Uber Corporation: Essay On Innovation, Entrepreneurship, And Governance.

Overview of Uber Corporation

Question:

Discuss about the Relevance of Intellectual Capital Research.

Uber Corporation is a company that started in the year 2009. Its headquarters are in San Francisco, California. The company operates worldwide in more than 570 cities spread across the globe. The company has specialized in development, marketing and operation of the mobile apps. These apps are the Uber Car transportation and food delivery mobile apps. People with cars; whether rented or personally owned can join and use Uber apps. Drivers use smartphones to connect with taxi customers who are also required to have smartphones or access to the mobile website. The company is, therefore, able to manage its operation using technological innovation (Barrett & Sean, 2010).

Innovation refers to the process of creatively generating new ideas that can be translated into the value which customers can pay for because it satisfies their particular need. Entrepreneurship refers to the course of applying through putting the innovative ideas into practice (Gassmann et al., 2010). This involves the company's willingness to invest in the notion and also acceptance and management of its associated risks. Nowadays, Innovation and entrepreneurship are considered to be the change driver, because business process change in many companies is mostly geared by the innovation and entrepreneurship (Christensen et al., 2015).

Knowledge management entails all aspects of information in the organization. It covers information creation, movement, and its general use. This concept focusses on the various ways in which companies generate, share and utilize the information to act as a gear towards achieving their business objectives. It also covers the aspects of knowledge transition on how knowledge can be passed from those people exiting the company to those joining the organization. This helps mentor and build individuals who later become resourceful to the team (Booker et al., 2008).

Governance refers to the established processes, rules, systems and the policies which are used to guide and control a given company. It, therefore, defines the way a given organization is lead. The organization’s governance usually exists in two categories. Firstly, there is an internal aspect which constitutes the company policies and the ruling Constitution among others. Secondly, there is the external aspect which is made up of the government laws, existing regulations in the area of operation, the expectations of the community where the business is operating among others (Clarke, 2007).

Uber has shown a lot of efforts to adopt change for sustainability.Innovation entails coming up with new ways of doing business, coming up with lucrative ideas and their application. Uber was founded and is sustained by technological innovation. It has demonstrated its entrepreneurship through its acceptance to manage the risks that are associated with the implementation of the innovative ideas. The company is trying to implement and promote innovation by incorporating it into the organization’s culture. These efforts have helped Uber to improve on its production and also in gaining the competitive advantage (Oke, 2007).

Innovation and entrepreneurship have been a fundamental aspect driver in the business operation of Uber. It has shown a lot of efforts in adopting change and it runs on the technological innovation which has helped it to grow fast since the time of its establishment in the year 2009. Through, entrepreneurial spirit, the company has invested a lot of money and other resources into innovation. Through innovation, Uber has managed to improve on the brand strength by improving brand reach to its customers in the whole world. This has made it get a higher market ratio because many people at different places can access and use the Uber services (Kosoff, 2015).

Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Uber

Besides improving the brand reach, innovation and entrepreneurial spirit of Uber have also helped it to make more profit. The company develops and manages two mobile applications where customers can access the services from wherever they are, and it is not a must for clients to come to the office in person. It is always convenient for customers to get a self-service, and Uber has achieved this. This has increased the client's number using the services because the technological innovation has made possible for them to get served from wherever they are. This is convenient for customers, saves them time, cost, and other also delivers them value (Dahlan & Gann, 2010).

It is evident that implementation of innovative ideas prone the organization to losses before the notion become successful. Innovation may require a lot of capital, resources and other massive inputs and thus the company will incur losses in case the implementation of the idea is not successful. Therefore, Uber needs to have an established system that can be applied to the potential risks through identification, controlling and solving of the bad events that may happen (Enkel et al., 2009). This is important and will help the company to gain more out of innovation.

Uber Corporation has acquired a lot of technological innovation. The benefits have helped the company to move to the top in the transportation industry. Innovation and entrepreneurship have helped it to gain the more competitive advantage over other businesses in the transportation industry. Nowadays, innovation is the power for success in any industry, and it is, therefore, true that innovation plays a critical role in the profitability of the organization and the general sustainability of this company. Therefore, Uber should continue embracing change for it is a guarantee to growth.

Government regulations affect business in many ways. The policies and regulations of different countries always affect the businesses that operate in those countries. Some laws restrict certain activities that could be profitable to the organization such as those that mainly inhibit implementation of some creative ideas that seems lucrative to the organization. It is, therefore, important for Uber to ensure that it implements only strategies that are in line with the laws, policies, and regulations of the country of operation. This reduces the conflict in the business process that may arise when the company carries out its activities.

Businesses operating in a given country are significantly impacted by the state of infrastructure in that country. A nation that has good roads, electricity and telecommunication systems will help businesses to carry swiftly thus more profitability. Roads help for quicker better movement of various aspects of production. A better telecommunication system in the country facilitates easier business information sharing thus improved productivity. It is, therefore, true that poor infrastructure hinders the productivity of the country while better one promotes performance (Lichtenthaler, 2011).

Businesses operate at the mercy of the political state in the country of operation. A stable political state will help the business to operate normally according to their plan. On the hand, if the political situation of the country is not stable, the proper operation of the firm is interrupted. Thus they can't realize the expected profit due to reduced productivity. In extreme cases of political instability, some businesses are forced to close down. This, therefore, shows that the innovation and entrepreneurship or the general productivity of Uber is substantially determined by the political state of the country in operation (Midgley, 2010).

Knowledge Management in Uber

People at different places have different beliefs and values which influence the business process in various ways. Some cultures advocate for particular products and services while others may be of the same. This affects the type of the goods and services consumed and their general purchase habits. If not well considered, companies may run to a loss. Thus, they need to understand the culture of their consumers to ensure that the products or services produced satisfy their demands and expectations (James & Szeman, 2010).

Some of the legal factors include ownership rights, rewarding systems, tax laws, business registration processes among others. These factors affect the business in many different ways. Business organizations must operate within the existing legal rules for their smooth running. Some legal factors may appear discriminating to the company, tending to restrict the business from certain activities yet allowing others. It should, therefore, come up with the strategies to comply with the legal system in place (Barry et al., 2017).

World economic state affects the business in many ways; better state affects the business positively while bad state affects it negatively. Some of the economic factors include the labor conditions, inflation, cost of living and the cost of production among many others. Innovation and entrepreneurship in a given company are directly affected by the world economic state. Businesses enterprises make the profit when the financial condition of the world is right, for when there is no inflation, the cost of production is lower among others, but on the other hand, they make the lower profit when these factors of economic conditions have changed negatively (Chaudhry et al., 2007).

Conclusion

In conclusion, every business should embrace innovation and entrepreneurship culture. This can be implemented through strategic directions that accommodate innovative culture because the best way to adopt it is through organization’s incorporation into their corporate culture. Innovation is nowadays a change driver, and it gives businesses a competitive advantage. Also, various factors affect the innovation and entrepreneurial culture of a given organization. These factors are categorized as internal factors such as the political state of the country, government regulations, and the infrastructure or may be international factors such as the legal issues, cultural factors, and the world economic state. All these factors have different effects on the business, and therefore it needs to come up with strategic plans that ensure they successfully ensure that these aspects work for them.

References

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Chaudhry, Azam, and Phillip Garner. (2007). Do Governments Suppress Growth? Institutions, Rent-Seeking, and Innovation Blocking in a Model of Schumpeterian Growth. Economics & Politics 19(1): 35–52.

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Clarke, Thomas (2007) "International Corporate Governance” London and New York: Routledge, ISBN 0-415-32309-6

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James, P. & Szeman, I.  (2010). Globalization and Culture, Vol. 3: Global-Local Consumption. London: Sage Publications.

Kosoff, Maya. (2015). Uber Has a Clever Response to a Proposed Law That Could Kneecap the Company in One of Its Largest Markets. Business Insider. Http://?www.?business insider.?com/?why-uber-has-a-de-blasio-car-option-in-new-york-city-2015-7??IR=?T. Accessed 09 may 2017.

Lichtenthaler, U. (2011). ‘Is open innovation a ?eld of study or a communication barrier to theory development?’A contribution to the current debate’, Technovation, Vol. 31, pp.138-139.

Midgley, D. (2010). Integrated Strategies and Practical Tools for Bringing Value Innovation to the Market, Wiley

Oke, A. (2007). Innovation types and innovation management practices in service companies. International journal of operations and production management, 27 (6), pp. 564-587