Question 1

The company started in 2010

The idea for Uber originated in 2008, when Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp, both successful serial
entrepreneurs, were in Paris and struggling to find a taxi in the snow. They came up with the concept of
developing a smartphone app that would simplify summoning a car service; back in San Francisco,
UberCab was officially launched in 2010 as a private luxury car service catering to San Francisco
executives.

Business model of uber:

The business model is a leading example of the “shared economy” or “collaborative consumption”
model, enabling peer-to-peer or consumer-to consumer transactions and thus disrupting industries; a
similar example is Airbnb in the accommodation industry.

Question 2:

Disruptive technology:-

Definition:

Disruptive innovation, a term of art coind by Clayton Christensen, describes a process by which a
product or service takes rooty initially in simple applications at the bottom of a marketthen relentlessly
moves up market, eventually displacing established compitatorsCompanies often at existing pproducts
developed for mature markets and pull out features in an effort to educe cost and redesign the product
for use by consumers in cost sensitive markets. One objective of disruptive innovation is to remove
barriers to consumption.

Is uber desrupitive or not?

Uber’s continued popularity amongst consumers, the platform is disrupting the status quo of the taxi
industry around the world. There are consequences for the taxi industry structure, jobs, wages, and
regulations.

Reason

 Many taxi associations and companies as well as governments have challenged the legality of
Uber, arguing that the use of unlicensed taxi drivers is unsafe and illegal.
 More and more people are paying for the uber through the simple and efficient app rather then
paying for a more expensive taxi.
 Young and adolescents and college students are using uber to get to places faster and ultimately
saving more money.

Question 3:

Pricing of Uber:-
The pricing of rides is calculated on a base fare with a per-minute and per-kilometer charge added and is
quoted upfront through the app. Uber keeps a commission of 20 per cent of the gross fare while the
driver keeps the rest of the fare. Uber’s pricing can be subject to “surge” pricing, operating on supply-
and-demand principles that can increase the rates considerably. the company uses surge pricing to
encourage more drivers to drive during busy hours. The benefit of this is that it improves reliability of
the transportation by increasing availability of the supply when demand is high, thus increasing
customer satisfaction and, hence, loyalty.

Question 4:

Conflict between metered taxi drivers and uber:-

There had been several metered taxi protests as well. In September 2017, violence erupted between
taxi and Uber drivers in Johannesburg, with two Uber vehicles being torched. In 2018 in Cape Town
there was a clash between dozensof metre taxi drivers and police, with threats to burn any Uber that
entered the city centre. “Uber is illegal”, “It is taking our jobs away”, “They don’t have permits” were
several allegations, referring to the fact that Uber was not regulated as the taxi industry was. Santaco
(the South African National Taxi Council) claimed that the government was giving Uber drivers special
treatment, which was a recipe for violence.

The metered taxi industry was highly fragmented: Of the approximately 2,000 metered taxis operating
in Cape Town, around 700 were part of large fleet operations and enjoyed big brand recognition; the
remainder were small business operators. Local regulations required metered taxis to be fitted with a
metre and have an operating licence in order to earn fares. Obtaining this licence was a lengthy process
for any driver who wanted to operate.

Question 5:

Three main problems:-

Taxi drivers up in arms and protesting violently.Uber drivers striking over working conditions, authorities
dragging their heels in issuing permits, new competitors starting up, and calls for regulation of the Uber
operation.