Introduction
The strategic development and planning is a critical factor for the development of the organization and formation of an effective and smart system of operations (Adewole, Odunjo and Misra 2015, 1-5). The implementation of the strategic planning and functional development can be enhanced and further motivated using business management concepts and functions. The smart operations in the business organizations are concluded using technological development and use of strategic management concepts. The coordinated and developed implication of the system can effectively provide a solution for smart developments. The functionalities of the business organization can be analyzed with the help of developed tools and strategies such as market analysis tools and stakeholder analysis methods.
The following assignment has been made for evaluating the organizational context of the organization and hence, considerably forming some improvement in the functions of the organization. The strategic analysis of the organization would show the internal and external control of operations in the organization. The organization selected for the making of strategic planning report is UBER. The internal and external analysis of operations of the UBER is formed by Porter’s five forces model, PESTLE analysis, and Porter’s value chain analysis. The report would also consist of the SWOT analysis along with recommendations for the operational system of the selected organization.
1. Organizational Context
The development and foundation of the UBER had been resulted by the formation of the effective and smart operations for the organization (Salnikov et al. 2015). The organization of UBER was founded in the year 2009 with the idea developed by Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp. The idea was confirmable during cab searching on a snowy evening that it would have been much convenient if they could have called a cab by one tap. The UBER works on the vision, mission, and values of providing services to the customers as a need of modern life.
1.1 Vision and Mission
The organization of UBER works with some specific functionalities while abiding to developed vision and mission statements. The organization of UBER had the vision statement as “Making transport as reliable as running water, everywhere, for everyone” (Barro 2014). The vision statement of UBER had determined the focus point of UBER on providing effective and smart operations in the organization. The deployment of the most effective and smart operations had been resulted due to the following unique vision statement in the organization. The mission statement of the UBER had depicted the tag line of “finding the way, creating the possibilities for riders, drivers and cities” hence, show the focus of operations on the development of the cab services for improving the scope of development for the operations. According to Rauch and Schleicher (2015), UBER had been following its mission and vision statements strictly and developing the operations of providing better cab services and functions to the people.
1.2 Goals and Objectives
The organization had developed some specific goals and objectives for realizing the functions of smart objectives of the organization (Roosa 2016, 5-7). The goals of UBER are:
Short Term Goal: Providing effective cab services to the customers using smart devices such as Smartphone and Tablets. According to Klauber et al. (2014), the various applications are built in many platforms Android, Windows, and IOS and web browser services can be used for providing the effective and smart operations for booking the cab.
Mid Term Goal: According to Rauch and Schleicher (2015), attracting more customers to increase the usage of the application cab booking services of UBER by various promotional offers like free first ride, festive offers and discounts
Long Term Goal: Getting global recognition for the functionalities of the cab services and achieving unparalleled brand awareness (Klauber et al., 2014). The gaining of competitive advantage is another crucial factor for the development of the UBER for long term goal.
1.3 Business Strategies Development
The organization of the business development sector of UBER has seen the growth of potential uplift and development of functional operations (Salnikov et al. 2015). The starting business strategy of UBER was to cut the cost and form the analysis of the business development analysis (Cramer and Alan 2016, 177-182). The cost cutting was the primary source of attraction for the customers of the UBER. The development of the UBER application on various platforms such as windows, android and IOS had been promoted with various discounts and offers. According to Detsky and Alan (2016, 806-809), the ease of getting a cab just by using a smart device had resulted in developing the proper functioning of the app for the functions of the included persons.
The gradual development of the operations led to the formation of the special and developed strategies (Adewole, Odunjo and Misra, 2015, 1-5). The cost cutting technique shifted to the service benefit strategy for the operations of the UBER. This strategy provided benefit to the existing users of the app. The growth of the number customers and users of the application had changed the operations of the UBER from marketing to focus on the service provision to the customers. According to Wallsten (2015), the numerous services offered by UBER became available to the customers that resulted in increasing the tendency for use to the app.
2. Positioning Statement
The positioning statement of the UBER had shown the analysis of the services provided by them to their customers, segmentation of the customers, and the included operations in the organization. These points and facilities of UBER have been explained below,
2.1 Services provided by UBER
UBER provides the services of cab booking and means of travel for the customers (Feeney and Rideshare companies Uber 2015, 2). The development of the technology and utilization of the amazing services of the Smartphone for booking any commodity or material had helped in final utilization of the mobile technology for the cab booking too. The UBER application had been launched in all three popular platforms of mobile devices (Windows, Android, and IOS). The user just need to open the application, switch on the GPS location service, enter the destination location, and search for the nearby cabs. It is a very simple operation for booking a cab (Detsky and Alan 2016, 806-809). The problem of waiting on the road for any cab to come had been replaced with the ease of booking a cab from anyplace you want, contact with the driver about his location, and taking the cab when it had reached the user’s location.
2.2 Customer Segmentation of UBER
The UBER application was initially developed as a solution for the people who require urgent services of cab (Kavadias, Kostas and Christoph 2016, 91-98). There are many people who require cab rides on urgent notice and however, showing insufficient time waiting for the cab. They can optionally use the application for searching a cab service for their location and their destination. Therefore, the application had served the purpose of faster and more effective deployment of cab services in the organization. The overall functions of the customer segmentation are based on the deployment of the strategies by UBER. The general usability and functions of UBER had made it common among the people for using the application (Wallsten 2015). The ease and compatibility of the operations had made it useful for all classes of people to use the device and get benefits from it.
2.3 Operations of UBER
According to Aithal et al. (2016), the UBER had formed the development of the cab providing services for the people and users. The use of the UBER application is very simple (Edelman and Damien 2015, 293). The interface had the facility of faster and better deployment of the operations and functions (Kavadias, Kostas and Christoph 2016, 91-98). The overall functionality of the UBER operations includes the installation of the application and registering in the application. The registered users can get the benefits of the services provided by the UBER. The overall applications of the UBER consist of three types of payment options cash, credit/debit card, or by using payment platform (such as PayPal). It had helped in easing the payment facility for the customers and users of the UBER application. The customers can use any of the three payment schemes as per their convenience.
3. External Analysis of UBER
According to Rothaermel (2015), the external analysis of UBER organization can be evaluated by using proper strategic analysis tools and techniques. The development of the strategic management tools and functions had made it easy for deploying an analysis of operations of UBER. The following segments had shown the analysis of the UBER with the help of Porter’s five forces model and PESTLE analysis.
3.1 Porter’s 5 forces of UBER
Porter’s 5 five forces model consists of five elementary functions on which the organization is usually evaluated (Dobbs 2014, 32-45). The development of the strategic analysis tools had deployed the final evaluation for the effect of external factors on the UBER organization. The five forces in the Porter’s five forces model include bargaining power of supplier, bargaining power of customers, threat of substitute, threat of new entrants, and degree of rivalry. The following diagram illustrates the elements of Porter’s five forces model and its structure,
The analysis of UBER based on the Porter’s five forces model would explain the external factors and their influence on the operations of the organization.
Bargaining power of supplier: The bargaining power of supplier of the Porter’s five forces model evaluates the importance of suppliers and it evaluates the impact of the suppliers influence on the operations of the organization (Porter and James 2014, 64-88). The bargaining power of supplier for UBER is considerably low. The major requirement of the organization is available from various sources and hence, the supplier has no crucial impact on the organization and their operations. The development of the UBER had been initiated and modified by the deployment of the smarter operations. However, the role of suppliers for the improvement of the operation is very less and there is no option for the major influence of supplier in the organization’s operations.
Bargaining power of customers: The bargaining power of customers in the Porter’s five forces model evaluates the degree of influence of the customers for the operations of the organization (Rothaermel 2015). The bargaining power of customers is considerably very high for UBER. The operation of UBER is to provide the services of cab to the customers. The bargaining power of customers is high because the use of UBER devices is solely dependent on the usage of the customers. If the users are not happy with the services of the UBER, it is highly probable that they would tend to avoid the functionality of the applications.
Threat of substitute: The threat of substitute in the Porter’s five forces model is useful for the evaluation of the threat faced by the organization due to introduction of any substitute service company (Zalengera 2014, 335-347). The threat of substitute for the operations of the UBER is considerably high. As there are many other companies like Taxi Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, etc. that provides the services of calling or website taxi service for the passengers in Cambodia (Buzan, Chris and James 2014). Although the application based cab services had been formed and developed by UBER first, the other companies are also developing their own application for starting online services.
Threat of new entrants: The threat of new entrants provides the benefit of analysis of threat posed by the new entrants in the organization (Atwood, Merritt and Kalloz 2016, 34-48). The threat of new entrants in the market of application developed cab services had been moderately low for UBER. There are low chances for developing the online application cab services against the rival for UBER. UBER had developed its own brand and is recognized by most of the people around the globe. There are low probabilities of developing a new entrant that could overtake the already in use UBER within such short span of time.
Degree of rivalry: The degree of rivalry analyzes the intensity of rivalry among the existing competitors for the organization. The degree of rivalry with the local call taxi services and normal taxis is moderate high with UBER. Before the advent of UBER, these taxis were in vogue and people had to use their services for the operations. However, the development of technology had deployed the use of software application for using the cab calling service. The local taxi drivers and call services had become intense rival of UBER. UBER had caused a major fall in the uses of the service of those local taxis and call cab services.
3.2 PESTLE analysis of UBER
The PESTLE analysis is another major strategic analysis tool that provides the benefit of smart and effective analysis of UBER along with other functions. The PESTLE analysis consists of analyzing the influence of external factors of political, economic, social, technology, legal, and environment (Zalengera 2014). These external factors have a significant role for the development of strategic functions and operations of UBER.
Political factor: The political factor plays a very crucial factor for the development of the operations of UBER. The political factor influences the functions of the cab services provided and UBER had to manage and follow the political rules and regulations set by government. The functions of the politics would be helpful for forming the smooth operations of the organization (Chandler and Robert 2015, 6-22). The political conditions of the state had a major flow for the operations of the UBER cab services. For example- Political conditions of the country cause the change in strategic analysis of the organization.
Economic factor: According to Pestle et al. (2014, e102844), the economic conditions of the state had to be managed by the deployment of the strategies of the organization. The economic activities of the state play a key role for the development of strategies of the UBER. The formation of the strategies is motivated by the deployment of the economic facilities in the organization (Hollensen 2015). For example- The price of diesel and petrol is very important to the development of the pricing strategy of UBER.
Social factor: The social factor such as festivals, national occasions, and other events of the society are necessary in shaping the strategy of the UBER organization. The development of the operational strategy of UBER is largely influenced by the society (Wallsten 2015). The people and their social implications had the most suitable occurrence of providing modification and changes in the operations of UBER.
Technology factor: The technological factor is a major provider of the changes in operations and development of strategies for the organization (Pestle et al. 2014, e102844). The technological development had made the changes in the operations of the UBER more systematic and complimentary. The implementation of the advanced and more effective tools and technology had been helpful for improving the operations of the organization.
Legal factor: According to Pestle et al. (2014, e102844), the legal factors of the project operations had the most significant impact on the operations of any organization, including UBER. For example- The signature of the state government transport authority for the licensing of the UBER transport facility had been helpful for compiling the allowance of the driver for carrying out the functions of the can services.
Environment factor: The environment also shapes the operations of any organization, including UBER (Atwood, Merritt and Kalloz 2016, 34-48). The eco-friendly and Go green support the development of the environmental strategies of the UBER. The development of strategies had been formed after an analysis from the environmental point of view for the operations.
4. Internal Analysis of UBER
The internal analysis of UBER had been resulted using firm value chain analysis. The value chain analysis of UBER had shown that the development of the technology is the prior base for bringing the value chain for the organization. The operations of UBER are largely based on the technology and development. The deployment of the firm value chain for the operations of UBER had shown the following points analysis,
Primary Activities: The primary activities of UBER are made up of inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, marketing and sales, and services (Hollensen 2015). Chen, Hana and Hideka (2014, 319-329) have explained that the primary service of the UBER is to provide the benefit of cab transportation for the operations of the organization. The other services include the alignment of the payment options on a single platform and development of the improper operations of the organization. The development of the inbound data processing for the users registering in the application and outbound data processing for the transfer of client’s location and information to the driver for promoting the operations of the organization. Bull et al. (2016, 99-111) have opined that the operations of the UBER organization had brought the development of the functions for the system integration of cab services.
Support Activities: The support activities of UBER are largely dependent on the organizational structure, HR department, Technological development, and procurement (Hollensen 2015). The organization of UBER had its main centre in USA, and it consists of members working all over the world. The organizational structure had the main person as the driver who responsible for major activities and revenue generation in UBER. The various sectors of operations had formed the development of the operations for UBER. The operations of the UBER consist of providing 24/7 services to the customers. The HR resource management activities of the UBER consist of development of the inbuilt support management to the activities of UBER. Bull et al. (2016, 99-111) have opined that the main component of the support activities consists of technology that is being utilized for the processing of money transaction from various options.
5. SWOT Analysis of UBER
The SWOT analysis is a major tool that evaluates the organizational operations and helps in developing the functions of the good and bad points for the operation (Chen, Hana and Hideka 2014). The SWOT analysis for UBER had been provided in the diagram below,
Recommendations for UBER
Some recommendations for the improvement of the strategies of UBER are provided below,
Marketing development: Using 4P promotional mix for increasing the promotional offers and developing strategies for the operations of UBER. In this context, the development of organization and increment of the operations had brought the inclusion of the best processes of the development of the operations and formation of new strategies.
Special Service for Women: UBER can develop special services for women with some benefits and vouchers. The special services should be helpful for providing women passengers with women drivers for safety and secured transportation. Hence, it would help to increase the usage of UBER.
Security Development in the app: The increment of security functions in the development of the application for the operations of the UBER. The security functions would ensure that the data of the customers are protected from external infiltration and data theft.
Conclusion
It can be concluded from the report that the strategic development and planning is a key factor for the development of the organization and formation of an effective and smart system of operations. The functionalities of the business organization had been analyzed with the help of developed tools and strategies. The strategic analysis of the organization had shown that the internal and external control of operations in the organization. The analysis of the organization had explained the multiple goals and objectives of UBER and they are providing effective cab services to the customers using smart devices such as Smartphone and Tablets, attracting more customers for the using the application cab booking services of UBER by various promotional offers, and getting global recognition for the functionalities of the cab services and achieving unparalleled brand awareness. The study had shown that Porter’s 5 five forces model had low bargaining power of supplier, very high bargaining power of customers, high threat of substitute, moderately low threat of new entrants, and moderate high degree of rivalry. The operations of the UBER had consisted of providing 24/7 services to the customers. The HR resource management activities of the UBER had consisted of development of the inbuilt support management to the activities of UBER.
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