Essay: Management And Business Context For Uber Co." (54 Characters)

Background Information of Uber Company

Discuss about the Management and Business Context for Uber Company.

The purpose of this assessment report is to examine the critical issue related to the main topic, ‘Management and business context’. This report will develop a broad understanding of the internal contextual factors and impact of these factors on business decisions and growth the company through investment in the regional areas from different states of the Australian country, such as Melbourne, Victoria, Queensland, Canberra, Brisbane, Adelaide, Sydney, and Perth.

This assessment will describe the key contextual factor related to the knowledge management and business context of Uber Company while investing the online transportation business ventures in the form of taxicab and hiring for vehicle services to the customers of the regional parts of Australia (Harward Business School, 2010). 

Uber is one of the leading online transportation technological companies in the world having its headquarters in San Francisco city of California in the USA. UBER was founded by Garrett Camp  and Travis Kalanick and in March. This is the world’s largest online transportation technological industry that allows the users/customers/visitors to submit a trip request through its app, known as Uber app. Uber offers taxicab services and vehicles for hire after receiving the customers’ requests on Uber app. It operates, develops, and markets the transportation businesses under a software program, Uber app that automatically sends the Uber Driver to the nearest visitors/customers alerting the driver to the signals of the customer location after receiving the trip request from them. It is a private held company having the worldwide operations with taxicab services in 66 countries and 547 cities worldwide (Augeneder, 2014).  

The contextual factor faced by the organization of Uber is regional economic issue that will influence the sustainable economic development and business decisions within the organization of Uber Technologies Inc.

The lack of knowledge management and information governance practices is the key contextual factor faced by the organization in the regional areas of Australia that results into the lack of communication and integration, the lack of efficiency and security, weak reporting system, outdated information system, non-user friendly, weak customer relationship management, difficulty in customization, the lack of bank reconciliation statement, the lack of quality control, and compatibility of software are such complex problems faced by Uber while integrating the business functions and processes within the regional areas of Australia(Satya Sekhar, 2009).

Uber Technologies Inc. faces the regional challenges, such as labor costs, economic unrest fluctuating interest rates and GDP, lack of transportation infrastructure, lack of e-commerce and knowledge management practices, compliance to government legal systems and laws related to trade and business operations, federal government taxation policies, bureaucracy in regional economic systems, government intervention, protectionism barriers and trade and investment restrictions, corruption and unethical activities in the regional areas of the country, and failure or mismanagement of the national economy are such issues that may affect the business ventures and activities of the firm in the  regional areas of Australia while investing into taxicab and vehicles hiring services in the regional Australia (Aytes, 2012).

Contextual Factor: Regional Economic Issue

Uber may also face problems, such as availability of proper transportation infrastructure facilities, labor conditions, poor market planning and risk assessment, lack of responsiveness to external environmental forces, labor market conditions, poor selection of suppliers, and poor management planning are such issues that may affect the businesses of Uber while expanding transportation business in regional parts of Australia.

The business operations of Uber Technologies Inc. face the challenges, such as the cultural differences, local customs and traditions, and customer buying patterns, language and communicational differences, negotiating pattern, ethical practices, and decision-making styles. The regional areas of Australia include the low socio-economic status, low educational levels, unsafe and unhealthy living conditions, low educational levels, and high death rates because of lack of awareness of the people toward the socio-economic development, employment, education, and health sectors (Taticchi, 2010).

The company faces the problem because the taxicab drivers are returning to own the vehicles because of the poor payment policy from the company and establishing their owned-travel agencies for earning huge profits. On the other hand, the taxicab drivers are demanding for high payment up to 70-80% payment of the calculated amount from the Uber app.

There is some problems is associated with unavailability of skilled and experienced driving staffs for the taxicabs in the rural or regional areas of Australia because of the improper educational facilities, training centers, and lack of proper tourism infrastructure as well as poor management policies in the rural areas of Australia (Needle, 2010). Additionally, in the regional areas, there is lack of awareness of the knowledge management practices, information governance standards, and standardized infrastructural facilities for the transportation businesses. The company also faces the regional economic challenges, such as economic dropdown, high interest rates, low currency value, high exchange rates, high unemployment rates, and low economic status of the people that enforce the company to face the complicated problems while operating the businesses through taxicab and vehicles hiring services in the regional parts of Australia.

Both external systems (political and legal system) of the regional Australia will influence the business processes of the foreign firm, such as protection of the intellectual rights, taxing economic outputs, and resolving disputes in the commercial activities (Kew and Stredwick, 2013).

The regional economic issues, such as changes in fiscal and monetary policies, taxation policies, asset valuation, inflationary and transfer pricing, denomination of the financial transactions, fluctuating exchange rates, the transactional and translational exposure, and contingent exposure of the financial statements also affect the expansion of businesses through the investment into the regional parts of Australia (Management Association and Information Resources, 2016).

Recommendations

The use of the knowledge management and information technology systems via web-based platform, such as apps on the internet-enabled devices will be effective to ensure the sustainable economic development operations and management practices in the regional parts of Australia. The firm should appoint the potential and experienced drivers having good knowledge of the local cultures, regional language, social structure, social philosophy and economic philosophy in order to provide the reliable and timely taxicab services to the customers in order to facilitate the customers/visitors better visiting experience (Martinez-Lopez, 2013).

Pestle analysis is an important strategic analytical tool to perform the external environmental analysis in order to examine the impact of the external environmental forces on business operations of Uber, such as political regionalism and regulation mechanism, legal barriers, economic fluctuations, technological advancements and innovative trends, and socio-cultural trends, environmental protection laws in the regional areas of Australia in order to implement an effective business planning and marketing strategies for attaining a sustainable competitive advantage in the relevant industry (Glynn and Woodside, 2012).

Porter’s five forces model will analyze the intensity of level of competition and attractiveness of the industry in the transportation technological industry in the form of taxicab service offerings. This model is comprised of the five forces including threat of new entrants, threat of substitutes, the bargaining power of buyer, the bargaining power of suppliers, and rivalry of the industry. This model will assist to frame the strategies accordingly after examining the external environmental impact. The disruptive innovation business model, such as Silicon Valley model will be effective to transform significant changes and innovation in the existing business strategy of Uber so that innovation and creativity could be carried to the organization of Uber in order to respond to the external environmental forces.

Mc Kinsey’s 7S framework is an important strategic model that will be effective to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of functioning of the internal organizational operations in the regional parts of Australia. This model includes 7s, staff, skills, structure, shared values, style, system, and strategy that will provide a framework to incorporate the significant changes in its business planning and strategy in order to deliver the effective taxicab services to the customers.

Tows analysis will be effective to analyze the internal organizational impact on the business operations of Uber technologies Inc. (Management Association and Information Resources, 2016). This model contains four parts, SO, ST, WT, and WO for presenting the strengths and weaknesses of Uber as well as threats and opportunities for the firm. It will provide a framework to exploit the business opportunities by overcoming the threats or risks for the firm after matching the strategic capabilities of the firm and key challenges or issues.

The concept of international management and cross-cultural management will be effective to ensure the smooth running of regional taxicab operations through providing a detailed understanding of the dimensions of this concept including political and economic philosophy, education, social philosophy, education, religion, and social structure. This concept will be effective for the company to provide the cross-cultural training to its drivers for improving the understanding of the driving staffs of the local languages, customs, and traditions of the regional parts of the Australian country that will also be effective to enhance the business operations in the regional Australia.

Hofstede’s cultural dimension model will provide an understanding of the cultural environments of different regional parts of Australia. This model includes six cultural dimensions, Power distance index, Uncertainty, short-term vs long-term orientation, indulgence vs Restrains, and Masculinity vs Femininity, and Avoidance index, and Individualism vs Collectivism. All these dimensions will provide the managers insights into different cultural environments, communication and language differences of different regional parts of Australia (Richardson, Steffen, and Liverman, 2011).

The business model canvas will be effective to enhance the interrelationship of different organizational functions including sales, marketing, technology, operations, finance, human resource, customer service, and production function. Risk Assessment matrix will be effective to minimize the risks level, such as financial risk, economic risk, cross-cultural risk, and socio-economic risks for running the sustainable business operations by Uber in the regional parts of Australia.

The use of extensive market research and standard operational procedures will be effective for the firm for attaining the operational excellence and better production outcomes. The financial expertise and accounting personnel departments of Uber Technologies should make an accurate estimation of the market fluctuating demands, economic conditions, and competitive structures (Boddy, Boonstra and Kennedy, 2008).

Uber Technologies Inc. should incorporate the business strategies after examining the local conditions, customs and regional languages, distinct customer behavior, and forecasting economic conditions and then should incorporate the business strategies as per local environmental conditions and competitive marketing forces. It should offer the standardized travelling services with extensive transportation facilities for ensuring better travelling experiences for the entertainment and enjoyment of the average customers from the regional areas (Doscher, 2014).

The knowledge management, e-commerce and Information Governance could be used to ensure the best operational procedures and smooth management operations because this is a cross-disciplinary approach that Uber Australia should use to enhance the valuation of the organizational information system through better utilization of the technologies and sequence of activities (Anderson, 2012).

The IG will also be effective in the compliance of the regional information standards by following the regulatory mechanism of the Australian federal Government. It will also provide a suitable informational structure to the organization by aligning with the IT resources, IT processes, and information system management to the organizational goals and objectives. It will also be effective for the firm in identifying the new ways of planning, organizing, directing, controlling, evaluating, and supporting the IT performance (Teece, 2009).

The above recommendations will be effective for Uber Technologies Inc. to extend the technological transportation business ventures in the form of online booking of taxicab and vehicles in order to expand the businesses in the regional areas of Australia throughout the Australian country. The formation of regional trade agreements with the taxicab drivers will be effective to enhance the customer service transportation businesses through the customization of the online transportation facilities. The linkage of the online transportation taxicab booking facilities with the social media, e-media, and online advertising tools will be effective to promote the taxicab services of Uber in order to enhance the sales volumes, generating higher revenues, and profitability in the regional parts of the Australian country (Nijssen and Frambach, 2011). The low cost or economic pricing strategy will be effective to attract the customers from different geographical locations of the regional parts of Australia from Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane, Canberra, Victoria, Quuensland, Adelaide, Sydney, and the Western Australian regions.

All strategic management models, Mc Kinsey’s 7S, Pestle analysis, Porter’s five forces, Tows analysis will be effective to ensure the smooth running of the business operations by providing a detailed understand of the external and internal environmental forces.

The modern management concepts, such as knowledge management practices, e-commerce management, and information governance standards will be effective to assume greater control on sharing of information, economy, and resources, profit sharing, and decision-making. The information governance standards and management practices will be efficient in receiving the information fairly and lawfully, recording the information reliably and accurately, Keeping privacy and confidential of data, using the data efficiently and ethically and finally, sharing the information legally and appropriately between the staffs and customers.

Conclusion

From the above discussions, it can be concluded that the information governance standards, knowledge management, technological innovation trends, and e-commerce management are important for the company for attaining the high-growth potentials in taxicab business because it will assist the management team in providing an appropriate solution to the problems related to the regional economic issues faced by Uber Company. The effective implementation of the knowledge management and change management insights will be effective for developing sustainable business strategies after considering the impact of the changing marketing conditions, external environmental forces, and stakeholders’ perspectives so that the significant changes could be made in the strategic implementation process, business planning, and management operations of Uber Technologies Inc.

References

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