........................................................................................................................... 9
LEADERSHIP............................................................................................................................................... 10
The Leadership behavior of Uber CEO Travis........................................................................................ 10
Different Roles of Leaders..................................................................................................................... 11
FORMATION ....................................................................................................................................... 12
COMMUNICATION..................................................................................................................................... 15
Uber Communication model .................................................................................................................. 15
MOTIVATION............................................................................................................................................. 17
How drivers are motivated?.................................................................................................................... 19
Driver statistics...................................................................................................................................... 19
WORK LIFE BALANCE FOR DRIVERS............................................................................................. 19
UBER STRENGTHS & WEAKNESS ANALYSIS................................................................................................. 21
Business Problem................................................................................................................................... 21
STRENGTHS........................................................................................................................................ 23
WEAKNESSES..................................................................................................................................... 24
RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................................................................................ 25
CONCLUSION............................................................................................................................................. 26
REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................................. 27

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Firstly, we would like to thank our lecturer Dr B. Nishantha for providing us this assignment and
opportunity to identify the area of our potential and interest, and for the necessary support and
advice to complete the Project successfully. With the consistent support of our team members
Himali Wanniarachchi,Dilhani Priyanga,
Irenujan Asaithamby , Joy Veronikka and
Sakula Perera gathering of the Data,
providing the Data regarding UBER,
Research and formulating was of utmost
importance as it helped to formulate the
major parts of the Topic.
Finally, we would like to thank our parents
and friends who helped us in completing
this report with the best support

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EXCUTIVE SUMMERY
This research is to identify a range of strategies and methods to ensure that change is successfully
implemented and is sustainable and to identify appropriate tools and techniques to aid the planning
implementing and evaluation of change. And it explains how all these is taken into practical range
of implementing this to an organization.
As the writer was trying to understand the ―Blue Ocean Strategy,‖ writer found thinking of Uber as
one of the best (relatively) recent applications. Change management refers to an approach which
transforms or transitions, individuals, teams, organizations using methods to redirect use of
resources, business process, budget allocation that significally reshapes an organization,
Globalization and constant innovation of technology resulting on evolving business environment ,
Major and rapid organization change profoundly difficult because the structure, culture and routines
of organization often persist and difficult to remove imprint of past due to growth of technology of
modern organization.
Change is largely motivated by exterior innovation than interior. Change could be punctuational or
transformational and incremental. Punctuational helps to transforms completely, gives a
realignment and gives opportunity to pergenerate and incremental is a gradual increment and its
steady and solid.Each organization needs to be effectively managed in change, initially changes
needs to be recognized in the broader business, developing necessary adjustment for need, training
needs to be given for their employees in appropriate manner and lastly winning the support of the
employees with adjustment.
Change management process should include creative marketing to enable communication between
changing audience as well as deep social understanding about leadership styles in dynamic group as
a visible track for transformation.

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INTRODUCTION
―Where life Style Meets Logistic‖ Slogan which would be uttered no sooner by every travellers
who does not own a vehicle. Uber Technologies is an online transportation network company which
is headquartered in San Francisco, California, United States. It operates through The Android, iOS
and Windows Phone - Smartphone application app where it connects riders with drivers using their
phone’s GPS capabilities. Uber Mobile app which allows consumers to request and submit a trip
request, where the requests are programmed through a software application which gets directed to a
registered Uber driver who is nearest to the customer, alerting the location of the customer to the
driver. The Transportation service is available in 66 countries over 507 cities worldwide where if
offers different levels of services. The service’s lowest-cost option is UberX which runs in everyday
cars like the Toyota Prius. Company’s original service is the Uber Black where, costing a bit higher
but running in high-end towns with professional drivers. Uber SUV is precisely what it sounds like,
charging a premium for a larger vehicle. Uber LUX is the top-of-the-line option, operating in posh
rides like Porsche Panameras and BMW 7 series sedans
Uber was founded by Garrett Camp, the founder of Stumble Upon – (application and most powerful
way to discover content), and Travis Kalanick in 2009 and presently been led by Travis who is the
CEO of the organization.
The History for this well spread online transportation was when Travis and Garrett were attending
to a tech conference on Paris in year 2008 and were finding very difficult to find cab service in the
city, hence they came up with the idea of a Luxury car service. In the beginning Travis was not
convinced with the idea but Garrett pursued and believed that he was the right guy to lead the
business hence he was appointed as the CEO.
Uber is Travis third entrepreneurial venture. His first was called as ―Scour‖, a peer to peer file
sharing service which was started in 2008. And then secondly he stared ―Red Swoosh‖, a peer to
peer networking downloading and slide load video multicast from websites.

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Uber requires its registered drivers to pass DMV and background check, and each driver must have
their own car which must is insured, because of this minimal entry requirements services attracts
lot of people.
Excellent social media marketing, and aggressive courting of drivers and the catchy name has made
Uber very famous and has managed to capture its market share. the cost is comparatively cheap
comparing to other taxi’s. Every city operates with a different price and it provide explanation to its
standard of pricing. Estimated pricing is quoted in advance through the app for the customer to be
informed.
PRESENTATION OF INFORMATION
The verb ―Manage‖ has been derived from the Italian term ―Maneggiare‖ which means ―to handle‖.
At a later period, the English noun ―Management‖ has developed through the French
―Menagement‖. This is an advanced term which contains the meanings of ―handling‖, ―controlling‖
and ―Management‖.
“The art of getting work done through Others and working with others”
Management Process
Management is a process consisting of several inter connected functions. Though it can basically be divided
in to Planning, Leading, Organizing & Controlling, they are all part of one continuous process.
Chart 1- Management Process
PLANNING
ORGANIZING
LEADING
CONTROLLING

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What is Leading/Directing?
“The ability to influence the behavior of individuals of a group in order to achieve the objective
of an organization”. –Albert and Khedoorn
Chart 2- Process of leading
LEADER SHIP
This is a function associated with dealing with subordinates of followers. Leadership does not mean
coercing the subordinates: instead, it refers to motivating them work volunteering.
Here in UBER
Like any chief executives, Kalanick Leans heavily on his team and direct reports to
manager all part of the business.
As UBER faces challenges on all fronts in 2016, Kalanick Leans is the one who is
leading the charge internally to make transportation “as reliable as running water”
He is following Democratic leadership role at UBER
Leadership
CommunicationMotivation

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COMMUNICATION
Communication is an international process whereby one party transmit information to another party
via appropriate channel. It involves one party sending the message and another party understanding
the message and responding to it.
Here in UBER
One of their main objectives is, clearly communicate product plans, benefits and results
as appropriate to a spectrum of audiences from internal stakeholders to all UBER
employees to riders and they maintain formal way of communication through application
and informal through word of mouth like Driver to Customer.
MOTIVATION
Employee motivation is a factor that is crucial in evaluating the efficiency of an organization. The
responsibility of the managers at any level is motivate his subordinates using a suitable behavioral.
Here in UBER
UBER Practices motivational process like providing Incentives such as 6th star for
exceptional services & discounts on auto care & wireless services
Picture 1

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LEADERSHIP
People who have achieved great success are not necessarily more skillful or intelligent than
others, what separates them is their burning desire and thirst for knowledge. The more one
knows, the more one achieves – Robin Sharma
Leadership has nothing to do with title on your business card, Size of your office, much of money
that your possess or the branded clothes that you wear. It’s an attitude, state of mind and available
to each one of us. Leaders quickly diagnose the problem, assumed personal responsibility and
makes right decisions. They speak the World class language, framework for meaning and
understanding the world though words, the words you utter determine the way you perceive reality.
Core greatness of which majority of them understand the power of the word. They speak the
language of passion, leadership, possibility and of love. Leaders are different, and they look for best
in people. Successful Human beings are widely focused and have clear picture of what they want
and have the discipline. Leaders do what is right versus easy. And they make someone feel like VIP
by the goodwill ambassador service that they offer, where it unlocks a wellspring of positive sense.
The Leadership behavior of Uber CEO Travis
An offspring behavior every top tier leader delivery is the level of confidence, in the form of
motivate, engage and retain the workforce as champions. To lead the team efficiently the leader
display and inherit a different kind of confidence that does not reveal dominance, prestige but
instead the level of confidence which is expressed as the greatest ability.
1. Travis is not reluctant to be considered wrong - Confident leaders are quite secure and back
down graciously when truly proven that they are wrong. They consider important of what is
right than being right and will admit when they are wrong even when a mistake or when
they do not have all the answers.
2. Talks less and listens more, Silent leader – Leaders than unassuming what they think always
would like to know what you think Aswel hence they become silent listeners. They allow
their followers to act in freedom and thoughtful being guaranteed of 100% achievement.
Where the leaders probe questions and would like to know more about it and what the
learning outcomes were.
3. Fulfillment of their subordinates goals is the greater purpose - they look into the goodness of
others than them and celebrate the accomplishment of others success.

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4. Not afraid to ask for help – leaders admit the weakness and are do not hesitate to ask help
from others when truly needed
5. Ready to reward for those who fight along with them – never act along but always with the
team pulling the card together and understands the human nature and recognizes the hard
work put in.
Different Roles of Leaders
Leaders are people with multi personality where they take up different roles at different stages.
They are communicator, Thinker, Decision maker, team builder, Image Builder, Technician,
Manager, Architect, Trailblazer, & Coach. Travis Kalanick has mostly taken all roles.
Decision maker - In the inception when Camp came up with the idea of online taxi Travis made a
decision of taking up the CEO role and gave his heads up for the Innovative business which clearly
brings out his strong decision making skills.
Travis quite often known as Kalanick is never afraid to start small and highly believed on team
building, just half a decade ago Uber was on the initial stage with a team of four and now it has of
6700 team players of which he leads.
He has been known to be a technician as he was is a tech savy person has already initiated two
technical entrepreneurial ventures.
7 Traits that CEO reflects
1. Purpose - a deep understanding of who you are, what are you good at and not good at when
you come up with a new idea it will have bigger meaning about you. Travis considers Uber
as a broader purpose than making profits and making sure that people go from one place to
another, his main aim is to reduce congestion and moving transportation to the next level of
success with great efficient and creating new job opportunity for people who does not have.
2. What’s hard about it? – he prefers going after hard this because it creates long lasting value,
which endures and sustains
3. Perception versus reality – Perception is what every single person thinks and reality is way
over. It’s hard to push towards reality when everyone thinks perception is real. Every

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Entrepreneur is able to see what the world is wrong but should have the courage to go
against it.
4. Analytical and Creative – Travis tests the potential of both analytical and creative of
employee, where both are required for entrepreneurs
5. Going to market – Don’t be shy and reluctant to pitch people of your great idea
6. Enjoying the ride –the key in believing what you’re doing solves problems and enjoys
process and work
7. Champion’s mindset –if you believe, you put everything you got was the energy which
Travis was driving off.
FORMATION
At the center of the blue ocean strategy formulation is a four step structured model that involves
visual exploration to unlock the creative thinking of people and to explore great heights and pushes
Organization towards the revealing of Blue Ocean.
Chart 3
Visualizing strategy can greatly is a transforming process from a red ocean to a blue ocean player.
Uber’s Blue Ocean Strategy is been analyzed by the ERRC Grid where in the company eliminates
the hassles of taxi reservation, settling the exact bill – paying and change money issues, tips issues,
arguments & denial of services, reduced the problems of drivers too along with customers by
matching the rides and Uber .

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Uber invented a new market space in which initial stages was un played market space but during
the growth stage competitors flooded the market but most of the competitors were irrelevant to
Uber as the company is not only dominating the local market but also expanding rapidly across the
globe.
Ryan Graves, head of global operations at Uber, in an interview with Times of India said that
UberX was growing "incredibly faster" compared to the more expensive Black service across cities
where both options were present. "UberX is accessible to a much larger population because it's
affordable," he said.
Uber has said its high prices are the premium that the customers pay for a cab service that is not
only reliable, but also punctual and comfortable.
Chart 4
Source of Business Model Picture: Contributed by Aswath Damodaran, Professor Stern School
of Business, New York University to Forbes.com

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DELIVERY
. Uber always makes sure that there are enough cabs in the vicinity when there are requests. Uber is
the most affordable transportation choice in most cities when you think about the cost of taxi, factor
for parking, insurance, and maintenance rather owning a car.
Kalnick is known and believes that through mistakes that we learn and move forward, brash and
confrontational when it comes to defending his company practices, he stood against rival cab
companies and at times even his customers and incredibly driven by what he does and does not
afraid to show but rather admitted that his approach is right .
Different variations of the service but Uber brought a whole new platform to the market. Instead of
the same rules that had been in place for so many years Uber changed the structure of the service.
Uber a company ventured capturing new demand from an unknown market space and successfully
inventing it. Ridesharing was already present in the industry and this manner, the market space was
created from within the existing red ocean of the existing taxicab industry. That said, technology
played a vital role here, as the company was able to take up with the rise of the sharing economy
(and apps) that revolutionized several service industries. Uber applied the steps outlined in blue
ocean strategy, ―making the competition irrelevant by creating a leap in value […] for customers.‖
(Kim and Mauborgne 1).
It was very obvious that this was an industry that was ripe for a blue ocean disruption or
opportunity, the quality of service of taxis were universally abysmal across major cities in the US
and the competition was indistinguishable from one another, leaving passengers with limited
latitude in options. With such little effort at developing their custom value proposition, it seems
surprising that taxi companies were able to dominate the markets in high-traffic cities for so long.
By taking advantage of the regulatory conditions and high cost of licensing, these companies were
able to skate by offering a subpar service to their customers. The industry was overcrowded with
slim prospects for new entrants to profit and grow.
As the ―Blue Ocean Strategy‖ highlights, the most important unit of measure is the set of
managerial actions and decisions involved in making a major market-creating business offering.
The Uber example demonstrates how, from the outset, its strategy has emphasized differentiation
and low cost simultaneously, rather than making the trade-off between value and cost like other

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incumbents in the taxicab industry. As shown by the preceding analysis, the company creates buyer
value by raising and creating elements that the taxicab industry has never offered before while
mitigating costs through its rapidly increasing high sales volume, defining hallmarks of blue ocean
strategy businesses is that retrospectively, the company’s success should seem obvious or almost
like a natural progression within the industry that it is in. Using the Uber example, the company has
only been around for about seven years but to most people, it has become a brand synonymous with
transit convenience, speed, and easy payment terms. We can apply the same principle to other major
market disruptors who utilized blue ocean strategy, like eBay and Amazon. What these companies
did so well was introduce relatively simple concepts that dramatically improved an established, but
clunky (or maybe just not running as well as it could be) kind of system.
COMMUNICATION
UBER mainly use their unique Application to cater their service to their customers.
Picture 2
Uber Communication model
Uber is in some ways a unique business model. It has very little face-to-face contact with most of its
drivers. Most people are working with Uber to earn a little extra money instead of as a career. It acts

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more as a conduit between service providers and customers. But its drivers have the basic needs of
all workers.
Uber has addressed some of these problems well, but it still has room to improve. One external
study found that 71% of drivers were satisfied with working for Uber.
Uber communication is efficient and is supported by data. This is clearly evident in how Uber
managed a crisis situation aroused with some drivers in New York.
The crisis: A group of Uber drivers banded together to publish this Medium article about the
company’s 35% price cuts, and the effect it had on drivers. The article went viral almost
immediately.
The response: Uber never released an ―official‖ response to the Uber Driver’s Network, but within
hours of the Medium piece going viral, founder and CEO Travis Kalanick shared this article about
gross hourly rates for drivers in New York City. Coincidence? Probably no.
Chart 5

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MOTIVATION
Uber is one of the most valuable startup in the world, and part of that success can be attributed to an
aggressive strategy to acquire and retain talented people. Their most notable, and recent, tactic has
been poaching Google’s top experts in mapping and geospatial solutions. Moves like this provide
Uber with a significant competitive advantage in a crowded marketplace. Talented executives and
engineers flocking to Uber believe the company has ―world-changing‖ ambitions with a corporate
culture that values team as much as the bottom line.
The opportunity to thrive, professionally, is grounded in the understanding that Uber is committed
to their most valuable asset—people, even though it has received plenty of criticisms for the way it
treats drivers by not offering them health insurance and other worker benefits. Investment in human
capital is a functional practice that new startups often overlook. Critics will argue that initiatives
focused on leadership and professional development are mere fluff and do not work. However, new
research proves that it is one of the most important factors in building a world-class workforce that
remains committed, engaged, and performing at the highest levels.
In Silicon Valley, startups spend months raising money to build a business. But, with Uber as a
prime example, building a successful business is about more than raising money. After initial
fundraising rounds, investor expectations are high and startups hit a very a delicate point in a
company’s lifecycle – where talent means everything and investing in talent is critical for success.
In the current market context, there are four distinct areas of focus that start-ups must embrace to
build an early competitive edge:
Understand the dynamics of the talent war:
In the past, employees valued opportunity, compensation, and security. Today, millennials occupy a
larger percentage of the work force and are overwhelmingly attracted to companies that are
perceived as strongly invested in their personal overall growth and career development. They want
to know that there will be the opportunity to develop a strong set of competencies and transferrable
skills that can not only be useful now, but later on as well, as their careers develop. Further,
preparing workers for new roles as the company expands is also necessary — internal mobility is a
better alternative than losing key talent.

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Create a culture with a passion for learning:
Culture can be a barrier to integrating professional development into a company strategy, but it can
also be the source of competitive advantage. A culture of excellence leverages continuous learning
to create an environment where preparation, adaptability, and ongoing support to do a job are ever
present. This is where out-of-the-box contributions emerge. Instead of just getting work done, the
culture transforms a company into a place where employees feel motivated and empowered to
develop new ideas, concepts, and recommendations that are actively advancing individual and
collective innovation well beyond what’s normally expected.
This allows companies to better monitor and evaluate employee progress and provides an
opportunity for employees to be constantly aware of their performance while identifying areas
where support exists to help master new skills.
Enhance effective management:
Managers who operate in an environment that integrates learning develop a potent ability to
influence, communicate and drive performance for subordinates and peers. In the past, startups or
smaller managers could survive by responding reactively to market conditions. But reactive options
fail to take advantage of professional development opportunities and forego the competitive
advantage. When senior leaders use continuous learning to develop short-mid- and long-term
growth strategies, the result is an aggressive and highly competitive operating model. With a clear
strategy and plan for correlating talent development and efficient execution, communication with
key stakeholders, like investors, are more productive.
Relentlessly promote the brand:
Top talents who appreciate a continuous learning environment are more likely to be motivated to
remain consistently engaged and can be groomed to become some of your best assets.
These are your brand ambassadors, promoting the value of the company to new employees and even
potential investors. They embody the brand, enhance the reputation across the industry, and are a
direct reflection of the best the brand can offer.

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Talent today is the newest form of currency for start-ups. Competitors can poach top talent over the
weekend – effectively collapsing your edge in the market. While startups have a number of balls in
the air at any one time, one of the most important is to recognize top talent as their most critical
asset and deliberately and proactively develop strategies to protect it. It’s the strongest path to
success.
How drivers are motivated?
Uber consider drivers as partners of the business and not as employees. One year ago, Benenson
Strategy Group surveyed our driver-partners in the U.S. to learn more about how and why drivers
use Uber, and found that drivers chose Uber by and large to have more control over their time and
their income. Since then, the number of active Uber driver-partners in the U.S. has more than
doubled, from 160,000 to over 400,000, and our partners have been paid over $3.5 billion in the
U.S. so far this year.
Driver statistics
 More women are starting to drive with Uber than ever before: 29% of drivers who started
in the past 3 months are women. Overall, 19% of all drivers in the U.S. are women, up from
14% last December.
 Many students are using the platform: 11% of drivers are students, nearly double the
percentage of students in the U.S. population overall.
 Lots of parents: Nearly half – 48% – of drivers have children age 18 or under at home.
 More everyday people are using the app: Two-thirds of drivers, or 67%, never earned
income from driving before partnering with Uber (up from about half of drivers – or 51% –
last December).
WORK LIFE BALANCE FOR DRIVERS
 More people are using Uber on the side: 69% of drivers have other full-time or part-time
work outside of Uber, up from 62% last December.

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 Most drivers don’t schedule themselves, they drive when they have time: 50% drive fewer
than 10 hours per week on average; 40% say when they drive just depends what else is on their
schedule, 38% set an earnings goal, 16% drive a set amount of time.
 Flexibility is a big motivating factor: 88% started driving with Uber because it fit their life
well, not because it was their only option.
 People are using the app both as drivers and passengers: More than 1 in 4 drivers takes
Uber (as a passenger) at least once a month. Increasingly, people do not talk about ―becoming
an Uber driver-partner.‖ It’s a much simpler decision – do I want to make money using my
car?
These findings mirror what we hear every day from drivers: flexibility and the chance to be
their own boss is a key reason they use Uber; they want work that fits around their life, not the
other way around. And most of our partners work with Uber to make money on the side,
driving on their own time and toward their own unique goals.

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UBER STRENGTHS & WEAKNESS ANALYSIS
Business Problem
Uber is a network orchestrator; it connects passengers with nearby drivers by:
Managing a network of drivers and passengers with a mobile application.
Providing options and varieties in the transportation service – UberX, UberXL, UberExec,
ExecLarge and normal Taxis (local taxi providers)
So it is important for Uber, as a company, to ensure that our drivers are happy and want to work
with Uber in order to attract and retain more drivers. As well as ensure that the passengers are
satisfied with our services and prefer our services to other competitors.
Scope
This assignment highlights the organization’s strengths and weakness in detail according to
assignment requirement. In the later sections, we will explore various recommendations to turn the
weakness into strengths for Uber.
Description about UBER
Uber, a high-tech startup founded in 2009, connects the transportation industry with technology by
its ride-sharing app. It is the highest valued venture-backed company in the world as of today.
Uber’s service is available in 470+ cities in 60+ countries worldwide including India, China, South
Africa, Sri Lanka and Indonesia. Uber is valued at US$ 51 billion, which makes it more valuable
than the entire U.S. taxi and limousine industry. It serves around 8.2 million users worldwide and
has around 175,000 drivers in contract. The average number of trips in a daily comes to around 1
million rides.
In spite of the statistics singing success stories, the company evokes a range of contrasting
emotions. On the one hand, users love it because it provides a more convenient, easier-to-use, and

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often less expensive way to get from point A to point B. On the other hand, the traditional taxi
drivers, local governments and even some Uber drivers are strongly against the practices that the
company engages in.
For these reasons, we have created a SWOT analysis for Uber to check how the opportunities and
threats that the company is going to face are connected with the strengths and weaknesses that we
already are aware of.
Chart 6

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STRENGTHS
Turn ground transportation into a seamless service. Basically make car ownership a thing of the
past… Travis Kalanick, CEO of Uber.
Uber, with its customer-centric approach gives users the possibility to grab a taxi no matter where
they are. Additionally, it lets them track the entire route of the ride, and, in the end, allows them to
make a cashless payment with their credit card.
What is unique about this approach is that all the activities described above can be conveniently
engaged from their smartphone.
The service is based on direct client-to-driver interaction, so there is no need for a dispatcher or,
even worse, standing on the sidewalk and waving, hoping that you can hail a taxi. This reduces the
operational cost for Uber. Additionally, the greatest advantage of Uber is generally lower prices in
comparison to regular taxi operators, and, in most cases, a higher quality of cars. Another benefit is
the mutual rating system in which customers can choose verified and rated drivers before starting
the ride and drivers can choose passengers with good rating. This rating system also enables Uber to
keep track of the quality of drivers employed in the company.
Uber, with its strengths mentioned above, has efficiently addressed the problem of dissatisfaction
with traditional taxi services. It has shown that this approach can work in almost every country. As
a result, Uber’s approach to taxi services has quickly spread around the globe as the taxi markets
exist almost everywhere.
This is why Gold Man Sachs, Microsoft, and many others have invested over $12 billion in the
company. This vast amount of invested money has given Uber the strengths and possibilities to
wisely take advantage of their idea and therefore, has created a snowball effect that is now hard to
stop.

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WEAKNESSES
As with every fast-growing company, Uber also has weaknesses that can prevent it from expanding
further. At the core of these weaknesses is the issue of loyalty. With the growing competition,
especially from national players, there is nothing stopping the drivers/customers from joining the
competition or using other services. In some countries, the drivers and customers commonly use
multiple applications while looking for cabs.
One example of this is from SriLanka. The drivers/customers commonly use ―PickMe‖ App and
―Uber‖ App together. They look for cabs in one app and switch to the other in case of any
delay/surge pricing. Some drivers wait for the request to come in PickMe as Pickme pays them in 1
day, while Uber takes 2 days for processing the payment.
Uber is recently getting a lot of negative press due to the company’s ethically questionable
relationships with drivers, who are considered ―contractors‖ rather than ―full time employees‖ by
the company, and hence do not enjoy the benefits of minimum wage, overtime or health insurance.
Drivers also complain about low earnings compared to the high costs of being a driver, and also that
the application doesn’t allow tipping. Driver dissatisfaction has already been demonstrated in cities
such as New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles, and has attracted much attention from the news
media.
Uber’s negative press is also connected to the fact that it has no real connection with the
customers/drivers. Drivers are the face of the organization. And when drivers misbehave with the
customers (rape case in India), this results in bad PR for the company.

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RECOMMENDATIONS
Attracting and Retaining Customers
Uber usually gives promo codes and discounts to first time riders or to those who introduce their
friends to Uber. On one hand, this attracts a lot of people to sign up with Uber. But in order to cope
up with regional competition like PickMe, they need to start giving out other promotions as well
throughout the year.
For this Uber can partner with local agencies – bars/restaurants/event venues. On one hand, this
will help the local agencies in advertising; and for Uber, this will be a new way to attract the
outdoorsy people looking for things to do. So events happening around the city and promotions for
drop-off/pick-up at these venues could bring in more passengers and result in more revenue for
Uber. For this to work, we need strategic marketing and procurement teams in place in various
locations to make deals with the local agencies. Uber should set up new offices at hubs.
One other way to win the loyalty of the customer is by adding them to a credit-based loyalty
Programme. Much like credit card reward system, which attracts a number of faithful customers to
continue using credit cards, Uber could introduce rebates or rewards for their loyal customers.
Attracting and Retaining Drivers
Drivers are very important for the growth of Uber. More the number of drivers, lesser is the waiting
time and greater is the customer satisfaction. Uber has a contract based relationship with the drivers,
which gives the drivers flexibility to choose their working hours, work part time with uber and
guarantees minimum wages. More strategic incentives should be put in place to attract the drivers
and keep them in the road longer.
Opening offices at hub locations could also add a personal touch for interaction with the drivers.
And this could potentially reduce the number of incidents related to background checks of the
drivers as well. This type of personal touch with a physical presence in the location is important for
keeping up with the national competition.
One last thing is, if more customers are loyal to the company and use Uber regularly, this will in
turn bring in more loyal drivers as this will solve the problem of drivers not earning enough. If we
get in more loyal drivers, this will reduce the ETA for customers and more customers will be
willing to use Uber frequently.

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CONCLUSION
Ubers’ business model is simple - when you need it, how you need it, at reasonable price. Many taxi
companies and drivers are struggling to compete with Ubers’ business model because it removes
the power from their hands and places it into the hands of the consumer.
Resistance to change is nothing new. Industries and workers have been resisting change since the
beginning of time. And also if Uber has best practices on leadership process. Even though it has
few setbacks and weaknesses, if the management can improve the areas that needs to be checked
and developed, then UBER would be the no one organization with fullest employee satisfaction and
leadership,

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REFERENCES
1. Website
ANON
Your Bibliography: N.p., 2017. Web. 14 Jan. 2017.
2. Book
CRAMER, J. AND KRUEGER, A. B.
Disruptive change in the taxi business
In-text: (Cramer and Krueger)
Your Bibliography: Cramer, Judd and Alan B Krueger. Disruptive Change In The Taxi Business. 1st ed. Print.
3. Website
NEW SURVEY: DRIVERS CHOOSE UBER FOR ITS FLEXIBILITY AND CONVENIENCE
In-text: ("New Survey: Drivers Choose Uber For Its Flexibility And Convenience")
Your Bibliography: "New Survey: Drivers Choose Uber For Its Flexibility And Convenience". Uber Global. N.p.,
2017. Web. 14 Jan. 2017.
4. Website
TOP 10 UBER FACTS
In-text: ("Top 10 Uber Facts")
Your Bibliography: "Top 10 Uber Facts". YouTube. N.p., 2017. Web. 14 Jan. 2017.
5. Website
UBER CASE STUDY (OPERATIONS)
In-text: ("UBER Case Study (Operations)")
Your Bibliography: "UBER Case Study (Operations)". prezi.com. N.p., 2017. Web. 14 Jan. 2017.
6. Website
WINGARD, J.
In-text: (Wingard)
Your Bibliography: Wingard, Jason. Fortune.com. N.p., 2017. Web. 14 Jan. 2017.