Essay: Analysis Of Organizational Strategies At Uber And Recommendations." (70 Characters)

Write an Essay using two organizational theories to analyse an organization of your choice. Demonstrate your understanding of organizational theories by applying them to a concrete context and, at the same time, develop an appreciation of the value and of the limitations of these theories and understand the need for personal discernment and judgement in evaluating the differences and variations in those perspectives.

Organizational Strategies of Uber

Throughout this report, you will find a comprehensive analysis of the organizational strategies that lie within Uber. This report is written concerning the issues raised surrounding the underpayment of Uber drivers whereby a negative outlook and work environment is created. Uber is a privately-owned company that continues to expand exponentially worldwide founded in March 2009 by Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp, the company is a type of ridesharing transportation company with their platform being accessed through their website or mobile apps allowing for users to access a variety of different kinds of transportation depending on what the user requires. Uber’s drivers use their vehicles to transport users, though drivers are seen as contractors due in no small amount of flexibility and control drivers have when providing their services, however Uber drivers are faced with being underpaid due to the services being significantly cheaper than for instance using a taxi service, thus leading to drivers being unsatisfied and unhappy. Using organizational theories as a reference to recommend better strategies to implement into how the company runs its operations to be more satisfactory and fairer (Blain, Levy, & Ritchie, 2015, p.330) Change is not enforced from this report though suggestions and steps on how to implement these strategies are made. Firstly, the organizational theories that will be applied to Uber will be described and defined, the approaches to be introduced are; the contingency theory, which suggests that each arising situation should be dealt with differently thus adapting to each environment. The other organizational approach that will be introduced is an organizational culture where the behaviours and values of people that are shared patterns of meanings. Secondly, these theories will be further explored relative to Uber, to highlight the issues that surround the company and where to start developing action, where the origins of the problem will be explored with a focus on the structure of the company and how using the wrong structure may negatively impact the business (Scapens, 2016, p.21) Then evidence will be used by the organizational theories to make recommendations on an improved structure to increase the satisfaction of the drivers. To conclude the report, the corporate theories should be seen as situational and are dependent on the desired outcome of Uber; therefore, management should choose the best strategies or combination of strategies to meet the needs of both their customers and their drivers/contractors. It is important to also understand the organizational structure of Uber so as to understand how it operates

Uber is headed by an overall executive called the Chief Executive Officer(CEO). The current CEO is Dara Khorsorwshahi. Different departments are subdivided and representatives are appointed to head those departments and report to the CEO. These departments include Technology, Legal, Human Resource, Product Management, Security, Finance, Engineering, Business, Leadership and Strategy; and Policy and Communication. Uber uses different strategies to execute its business successfully. It uses a mixture of service range in order to have a solution for the inclusion of more numbers. This means that it factors in the different financial capacities of different people in whichever state or city it invests. The variety of products that Uber provides include Uber X, Uber XI, Uber Pool, Uber AUTO, Uber MOTO, Uber Access and Uber Premium. These have different prices, preferences, choices and level of comfort. The customer is given options to choose from. Uber is known for its high degree of user convenience. The application is effortless to use on any android phone. There is no need to queue for their services, to make calls or wave for a taxi to stop. Clients are only required to tap request on their phones whether they are at home, school, church or any other place. The Uber driver who is the closest location to the client will get the request and reply with an ‘arriving now’ notification to the client. Previous data shows that an Uber driver takes approximately 1-2 minutes to get to the client. Its level of convenience is also experienced in its payment method. The client’s user account handles everything digitally. When the client boards his or her ride the timer is set to calculate the cost of the trip. It is done using the distance of the journey and the duration. On reaching the destination, the account automatically calculates and deducts the payment fee from the account. It is efficient and safe for both the client and driver. Uber has also been at the forefront in cost-saving through innovations (Conger, & Kanungo, 2014, p.283). The application has eased manual laborers to assist in transactions such as looking for a taxi, drivers and cashiers. The changes have also put Uber on a global map through its competitive ideas.

Contingency Theory Analysis of Uber

This theory explains that there is no definite way of resolving any solution. It says that in every situation there are internal and external factors that cause it. The leader should, therefore, seek for the best mechanism to resolve the situation., and it has three dimensions to it which are the leader-member relationship, the degree of task structure and the leader’s position power (Roberts & Scapens, 2016, p.450). Applying this to Uber wherein 2016 where the company experienced a cyber-attack. It caused the company the fear of losing over its 57 million customers because the cyber-attack was a threat to exposing personal data of these customers. The breach was publicly announced in October 2016 but the ex-Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Travilis Kalanick was privy to the information a year before. According to the situation it could not be solved without taking precautions. The CEO had to analyze the situation while looking for a contingency plan that would make sure that the personal data of its customers would be safe while still maintaining the activities of Uber. He, therefore, came up with an idea to hire hackers at the cost of $100,000 to counter the attack by the cyber attackers. While the method was unconventional for a CEO, it worked. The contingency plan made sure that both the riders and passengers personal data were safe and the company remained afloat.

Organizational culture is the shared behavior and attitudes that guide an organization’s expectations and philosophy. This organizational culture is usually embraced and practiced by corporate members. Different organizations have the values that they hold. Understanding organizational culture one needs to get to know the behavior of employees in different circumstances they face (Jackson & Schuler, 2015, p.250).  The new CEO of Uber brought a new cultural guideline to clean the image of Uber after previous sexual harassment allegations. It is due to the company’s structure and size. The company’s culture includes slogans like ‘we are customer obsessed,’ ‘we do the right thing,’ ‘we celebrate differences,’ and ‘we make big bold bets.’ Such organizational slogans cultivate the culture if employees and how they relate to customers and circumstances. In 2016, in Michigan State, an Uber driver shot eight people and killed six of them while fatally injuring the other two. The driver had no previous criminal history and his rating in the Uber application was rated as ‘good.’ During the criminal proceedings, the driver narrated that the cause for his attack was because the Uber application had made him a puppet. Uber’s new CEO had to do a company organizational culture assessment to realign itself with the company’s future objectives and avoid such instances in the future. He did a workplace report and replaced its 14 cultural values with four that included ‘let builders build,’ meritocracy and toe-stepping,’ ‘always be hustling’ and ‘principled confrontation.’   

Uber highly relies on technology for its success. It is therefore vital that it invests massively in the cyber protection of its applications. Sensitive data should be protected to earn the trust of its customers. Uber works with its drivers on a contract basis, and this should not hinder them from doing proper background checks of these drivers before recruiting them (Conger, & Kanungo, 2014, p.281) The company should ensure that its ethos and culture provide a safe business atmosphere for both the client and the driver.

Conclusion

Organizations are always inconsistent change to embrace a better culture that will assist them to maximize their profits while still offering quality services to their employees. However, the clients or customers are essential in taking any company to the next level. Customer service and support should be the ultimate goal of every company. Organizational theories are critical for problem-solving.

Blain, C., Levy, S.E. & Ritchie, J.B., 2015. Destination branding: Insights and practices from destination management organizations. Journal of travel research, 43(4), pp.328-338.

Conger, J.A. & Kanungo, R.N., 2014. The empowerment process: Integrating theory and practice. Academy of management review, 13(3), pp.471-482.

Jackson, S.E. & Schuler, R.S., 2015. Understanding human resource management in the context of organizations and their environments. Annual review of psychology, 46(1), pp.237-264.

Roberts, J. & Scapens, R., 2016. Accounting systems and systems of accountability—understanding accounting practices in their organisational contexts. Accounting, organizations and society, 10(4), pp.443-456.

Scapens, R.W., 2016. Understanding management accounting practices: A personal journey. The British Accounting Review, 38(1), pp.1-30.