Uber Strategic Management Final Final

UBER STRATEGIC
MANAGEMENT
Final assessment for 2021
spring/summer
Under supervision of: Professor By: Asmaa Abubaker Ramadan
EmanAbdelsam 17102247
Dina Ahmed Fawzy Al fawal
17100450
Ahmad Ashraf 17100100
Ahmed Tarek bosaty 17100436
Uber strategic management
Introduction
Uber technologies Incorporations, was founded in 2009. Garrett Camp and Travis Kalanick, who
were lost in Paris on a snowy night, came up with an idea for a transport application. That could
assist people to move from one place to the other today covering many cities with minimal
interaction efforts. Uber use in the USA doesn’t require a consumer who is fluent in the English
language, once their location is inserted they are taken to their destination a click away.
Uber constitutes more than 70% of the American transport market however, it declined to 67% in
march 2021 due to the pandemic with revenues adding up to 11.14 US$ and a stock price of
$50.17 in NYSE. For Uber, Egypt is amongst 10 top markets and is perceived as a regional tech
hub start up. It has over 200,000 drivers operating in about 27 governorates, more expansions are
expected to cover other parts of Egypt in the upcoming years. Where more than 80% of
aggregate rides were rated 5 stars. Hence, the average arrival time was recorded at 4.5 minutes in
2016. It is one of the largest entities in the Egyptian transport market, and after the merger with
its competitor it became to an extent the only popular ride hailing service provider.
Ubercab was its founded name, until it was changed to Uber technologies in February 2011. It is
headquartered in San Francisco, California. Operating in more than 10,000 cities, Uber has
access to more than 600 airports to pick up passengers to and from. It operates in proprietary
applications in various countries including the United states, Canada, Latin America, Europe,
Middle east, Africa and Asia. It provides its services through connecting consumers with
different drivers for either trips, or pickups from restaurants, supermarkets and other stores. Uber
works in four main segments namely: mobility, delivery, freight and Advanced Technologies
Group (ATP) as well as other technology programs.
First segment to be elaborated about is Mobility, Uber provides a stream of different services
where customers are connected with drivers providing rides in a wide range of vehicles. These
include cars, motorbikes, minibuses. It diversified its services by launching Uber for business,
financial partnerships, transit and more vehicle solutions offerings. Second segment Uber
operates in is the delivery segment, where customers are given the option to order food from
their favorite restaurant or convenience shops or even supermarkets along with other goods for
either pick up or delivery. Even more, their services are diversified to include the freight
segment, where Uber connects to shippers and enables carriers upfront while offering transparent
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charges for the service and making shipment booking easier through the company’s platform.
Through ATG and other technology, Uber is engaging in commercialization of independent
vehicles along with ridesharing technologies.
Uber has a multi range of services it offers to its customers through both its website and mobile
application. These range from UberX, Uber pool, Uber comfort, Uber Bus, Uber Eats, Uber
freight and Uber business. UberX, Uber pool, Uber comfort are the most used amongst all other
services offered. When a customer chooses to use UberX they have the option to ride with a
maximum of 4 passengers. Where in Uber pool a maximum of 2 people can ride at once, where it
may take longer as there will be an additional stop. Another service is known to be Uber
comfort; customers are given the luxury of choosing the vehicle. Only newest vehicles are
available under this option, where highly experienced, rated drivers are assigned to this service.
A customer can choose the option of not interacting with the driver before booking the trip. To
ensure the customer is comfortable, they can further alter the temperature of the vehicle. Also
they have 10 minutes to cancel a trip before any cancellation fees are applied. However, only
UberX and Uber scooter are commonly found in most parts of Egypt. Yet only limited cities
have the high end, with high rated driver partners, known as UberSelect. Another service known
as Uber Black and is operating in Gouna, Hurghada, Sahl Hashish, where riders enjoy their trip
in a black Volvo with powered budget. Moreover, Uber eats, delivers food through Uber
application or by ordering a meal and assigning one of the available delivery boys to pick it up
for the pre-specified location. Moreover, Uber freight matches carriers with shippers, where
shippers can book their loads. Shippers know their service charges and accordingly, carriers
know their income out of this service beforehand. Finally, Uber also partnered with businesses to
accommodate employees’ transportation needs. Trip fares are automatically billed and reported
to the business after an employee finishes their rides to and from work.
Of the operational highlights of Uber, its first ride request was proceeded with, on the 5 th of July
in 2010. A year later Uber launched its services internationally starting the city they were lost in.
Later down the line Uber introduced its ice cream delivery services in 7 cities in the USA. The
idea was further developed to introduce UberEats in 2015. In the same year Uber was able to
finish 1 billion rides. To further diversify their service offerings, they introduced Uber freight in
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2017. The company is still thriving to survive and offer more services that would match the
changing market needs and wants.
Moving to users’ needs of being taken from one place a click away, Uber managed to pull
success in more than 69 countries. In the time of technological reliance and reduced in person
interactions, Uber became one of the most used applications around the countries where it
operates. Primary users of Uber are aged from 18 to 35 years, as they are amongst those used to
using mobile phones and are more familiar with technological advancements than other
generations. Also their usage status increases on the weekends, it is estimated to have 57% of its
users request at least one ride.
The company’s profile and funding received can be summarized in the following points:
• Founders: Travis Kalanick and Garre Camp.
• Company Headquarters: San Francisco, California, United States.
• Funding received by Uber: $22.2 Billion. (as of December 2017).
• Company Valuation: Over $70 Billion.
• Number of Users: More than 50 Million.
• Number of registered drivers: Approximately 7 Million (as of November 2017).
• Average number of daily Uber Trips: 1 Million
Contribution to the society (CSR):

Regarding corporate social responsibility, Uber Egypt is believed to adopt a proactive stance
towards social responsibility, which is the highest degree of social responsibility a firm can
exhibit. The proactive stance is justified as Uber Egypt acts in advance of a future situation in
addition to responding to situations or problems that have already happened. Uber Egypt is
proactively trying to figure out how to help citizens in the community in which it operates and
care for their well-being. Uber Egypt is apparently viewing itself as a citizen in the society and
seeks opportunities to contribute to the prosperity of people living in society. Uber Egypt is
constantly initiating change within the organization and the society at the same time.
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Regarding the activities that Uber performs in the domain of social responsibility, there are many
activities that Uber Egypt performs in order to enhance the well-being of the society and solve
the problems faced by citizens. An example for this activity is “share the warmth” initiative as
Uber Egypt collaborated with “Mashroo3 Kheir” to make donations easier by offering free on-
demand donation pickup of the clothes that people no longer need. The clothes are intended to go
to impoverished areas around Cairo, in addition to Syrian and African refugees. This initiative
relates to the philanthropic aspect of social responsibility through helping poor people by
delivering the used clothes to the areas where they live.
Another example, during the health crisis that has hit Egypt in 2020 due to the outbreak of the
Covid-19, Uber announced 7 latest initiatives to fulfill its commitment to support the community
during the pandemic. These initiatives include partnerships with various organizations such as,
Ahl Masr foundation, the Egyptian Red crescent, and venture lifestyle. Moreover, Uber has
supported the medical sector, through partnering with “Tabibi” and 5 new hospitals in
coordination with the ministry of health, that provides doctors, nurses and other medical sector
workers with free trips to help them perform their job of combatting the novel virus. In more
details, the free rides were provided to healthcare workers and doctors in 4 quarantine hospitals
in Cairo and Alexandria, such as two As-Salam International Hospitals, two Dar Al Fouad
Hospitals, and the Saudi German Hospital. Furthermore, Uber has also collaborated with Tabibi,
the 24/7 private healthcare service provider, to provide its staff with discounted trips, facilitating
home visits to patients in need of medical care.

In addition, Uber partnered with the (ERC) Egyptian Red Crescent to help the medical
volunteers and workers move freely in their mission to contain the situation and try to flatten the
curve of Covid-19 cases. Uber Egypt supported 2000 volunteers with access to transportation by
providing 4,000 free trips.
To add, Uber Egypt has also been collaborating with Ahl Masr hospital, the organization for
treating, preventing and researching trauma and burn injuries, by providing logistical support
through offering more than 1000 free trips for 70 agents to help them collect donations for
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existing patients. Contribution of Uber Egypt to social responsibility has exceeded average as
during the month of Ramadan, Uber bus which is a new service launched by Uber in 2018 has
partnered with venture lifestyle to launch “Arabyet El Kheir” (charity car) to facilitate the
distribution of 100,000 fresh, hot meals and 600 food bags to less privileged communities.
To conclude, those 7 partnerships that Uber has been implementing come as an integral part of
Uber’s global pledge, with the goal of supporting medical and healthcare workers and public
authorities and cities as they work to combat the Coronavirus pandemic.
Industry conditions:
For The ride-hailing and tech enabled transport market is considered one of the fastest emerging
industries in Egypt due to the dominance of global giant rivals such as Uber to smaller local
firms. Ride-hailing industry in Egypt is considered the largest of the middle east ride-hailing
industries. Researchers confirm that the industry is not mature yet as it is still in the growth stage
due to two main reasons, the first one is that Egypt’s population is aggressively increasing as it
will soon be swelling to 100 million.
Another reason is that other private transportation services are outdated and privately
owned such as Taxis, minibuses, Tuktuks, and motorbikes which shuttle passengers and
deliveries through crowded and chaotic streets. The industry is dominated by the two biggest
players: Careem and Uber. After Uber had bought Careem for 3.1 billion in march 2018, Careem
became a wholly owned subsidiary of Uber but is expected to operate as an independent
application brand with separate management. Ride-hailing industry experts are expecting more
mergers as new start-ups are trying to acquire market share for bus or motorbike services.
Furthermore, both rivals Uber and Careem introduced bus services such as Uber bus and Careem
bus to compete with the local start-up SWVL, which offer bus services by running vehicles along
fixed routes via an app. SWVL has expanded into Kenya and Pakistan.
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Despite the fact that the ride-hailing industry seems very promising, there are some uncertainties
that might hinder the growth of the industry. In September 2019, the Egyptian parliament
promulgated a law governing ride-hailing apps that will necessitate the transportation apps to
keep data for six months and share it with the government when asked. This has led to data
sharing disputes with the government which has led to technical difficulties with the Uber app.
Moreover, another obstacle that faces Uber is that the Egyptian Competition authority is still
examining Uber’s acquisition of Careem as this may put Uber in a position of monopoly.
Another threat to the ride-hailing industry is the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic, the
prolonged night-time curfew along with working from home and distant learning policies that the
Egyptian government has introduced in order to contain the Covid-19 situation have negatively
influenced many businesses in Egypt, with ride-hailing being no exception. According to the
drivers’ witnesses, the decline in demand on Uber rides had been more than 50% compared to
conditions prior to the coronavirus pandemic. Due to the Corona virus situation, Uber has forced
drivers to abide by safety instructions, including wearing a mask, keeping windows open during
the trips and cleaning exposed surfaces and disinfecting after each trip. Due to the novel Covid-
19 pandemic, the company laid off hundreds of office-based staff in Egypt last week as it made
wider cuts as a result of the fallout from the new coronavirus, according to Reuters. Uber said the
layoffs, affecting 17 percent of its employee count, included its customer support and recruiting
teams and that it expected to incur about $20 million in costs severances and related charges.
Number of employees:
Uber Egypt has over 200,000 drivers operating in about 27 governorates with a staff ranging
between 650 and 700 individuals before the outbreak of the coronavirus. However, after the
outbreak of the pandemic, Uber had to lay off 40% of its employees in Egypt due to the
declining demand and the losses that the company has faced.
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Competitors:
Direct competitors Indirect competitors
Careem Public transport
DUBCI Halan
SWVL
Local taxis
Raye7
When the ride-hailing technology entered Egypt in 2014, it changed the way that Egypt moves,
and it became a threat to local taxi drivers. As a reaction to the ridesharing superpowers and
fierce competition, the taxi drivers collectively stopped traffic on busy roads
To protest against the new entrants of ride-hailing apps such as Uber and Careem who occupied
the market share and dominated the private transport industry in Egypt. The images of the
protests signal how pervasive and disruptive the technology has become. Ride-hailing was even
sued in April 2018 to suspend apps such as Uber and Careem due to the unfair competition,
however, the court overruled the suspension of Uber and Careem, and the two ridesharing apps
became presumably safe in Egypt. This can be translated into the fact that Egypt’s investment
climate supports innovation and technology on a very large scale.
In Egypt, after the revolution of 25 of January 2011, the transportation system was in great need
of innovation, as a result the ridesharing apps became popular with entrepreneurs. The power of
competition of Uber and Careem have negatively affected local startups and made them spin
towards market niches, an example for this was the blue cab, which went from full taxi service to
focusing its offerings on day trips and airport rides for tourists. As the two dominant players
invest more in the country, their deep pockets and global investors are likely to shape the
ridesharing economy.
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In the past decade, before Uber and Careem entered the Egyptian market, the ridesharing startups
usually failed to survive in the Egyptian market as they died almost as quickly as they appeared.
Ridesharing startups such as Kartag, Pie Ride, and AUC Carpooling Community Ride struggled
to stay alive even though the market was highly saturated. In 2018, the ride-hailing companies
constituted 2% of all rides in Egypt, this percentage definitely has increased nowadays.
On the other hand, the entrance of Uber and Careem has helped previously established
carpooling apps in Egypt such as Raye7 which was launched in 2014, as Uber had a positive
effect on this business as it encouraged Egyptian citizens to use apps and be familiar with the
concept of ridesharing as before the entrance of Uber and Careem people were not familiar with
those apps and were reluctant to use them.
The fierce competition that Uber and Careem has created in the Egyptian ride-hailing industry
has driven local startups out of business such as Ousta that started operations in 2016, Ousta had
10,000 drivers and 500,000 customers and was growing 200 to 300 percent a month. At first,
Ousta was able to survive and compete with Uber Egypt, however, after Uber had raised 3.5$
billion and Careem 350$ million, Ousta became afraid and tried to raise more funds from
investors both inside and outside Egypt, but all those trials were in vain. The markets seemed
saturated and didn’t need three players, as a result it became obvious that Ousta wasn’t going to
survive. Eventually, Ousta ceased operations and folded.
When Uber entered the Egyptian market, it entered on a large scale, as it has spent dizzying
amounts of money to attract drivers and users. In order to attract drivers, it had to offer generous
signing bonuses to drivers, moreover, to attract customers, Uber had to invest in thousands of
cars on the road in high traffic areas to minimize wait times. At first, Uber had to endure many
losses; it has even dropped rates below the operating costs. This was clear as according to the
analysis of 2015 financial statements it was found that passengers paid only 41% of the actual
cost of their rides.in addition, the app also gives out free promotional rides. As a result, this has
made it nearly impossible for startups to compete, especially due to the limited funding capacity
and the little local venture capital in Egypt.
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In response to the unfair competition that Uber has created in the Egyptian market, Careem and
Ousta complained about Uber’s anti-competitive behavior to the Egyptian Competition Authority
in December 2016. They requested that Uber present documents to prove that it was not
involved in anticompetitive practices, however, nothing came of the complaint.
However, despite the fierce competition, ride-hailing applications continue to prosper in Egypt
because the technology is simple and due to the presence of few barriers to entering the market.
As a result, a new ride-hailing app called Halan was launched in November 2018, as it captured
investors’ attention by targeting low income class using TukTuks and motorbikes. By March,
Halan closed a 2 million first round of funding.
As previously mentioned the main target market for Halan is the population struggling with
transport as it targets people hoping for cheap rides as transportation occupies a large percentage
of the Egyptian family’s budget. Halan is currently operating by using Arabic language and
targets areas neglected by other ride-hailing services.
Halan launched an improved version of its app in November, which has grown ten times in
December 2018 and in March 2018 the value of the business was doubled. Both Uber and
Careem have announced a motorbike option, in order to compete with Halan and target the same
segment, however, Halan is intending to launch additional services soon.
Moreover, the two giants Uber and Careem are working on further diversifying their services.
Uber has announced a plan to use buses, and Careem invested $500,000 in bus-sharing app Swvl,
founded by an ex-Careem employee.
As Uber and Careem continue to expand, the government must pay attention to put more
regulations concerning the ride-hailing service providers. In 2018, limitations on Uber’s growth
in Egypt didn’t come from regulations, however, it came from its competition with Careem.
Uber plans to invest $20 million in a new customer service center in Egypt, while Careem
intends to triple its $25 million investment in the country. It is even expected that unconventional
transport outstrip car service in three to four years, from about 10% of its business now.
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In reaction to this fierce competition Uber decided to acquire its biggest competitor Careem in
2019 as Uber bought Careem for 3.1$ billion in march 2019 and the deal was closed in January
2020, Careem nowadays is a wholly owned subsidiary of Uber but it continues to operate as an
independent brand with independent management.
Technology:
Uber Egypt is a service organization, consequently the service technologies are different from
manufacturing technologies and in turn, they require a different organization design, in case of
Uber, it is obvious that it adopts an organic design by allowing much decentralization and
horizontal communication. Service organizations such as Uber accomplish their primary purpose
through the production and provision of services which is offering rides to customers via the
application. Therefore, there are unique dimensions of service technologies. Some characteristics
of service technology that can be applied to Uber are as follows: firstly, the app provides
intangible output which is the pickup services and the ride which are not physical as everything
is virtual via the online application. Another aspect is that production and consumption take
place at the same time where the application connects the passengers with drivers where they can
be able to chat or communicate to conduct the service and take the customer to his or her
destination.
Another aspect is that Uber is labor and knowledge intensive as many drivers work for Uber in
order to cover more areas and meet the demand on the rides, in addition, the driver has a certain
knowledge concerning the know-how of using the application, accepting rides or declining them.
Furthermore, when talking about a service organization such as Uber, it goes without saying that
the customer interaction is generally very high, this direct interaction means that the human
element (drivers and other employees such as customer service agents) become extremely
important in service firms such as Uber Egypt. The interaction is inevitable starting from the
customers calling the driver to inform him about his current place moving to paying the fare and
the human interaction throughout the ride, the treatment received by the driver definitely affects
the perception of the service received and the customer’s level of satisfaction, therefore, in order
to ensure that the customers are being well treated by the drivers, Uber has created the rating
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system where, the customers can give ratings to each driver after each ride, and they can also file
complaints against the drivers if any inconvenience occurs during the trip.
Another challenging aspect for Uber as a service organization is the fact that the quality of
service is perceived and cannot be directly observed, measured and compared in the same way
that the quality of the tangible product can, however, Uber tries to make it easier through the
post-ride rating system. Another characteristic that affects customer satisfaction and perception
of quality service is the rapid response time as the service must be provided when the customer
wants and needs it. Uber tries to resolve this issue by increasing the number of cars available and
expanding the coverage of Uber drivers’ fleet to be available whenever a customer needs a ride.
Regarding the technical core concerning Uber Egypt, the drivers are considered the technical
core as they are performing the main activity of the organization which is offering rides to the
customers. Therefore, it can be concluded that the feature of service technology such as Uber
with a distinct influence on organizational structure and control systems is the need for technical
core employees to be close to the customer, therefore there must be an impact on the
organizational design that customer contact necessitates.
The first impact of customer contact on the organizational design is reflected in the use of
boundary roles and structural disaggregation. The customer contact reduced the boundary roles
used in a service firm simply because the service is intangible and cannot be passed along by
boundary spanners, so service customers must interact directly with the drivers. Another impact
is that the service firm such as Uber Egypt needn’t be large as its greatest economies are
achieved through disaggregation into small units that can be located close to customers, this is
quite obvious in the case of Uber as there is no specific headquarter for the organization,
however, the service is dispersed among different regions in order to be able to reach customers
whenever and wherever they are. Another impact of the service technology is the high
decentralization as the driver has the right to accept the ride or cancel it upon his will and
generally doesn’t receive orders from his manager, therefore, Uber Egypt gives more authority
for decision making to its employees as it adopts an organic organizational design.
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Mission and Vision:

Uber’s mission is to “bring transportation as reliable as running water everywhere for everyone”.
This emphasizes Uber’s commitment to provide transportation and delivery services to everyone
all around the globe, further backed by Uber’s insistence on controlling the market by acquiring
other service brands like Careem in the Middle East. Uber also aims to become diverse by
offering courier services as well as food services through Uber Eats. Uber’s passion for
expansion and globalization is also showcased in the company providing services in over 80
countries worldwide. The company tries its best to offer a wide range of services in order to help
people with different social classes, incomes, and preferences. For example, they offer Uber pool
for ride sharing to help people share the same ride in order to pay less while also meeting new
people or they can order an Uber bike. They also offer Uber Comfort rides for those willing to
pay extra for a better, more comfortable ride. This huge variety of options is what makes Uber as
reliable as running water, as it aims to make transportation a smooth process that is easily
accessible without the hassle of having to stop a taxi and test your luck in finding one.
The company does not have a standardized vision statement, but it emphasizes its focus on
ensuring everyone finds their preferred method of transportation with ease, to the point that Uber
is being innovative on offering services such as Uber bike for individuals who want a cheaper,
eco-friendlier ride, which also aligns with Uber’s CSR and sustainability objectives. Uber’s
vision includes ensuring that transportation is full of variety to make traffic less of an issue and
to even minimize pollution by offering Uber Green, which provides customers with eco-friendly
vehicles to minimize carbon footprint. This huge variety ranging from bikes to helicopters and
trains makes Uber a reliable service for everyone looking to move from one place to the other.
The company even offers special vehicles for handicapped individuals. Uber also focuses on
improving welfare of employees by giving fair salaries and ensuring ride fares are reasonable for
both clients and employees.
Regarding the most obvious business objectives, Uber’s main objective is to create the world’s
biggest transportation network. Another objective that Uber wants to achieve in the long run is to
create the world’s biggest P2P logistic network. The last objective is to shift from 100% humane
driven logistics to 100% machine driven logistics as Uber runs Advanced Technologies Group
Centre in Pittsburgh, where the company is building autonomous cars.
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Business strategy:
Regarding Uber's business strategy, it is based on three pillars. The first pillar is the wide range
of services in order to fit the diverse needs of a great number of customers, the highly
differentiated service portfolio is considered Uber’s main competitive advantage. Depending on
their budget, the occasion, the purpose of the ride, customers can choose among a wide range of
different rides such as Uber X, UberGo, Uber Moto, Uber premium or Uber rush.
The second pillar is that the app is considered very user friendly and has a high level of user
convenience. This unprecedented user convenience can be observed at different levels. Starting
from requesting a ride, customers don’t need to call dispatch, wait in a line, or wave from a curb.
Customers can simply tap “Request UberX” on their phone from the comfort of indoors and wait
for a notification that their driver is “arriving soon” to be ready for the pickup. Even in highly
populated dense traffic areas Uber drivers usually take about 1-2 minutes to arrive at the required
pick-up location. Moreover, when the customers reach their destination, there is no need for cash
transactions as they can register their credit card information as the payment is automatically
charged to the card on the customer's Uber account and the receipt is sent via email. Moreover,
each ride receipt includes a map and a GPS tracker, therefore, dispute resolution with Uber is
easy as customers can complain if their driver took a longer route and Uber can refund the trip
price in case the customers were right.
The last pillar upon which the business strategy relies is the cost-saving through innovation,
Uber enjoys the first-mover advantage in the internet-based ride-hailing sector is one of the most
important points of Uber competitive advantage. Therefore, operating at low costs through
innovation is placed at the core of Uber business strategy. Extensive user conveniences as
explained above are achieved at a low cost for the company, thanks to the app that integrates
innovative features and capabilities.
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Policies as well opinions

Suggested policies
1. We build globally, we live locally
2. We are customer obsessed
3. We celebrate differences.
4. We do the right thing.
5. We act like owners
6. We persevere.
7. We value ideas over hierarchy.
8. We make big bold bets.
Problems:
The first and most pervasive problem that Uber had is the autocratic leadership style that the co-
founder and former CEO Travis Kalanick had attempting to micromanage Uber. it was obvious
that Travis lacked leadership skills, this was the main reason for the series of corporate scandals
that happened such as: Bullying, sexual harassment and discrimination at the workplace.
However, Dara Khosrowshahi the new CEO is known for his visionary leadership style and he
enhanced the corporate image.
Another problem is concerned with Uber’s operations in Egypt as it faced a fierce competition
before Careem acquisition as in Egypt customers weren’t loyal to the brand and they shifted to
Careem when they find cheaper rides, however, Uber was able to overcome this problem: first by
increasing customer loyalty through promotion and free rides. Moreover, in order to cease this
competition and occupy a larger market share Uber acquired Careem and occupied the largest
market share in the ride-hailing industry in Egypt.
Another problem is Uber's organizational structure which can be described as hierarchical. This
results in numerous adverse results such as: ineffective communication across
various departments, high level of bureaucracy, and rivalry between departments that may hinder
long-term growth prospects. However, the new CEO Dara is expected to remove certain layers of
management as a part of his turnaround attempts.
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There were also many challenges that Uber has found solutions to. The first challenge is the fear
of unfamiliarity as Uber noticed that people had a fear of unfamiliarity of drivers. Moreover, the
majority of people were not comfortable to ride with the unknown driver. Just because they
would not be much familiar with the driver. In order to solve this problem, Uber had taken this
challenge very seriously, and they came up with the idea in which people can see the profile and
status of drivers before hiring the cab. Through the Uber app, users can now see the driver’s
profile, his past trips, and the ratings. By inducing this trend, Uber has broken the fear of
unfamiliarity in people. Check out this image, for example.
The second challenge that faced Uber is the inability to Get real-time notifications about the ride,
as before Uber, people were not able to get the real-time notifications of their rides. Due to this,
people had faced hurdles in their daily lives, for instance, reaching out to their offices or doctor
appointments. Uber had noticed these issues were faced by people, and they came back with the
feature in which people could check out the driver's location after booking the cab and they also
get real- time notifications about their rides in terms of arrival and the cancellation of rides.
The third challenge is that people are afraid to stick in Traffic for long hours. Due to the long
waiting hours of a traffic jam, people were usually stuck in their routes. One of the biggest
challenges users faced was the lack of knowledge about the shortest routes, where they could
meet less traffic. Uber has solved this problem by closely noticing this challenge, and they
worked on it. Uber came up with the idea in which Uber app only provides one of the shortest
routes with less traffic area to Uber drivers. From now on, people have less fear of being stuck in
traffic for long hours while driving through the Uber app.
The fourth challenge is that users wanted to go cashless in taxis too. In the past, user's first
concern was cashless payment while booking taxis. They were not able to pay their
drivers online. And, this was the major challenge that was faced by the majority of
people. In order to face this challenge, Uber decided to go cashless while driving the cab
through the Uber app. The cashless payment system was induced by Uber in order to
prevent the people who wanted to travel cashless.
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Corporate Governance
Pay year
Mr. Dara Khosrowshahi CEO & Director 2.75M N/A 1970
Mr. Garrett Camp Co-Founder, Board Observer & Product Advisor 18.03 N/A 1980
k
Mr. Nelson Juseuk Chai Chief Financial Officer 1.73M N/A 1966
Mr. Derek Anthony West Sr. VP, Chief Legal Officer & Corp. Sec. 1.42M N/A 1966
Ms. Jill Hazelbaker Sr. VP of Marketing & Public Affairs 1.7M N/A 1982
Ms. Nikki Sr. VP & Chief People Officer 1.21M N/A 1972
Krishnamurthy
Mr. Glen Ceremony Chief Accounting Officer & Global Corp. Controller N/A N/A 1967
Mr. Sundeep Jain Chief Product Officer N/A N/A N/A

Mr. Sukumar Rathnam Chief Technology Officer N/A N/A N/A
Ms. Emily Maher Head of Investor Relations
Uber works toward its mission by embracing eight cultural norms. These cultural norms help to
set a strong tone of integrity for the entire Company and extend to the Company’s corporate
governance. The Company’s Board of Directors firmly believes that the Company must be
transparent with, and accountable to, its stockholders with respect to the Company’s culture and
its corporate governance practices.
The Company believes that ethics and integrity cannot be mandated by a corporate policy or
directive. The governance structure of the Company is designed to be a working structure for
principled actions, effective policy and decision-making at both the Board and management
level, and appropriate monitoring of both compliance and performance, with a view toward
enhancing long-term value for the Company’s stockholders. The Company expects the integrity
and values of its directors and senior management to remain the most important safeguard of
corporate governance at Uber.
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Board responsibilities:
A. Role of the Board
The Board, which is elected by the stockholders, is the ultimate decision-making body of the
Company, except with respect to those matters reserved to the stockholders. The Board oversees
the Company’s business affairs and integrity, and works with the Chief Executive Officer (the
“CEO”) and other members of senior management to determine the Company’s long-term
strategy and mission, with the goal of ensuring that the long-term interests of the Company’s
stockholders are being served. In fulfilling its responsibilities, directors reasonably may rely on
the honesty and integrity of the Company’s senior management and its advisors and consultants.
B. Risk Oversight
The Board oversees risk management, including the Company’s compliance with applicable laws
and regulations and cybersecurity risk management. The Board’s assessment of, and decisions
regarding, risk occur in the context of and in conjunction with the Board’s and its committees’
ongoing activities. The Audit Committee oversees risk management procedures and processes
for preventing and detecting fraud at the Company. Senior management periodically reports to
the Board and its committees on risk tolerance, assessment, and mitigation. Each of the Board’s
committees reports to the Board on those matters.
C. Ethics and Conflicts of Interest
The Board expects its directors, as well as officers and employees, to act with the highest
standards of responsibility, ethics and integrity. Directors and officers are expected to be familiar
with, and adhere to, the corporate policies on Related Party Transactions and Conflicts of
Interest, the Company’s Business Conduct Guide, including, for directors, the provisions that are
applicable to directors and the Director Code of Conduct. In addition, employees are expected to
be familiar with, and adhere to, the corporate policy on Conflicts of Interest and the Business
Conduct Guide.
D. Annual Meeting Attendance
All directors are expected to attend the Company’s annual meeting of

stockholders.
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Resource based view analysis:

According to the resource based view proponents, it is considered feasible to exploit external
opportunities using existing resources in a new way rather than trying to acquire new skills for
each different opportunity. In a resource based value model, the major role is given to resources
in order to help the company achieve higher organizational performance. There are two types of
resources that the company relies on in order to capture the opportunities: tangible and
intangible:
Tangible assets: the most important tangible asset that Uber possess is its financial position, this
asset has helped Uber expand globally and invest in multiple cities around the world and
compete with other global and local competitors this was clear in the case of Egypt as it
succeeded in occupying the largest market share and eventually it acquired Careem for 3.1$
billion and it is now the largest ride-hailing company in Egypt with a large capital.
Intangible assets: the first and most important tangible asset that Uber possesses is innovation as
it enjoys the first-mover advantage as it was the first ride-hailing app that was launched in 2009,
and it was the first company that uses this type of technology. Therefore, operating at low costs
through innovation is placed at the core of Uber business strategy. Extensive user conveniences
as explained above are achieved at a low cost for the company, thanks to the app that integrates
Another intangible asset that Uber relies on achieving its competitive advantage is the customer
loyalty, Uber has invested a lot in achieving such competency as it provides free rides and offers
to its customers to make them loyal to the brand and make them request rides from Uber to enjoy
the high service quality and high user convenience that Uber provides despite the fact that
sometimes other rivals offer cheaper rides, the customer loyalty is a great asset that Uber
capitalizes on to achieve its excellence in the ride-hailing industry.
The last intangible asset is the service quality and the user convenience as the app is very user
friendly and easy to use. The drivers provide high quality service that differentiates the brand
from other ride-hailing apps. The app is considered very user friendly and has a high level of
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user convenience. This unprecedented user convenience can be observed at different levels.
Starting from requesting a ride, customers don’t need to call dispatch, wait in a line, or wave
from a curb. Customers can simply tap “Request UberX” on their phone from the comfort of
indoors and wait for a notification that their driver is “arriving soon” to be ready for the pickup.
Even in highly populated dense traffic areas Uber drivers usually take about 1-2 minutes to
arrive at the required pick-up location. Moreover, when the customers reach their destination,
there is no need for cash transactions as they can register their credit card information as the
payment is automatically charged to the card on the customer's Uber account and the receipt is
sent via email. Moreover, each ride receipt includes a map and a GPS tracker, therefore, dispute
resolution with Uber is easy as customers can complain if their driver took a longer route and
Uber can refund the trip price in case the customers were right.
Organizational capabilities:
The most distinctive attribute of Uber is the value proposition that distinguishes the company
from its rivals. Uber’s main value proposition is “we will always give you a ride when you need
it and for drivers, we will always give you passengers when you want them”.
In a traditional taxi business, the number of taxis is determined by the rides that are available
over time to support that number of taxis and drivers. If demand surges there is no excess
capacity. If there is low demand for a period drivers are slow to leave the market and payments
for all drivers suffer due to excess supply.
Uber’s value proposition is thus like a market but if it were that simple it would not have the
same disruptive effect. What enables it to deliver on the promise above is that it is able to match
supply to demand.
Using the real-time metrics Uber is able to trace the demand and then as the demand start to
exceed capacity, Uber’s algorithms is designed to reduce the demand by introducing the surge
pricing , compared to traditional taxis whose fares are somewhat price inelastic so this is a lesser
effect, the surge pricing enables Uber to increase prices where demand is highest. At the same
time, the increased fares encourage more drivers to work and thus increase supply.
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Uber is able to do this because the drivers are owner operators. it doesn’t own the assets and thus
it can flex capacity within minutes, whereas a traditional taxi company takes months or years to
achieve the same results (in the case of New York taxi medallions almost never).
The technology enables this value proposition and at the same time, it also enables traditional
pain points to be addressed at minimal additional cost. If you have no cash, it’s not a problem.
Uber charges your card. In fact, the whole system is cashless making it safer for both drivers and
passengers.
It also brings transparency by identifying both driver and passenger and their positions to each
other and by showing exactly where the taxi is at all times. Uncertainty and thus anxiety is
reduced for both.
Another resources and capabilities include:
Customer Relationships
Automated touch point. For the rest, it is totally automated as far as the passenger is concerned.
The old dispatchers are removed and the passenger’s phone automatically identifies the pickup
point. For the driver’s there is a more hands-on role principally around QA and making sure that
the drivers meet the minimum quality standards that Uber expects.
Channels
Uber used different channels as it grew. Early on the focus was in moving from city to city and
getting enough drivers and users signed up and using the app that there was a strong enough
market to make it work. Increasingly with a market in each city, the channels are through the
mobile app and the marketing is through email, word of mouth – which is incredibly important in
overcoming adoption fear and crossing the chasm from early adopters – and PR.
One of Uber’s huge strengths has been the amount of money that it has raised which has given it
a huge amount of earned media which in turn has driven passenger and driver growth.
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Revenue
Revenue is pretty simple. Uber moves the traditional taxi meter from the car to its servers
tracking via GPS technology on the phone and then charges the passenger based on the miles
traveled and whatever surge multiplier is in effect. If the passenger uses a different Uber brand
the same process applies but with different pricing.
Key Resources
Uber has three key resources without which the whole thing falls apart. First, it has a platform
which connects Uber to drivers and passengers and both to each other.
That’s a necessary but not sufficient requirement. Then it has the algorithms that do the heavy
job. These are the pricing and routing algorithms. The pricing algorithms are used to balance
supply and demand in the market and help ensure that there is always enough capacity available
to meet demand – fulfilling its core value proposition.
The routing algorithm then focuses on ensuring that the customer wait time is as short as possible
and by implication reduces the deadhead time for drivers as they are either waiting for, or driving
to a new job.
Key Activities
A key part of Uber’s business model is then developing the platform, continually adding value to
ensure user adoption and retention and optimizing its algorithms.
It also has to do significant marketing on a global and a local lever to driver passenger adoption
and ensure an adequate supply of drivers. Uber still has the same problem as traditional taxi
companies. It serves lots of unconnected geographical markets. Singapore, London, Frankfurt.
Each has specific attributes and requirements and so marketing to users in each city, and
ensuring that there is the right level of driver support for the user growth is critical for meeting
its value proposition.
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Key Partners
The main one is the drivers who own all their cars. That saves Uber from having a contract with
a leasing company for hundreds of thousands of cars. It has the payment processors and the map
data providers. Often missed are the local authorities. In many cities, there are legal actions
against Uber as taxi companies fight to protect their businesses and persuade the ‘authorities’ to
erect barriers to entry against Uber. This is often characterized as adversarial but in the longer
scale of things regulation is seen as important and Uber will need to resolve these issues. So they
are long term partners, even if they are not right now
Cost Structure
There are the huge costs for the platform development, hosting etc. There are the salaries for the
software engineers, the sales, and marketing teams and the country and city managers.
And then there are the driver payments. Nicely Uber gets paid upfront and keeps the money for a
few days before having to pay the drivers (as a consequences of ensuring that payments are
valid)
To conclude, those resources (tangible and intangible) and the organizational capabilities are
considered heterogeneous, as those skills, capabilities and other resources that organizations
possess differ from one company to another. Other service providers don’t possess those assets
which makes Uber unique. In other words, they formulate Uber’s core competencies which, in
the long-run, translate into competitive advantages that make Uber stand out in the ride-hailing
industry.
Value chain analysis

The value chain analysis, which was implemented by Michael Porter, is used to help identify the
factors the business uses in order to be able to convert inputs into outputs while being as efficient
as possible and making use of competitive advantages to provide value for customers. Customer
satisfaction is a major turn for a company who is dependent 100% on consumers’ appraisals.
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Uber Inbound logistics
Inbound logistics involves receiving as well as storing raw materials. For Uber, being the largest
taxi technology company in the world, it doesn’t own any of the cars, motorbikes, buses it uses
in its operations. Rather, these vehicles are owned by the drivers, who although work for Uber
but are not employees. Uber doesn’t sign any contracts yet it necessitates drivers and customers
to own smartphones to use the app software. Moreover, Uber’s inbound logistics is associated
with the internet based nature of business operations and its business model. Moreover, owed to
their business model, in spite of Uber’s large size its inbound logistics bounded to hardware and
office equipment only. Uber’s inbound activities include handling, warehousing of physical
products and planning of receiving and storing customer information for digital media company.
Uber nowadays outsources most of its inbound logistics activities. The advantage of analysis is
to require Uber to look into every aspect of transformation from the app that is their main
platform through which they deliver their service to the end customer.
Uber Operations
Uber operations are running in more than 700 cities around the world. Their services involve
requesting a ride to the desired destination and the driver will arrive in a few minutes to start the
trip. In which customers use the Uber app for each time they request an Uber driver. They can
view their wait time, and price. In addition to that, customers can view the contact information of
their driver as well as the vehicle type on the application. This favors customers’ security, as
with this much information in hand they are tooled with hoping in with the right driver. Lastly,
Uber doesn’t require cash payments only, Uber accepts payment via credit cards. The application
automatically charges the customer’s credit card and saves the trip history with the fares paid on
the application. The application enabled Uber to acquire sophisticated and customers’ centric
operations, which is achieved through their well advanced functions and capabilities equipped in
their application. Uber’s main source of value is achieved through their operations. Thus, the
activities that help Uber to transform their ideas which is the input into advanced customer
service which is the output is through using customer data to better customize advertisements on
the basis of usage behavior of clients. This will therefore, increase their customer base. In
argument of the importance of analyzing the operational activities, Uber is enabled to process a
bigger portion of information into bettering its services to customers. This in conclusion better
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the efficiency while guaranteeing the competitive success of Uber. With increased productivity
and meeting customer’s desires to enjoy high quality taxis on demand service, this will increase
profitability while providing a rigid foundation for competitive advantage.
Uber Outbound Logistics
Outbound logistics doesn’t apply fully to Uber to the ride-hailing services, as this is owed to the
closeness of the delivery and consumption of services. As mentioned in operations, Uber
operates in various cities around the world. With its internet based nature of the business model
is its source of value being a global taxi technology company. Partly the outbound logistics could
include distributing finished products to final buyers through Uber eats for instance. Uber
analysis of outbound logistics, can produce a tool to acknowledge competitive advantage sources
while satisfying their growth objectives. Since time management of outbound activities can
result in achieving optimal cost and delivery process, Uber would still be able to satisfy
customers while maintaining good quality service. Such analysis is required by a company such
as Uber specially with products that require fast delivery.
Uber Marketing and Sales
Ride-hailing services depend extensively on digital marketing through social media platforms
and word of mouth marketing in order to communicate its marketing message to its target
customers. Other marketing tools used are print advertising, sales promotions, events, events and
experiences and public relations as part of the marketing strategy. Moreover, Uber provides a
convenient payment method that is a source of value added for the company. This is achieved
through giving customers the option to pay using their credit cards as the trip is directly and
automatically charged through the application. This is to better provide the customers with ease
to purchase the firm’s services. Uber, through its analysis of marketing and sales, will identify
the benefits and differentiation points of the services offered. This will enable the company to
better persuade customers that the service offered is one of the best amongst its competitors.
Marketing and sales activities are essential to help reap benefits produced by the high quality of
services offered. Uber’s marketing and sales activities include sales force, advertising,
promotional activities, pricing, channel selection, quoting and building relations with channel
members.
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In conclusion, marketing activities that are effective and wisely integrated within the company
can assist the firm in developing brand equity and help differentiate Uber from its competitors.
Moreover, the company shouldn’t in fact make any commitments about false product features
that it can’t fulfil.
4 Ps of marketing:
Uber is a service company and it does not sell products. Uber has clear advantages over regular
local taxis. These include clear overview of pricing prior to booking, one-tap rides, follow
drivers on map, cashless convenience and fare splitting, as well as feedback options.
The range of services offered by Uber with brief descriptions is illustrated in Table below:
Description
Service
Uber X Low cost option for the passengers looking for low cost rides for up to 4 riders
Uber XI Low cost option for the passengers looking for low cost rides for up to 6 riders
Uber pool Car sharing: riders can bring one other person with them, thus saving on travel
costs
UberGO ride in a hatchback
Uber AUTO ride in Auto rickshaws, currently available in Bangalore and Pune only
Uber Access Taxi service with wheelchair access to cater to the needs of elderly and people
with disabilities.
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Uber-MOTO Booking bike rides around the city
Uber a fleet of stylish vehicles to choose from. Uber Premium comprises

Premium UberSELECT, UberBLACK, UberSUV and UberLUX
UberRUSH Courier Package Service
UberEATS allows customers to order food on the go
Place
Despite being active in more than 760 cities, Uber does not have too many offices due to the
network nature of its business model. Anyone can become an Uber customer at any time, simply
by downloading the Uber app. The five top countries where Uber is the most active are the US,
Brazil, China, Mexico and India.
Price
Uber pricing strategy can be described as geographical pricing. The cost of riding with Uber
depends on three factors - a base rate, rate for estimated time and distance and the demand for
rides in that area. Moreover, Uber pricing strategy can be classified as a dynamic pricing that is
based on the basic economic principle of demand and supply. At any given time and given
location, the higher the demand for taxi services, the higher the prices.
Generally, Uber pricing strategy integrates the following principles:
Economy pricing. A range of Uber services such as Uber-Moto, Uber Pool and Uber Go offer
no-frills rides for competitive costs.
Upfront pricing. Customers are quoted estimated costs, before confirming their order.
Surge pricing. During times of high demand for rides, fares will increase, sometimes multiple
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times.
Penetration pricing. When entering new markets, the global taxi technology company sets its
prices artificially low in order to gain market share.
The ride-hailing giant offers a range of payment methods to customers such as Uber wallet,
money and even credit cards.
Promotion
Uber usually does not use traditional print and media advertising and mainly promotes its
services through its website and the app. Word-of-mouth, media in general and social media in
particular have played an instrumental role in increasing the levels of consumer awareness about
the brand on a global scale. Moreover, free rides promotional schemes offered by Uber played an
important role in causing the buzz in social media.
Uber Service
Customer service is the core competitive advantage of Uber, as it is effectively integrated into its
business model. Customers get to rate drivers’ performance on a rate from 1-5 after each
journey, where drivers of low riding scores are deactivated immediately. Which motivates
drivers to maintain a level of good service to their customers. Hence, every receipt includes a
map and a GPS track. Customers can further complain if drivers took a longer route to reach
their destination. In such a situation Uber is prompt to refund its customers.
Furthermore, providing after sales services and maintenance will enable Uber to succeed even
more. Such services include post sale maintenance, part supply, product forward and backend
alignment of software, installation of services and training of employees to guarantee a higher
quality of services. These services can increase customers’ loyalty to the company. Nowadays,
post-sale service plays an important role in the marketing and promotional activities. As negative
word of mouth in the era of technological advancements can take over a company’s reputation.
Service analysis is vital to supporting activities that could further avoid taking down the
reputation and use the results of the analysis to improve their services. Such that, it will lead to
quicker spreading of positive word of mouth.
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Support activities
Human Resources Management
All organizations aspire to become leaders in the industry, human resource management was and
still is important to the success of any organization. Human resource management include
recruitment, people, planning, skill assessment, selection, training & development. Hiring and
compensation at business level and corporation level. Uber’s average income of drivers is about
US $364. Criticisms were directed towards the company for its lack of diversity amongst
employees. Uber has 12,000 employees which include satellite customer support and leasing
agents. Less than 40% of the company’s employees are women and less than 15% are black and
Hispanic. On the contrary, 80% of the company employees are white and Asian. The company in
response to this issue hired their first chief of diversity in march 2018.
Importance of Analysis of human resources management include that Uber will be able to
decrease the competitive pressure it faces. This is done by bettering the motivation, commitment
along with developing skills of their workforce. Uber can also achieve cost minimization by
analyzing hiring and training costs with their relative return. Having a global leading taxi
company relying on their employees’ talents will help in showing the importance of human
resource management in the value chain activity.
Technology Development
Uber’s success is owed to the convenient use and understating of technological advancements. It
has made them who they are and carved their success in the contemporary marketplace. Uber
invests extensively in research and development and continuous improvement of technological
infrastructure on a frequent basis. Uber was awarded as One of the Most Innovative companies
of 2017. When the global taxi company launched a program in Pittsburgh that allows people to
call for a self- driving car from their mobile phones, Uber acquired an autonomous-trucking
startup Otto.
Since Uber depends mainly on the use of technology, in the modern day technology development
has become a source of competitive advantage. Uber’s technology development includes, feature
designs, process engineering, component design, technology selection and lastly field testing.
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The technological aspect in the value chain is quite important, as it will allow Uber to better cope
up with the technological advancements in the market and keep on improving their application to
better suit customers’ needs.
Procurement Activities at Uber Uber's
This aspect of the value chain analysis, is related to the ways resources are acquired for the
business. Uber runs intricate procurement activities in the global scale, this is owed to the size
and scope of the operations of the company. Uber aims to cohere with fair business practices.
The only barrier to entry for drivers is the fact that many people do not own cars that don’t
qualify them for the job in the company. Uber however, has offered people to rent them cars that
enables anyone to sign up and drive for the company.
Furthermore, this pillar of the value chain employs technology for procedures such as vendor
management, information system and supply chain partner qualifications rules along with
frequent performance evaluation. Uber should construct ongoing procurement activities appraisal
as this will optimize their inbound operational and outbound value chain.
Firm Infrastructure
Infrastructure activities include a wide range of support systems and functions such as finance,
planning, quality control and general senior management. This pillar relates to the physical and
organizational structures and facilities that Uber utilizes to achieve its objective for maximizing
profits. The most appealing aspect under the infrastructure include the fact that Uber doesn’t own
any of the cars used in its operations. Their drivers are independent contractors who use their
own cars to provide ride hailing services for their customers.
This pillar supports the value chain through the scope variance, provided that Uber is a
diversified company within the ride-hailing industry. For instance, finance and planning are
managed at the corporate level, whilst quality management, accounting and legal issues are
managed at business level. An effective approach towards infrastructure management will enable
Uber to enhance the value of the value chain at large. Thus, Uber can further control the
infrastructure activities to better strengthen its competitive positioning in the market, both locally
and internationally.
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SWOT analysis:
Like any other multinational, Uber has internal strengths that give it a competitive edge,
weaknesses that the company needs to enhance, as well as external opportunities to help them
expand, as well as threats which may slow them down.
Strengths Weaknesses
 World-renowned brand  Higher costs relative to local

 Little competition competitors
 First mover in the market  Failed to compete against local
 Owns a drastic percentage of the competitors
world’s ride sharing services  Increased employee turnovers due to
 It offers different services client’s complaints
Opportunities Threats
 Introduce courier services  Decrease in sales due to pandemic

 Acquire more transportation services  Increased reports of sexual
 Increase safety regulations harassment and fraudulent drivers.
 Expand into food delivery services  Struggle to adapt to different rules
and regulations.
Strengths:
Uber is a world-renowned brand and is the most popular transportation service brand in the
world, making the name very popular and is almost always everyone’s first choice when looking
for transportation from one location to another. Moreover, the company has little to no effective
competition, making it somewhat a monopoly, especially after the acquisition of Careem, this
helps it make use of its customer loyalty as well as established brand name as a barrier of entry
for new competitors looking to enter the market. Being an innovative company Uber is very well
known due to it being a first mover. They are the pioneers of ridesharing to the world and are
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always trying to be innovative by coming up with new ideas. It owns almost 40% of the world's
market share for ride sharing services and is the major service app in Egypt alongside Careem,
which is also owned by Uber. This makes Uber have almost complete control over its market in
Egypt and many other countries. Furthermore, Uber performs many diverse services, it is
expanding into offering services like delivery and courier services which helps it penetrate
different markets and serve more specific niches.
Weaknesses:
Other less popular services offer lower costs for clients or better payment for employees and
drivers which could affect sales or market share in the long-term. Also other services offered
aren’t as successful as ridesharing, for example Uber eats, while popular in the USA is not
available in many countries including Egypt as it had to be removed from the Egyptian market as
it failed to compete with more established food delivery brands like Otlob and Elmenus.
Moreover, recent complaints from clients towards drivers led to firing several drivers. As people
started getting worried that the company doesn’t conduct thorough background checks on their
employees which affected the company’s reputation slightly.
Opportunities:
Of the opportunities that can be exploited us introducing courier services in the Egyptian market
as it will further assist the company expand its operations in Egypt. Moreover, Uber can also
acquire other important transportation services that are slightly varied to improve diversity, such
as SWVL. Amidst this pandemic, increasing safety regulations and requiring face masks is a
convenient initiative to create the perception that Uber is the safest transportation option to
consider. Additionally, Uber can take advantage of food delivery services, such as delivery
which is very popular nowadays due to the Pandemic, so Uber eats sales have been on the rise
lately.
Threats:
The pandemic has affected sales as people have quarantined more often due to health fears and
curfews which made transportation less prominent. Also continuous reports of sexual harassment
and fraudulent drivers have given the company some bad publicity and the company must find
ways to fix customers perception in order to retain customers as well as employees who may not
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want to be affiliated with the company. Finally, due to the fact that Uber is multinational, the
company will struggle to adapt to different rules and regulations of different countries when it
comes to legal proceedings and driving rules and regulations.
TOWS analysis:
TOWS matrix is a framework like that evaluates, creates, contrasts and decides upon business
strategies. It is an altered version of SWOT analysis and stands threats, opportunities,
weaknesses and strengths. An American professor Heinz Weirich in 1982 wanted came up with a
method to assess businesses from a practical approach referenced with administration and
marketing. Evaluation process is executed by combining the external opportunities and threats
with the internal strengths and weaknesses. It begins with the auditing of external threats and
opportunities. This inspection provides clear insights and assists the company with adopting long
term strategies. In which internal strengths and weaknesses of a company are taken into
consideration. The second step in the internal analysis overlaps with the external analysis to form
a strategy.
TOWS helps a company to stay ahead of its competition. This matrix can help in generating
ideas into forming marketing strategies, decision making, protection against threats,
opportunities, limiting threats, overcoming weaknesses and awareness about the potential
shortcomings.
Strengths Weakness
1. Trust and safety: two-way
1. Using dynamic pricing method cause surge in
rating system
price
2. Simple use friendly mobile
2. Ubers do not give a priority regarding the
application
safety and privacy of consumers.
3. flexible hours, part time
3. Uber operates by ignoring taxicab regulations
working hours
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4. Cashless payment system 4. Violating federal law for commercial calls

5. Unlimited fleet of vehicles (social media campaign)
5. Not taking care of the welfare of employees
Threats
Opportunities 1. High competition
1. Emerging need for Uber
2. Fraud and scandals of drivers
services
3. Loss of customers
2. Technology advancement
4. Lawsuit against Uber Dissatisfaction of drivers
3. High potential growth and
5. Dissatisfaction of drivers
social acceptance
4. Competitors inefficiencies
5. Ability to attract larger target
customers
First aspect to be elaborated is the tactics that could be utilized by opposing strategies with
opportunities. TOWS analysis will present the reader with the way strengths can be used to
benefit the company from the opportunities it has. The first strength – opportunities is the dual
rating system encouraging the prominent need for Uber services. Customers will rate the services
they were provided with and can further provide their comment about any un-satisfaction on
services. They are given a platform on which they provide complaints the company can use for
improving services in the future. When a comparison is set up between regular taxis and Uber,
regular taxis do not give much appreciation to customer complaints. On the contrary they ignore
any comments if ever provided. Hence, as much as it may be depressing to receive complaints,
the company can use these as motives to improve the existing system. Additionally, one Uber
driver can rate the system on behalf of all drivers. They can express their point of views about
the efficiency of the system they use for a living. (O1+S1)
Moving on to the second strength and weakness, the Uber application is easy and friendly to use,
this makes it a competitive advantage. Furthermore, Uber with the help of technological
advancements was able to provide an application through which riders can book an Uber through
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an application installed by both androids and Apple. Users of such a service only need the
internet to order their ride from all the covered areas. (O2+S2)
The ease of making rides through working whenever is a big add on to the drivers. This feature
will lead to Uber having the opportunity to further grow and have social acceptance. Working
hours are scheduled as convenient for the driver, thus Uber’s flexibility allows workers to work
whenever they’re available. Some people take the job of a driver as a part time job, to increase
their income. (O3+S3)
Moreover, Uber is a cashless service which is considered to be a systematic way compared to

paying in cash. As much as it is easier for drivers to keep transactions as organized by the
system, it is also suitable for customers as they don’t have to carry cash around. As this increases
the risk of having it all stolen especially at late night hours. The only procedure Uber customers
must do is to top up their Uber credit before ordering their ride. (O4+S4)
The last internal strength and external opportunities is having unlimited numbers of vehicles that
can attract more potential customers. Having different cars like SUV and MPV and a variety of
services like plus, premium and executive Uber increases the opportunity of meeting the needs of
different people with different purchasing powers. For higher income people, premium and
executives are the most convenient services whilst middle income people can share an Uber with
other riders to pay less. Also low income people can use this service as their main mode of
transportation after the two main mediums of trains and buses. (O5+S5)
Efforts Uber could make to minimize their loss of consumers, should increase awareness about
the different payment methods. Other aspects utilized are consumers having the ability to track
their spending habits using this service. Also customers can choose to ride with highly rated
drivers. That being mentioned, Uber has many useful features that can be used to increase their
value to customers which will lead to an increased customer base. (S4+T3)
Working with Uber is equivalent to being your own manager. Drivers get to open their
application and receive riding requests whenever convenient to them. They can even choose
which customers they want to serve and which rides are most convenient for them to accept. This
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feature enables Uber to decrease drivers’ dissatisfaction, knowing they can work as appropriate
to them. (S3+T5)
Because all those who pass through the screening done to them by the company, Uber has an
unlimited amount of cars roaming around the cities covered by Uber. Uber uses the demand
algorithm on the availability of cars and the number of requested rides to determine charges for
each ride. This feature indeed will enable Uber to provide rides to all customers’ requests.
Relative to its rivals, this is a competitive advantage. (S5+T1)
Another aspect Uber can undertake is increasing awareness of the fact that both the riders and
drivers could rate each other on a five-scale. This will further reduce frauds and scandals of
drivers. Uber will better be able to monitor and assess drivers by the information provided by
their passengers. This can ensure and improve customers' perception about safety in Uber as they
get to choose trustworthy drivers based on previous ratings. (S1+T2)
In efforts to increase the customer base, Uber could involve discount coupons to encourage
customers to use the application. Since the application is already designed to be user friendly and
easy to use, customers could use an incentive to increase their rides with Uber. Since the
application has many features, customers can even acknowledge Uber's destination while they
are on their way to pick them up. Therefore, customers can further have the option to decide
whether or not they want to ride, this is useful in times where the customer has time constraints
and wants to get to their destination on time. Before hopping on the car, customers can decide if
they want to proceed with the ride as they view their cost estimation way before they can
proceed with their ride requests. Giving customers the autonomy to behave the way they want,
will make them feel like the service is tailored to them personally. This will increase their usage
of the service (S2+T3).
Uber can maximize their fares as they will be charging the trips according to the demand and
supply. This means that fare maximization can be achieved when the demand is at its highest.
With consequent increase, prices will reach an equilibrium point that will put Uber at risk.
Customers will be looking for substitutes and Uber will face a lessened consumer base. When
this happens Uber should allocate higher fares yet at a reasonable rate to ensure the emergence of
their service will be ongoing for the present and future. (O1+W1)
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Uber should furthermore, upgrade their services with technological advancements. They should
keep up with the market or else they would end up losing their share. Of the functions they can
use to implement are increasing safety measurements and privacy security towards its customers.
These include adding a direct police emergency call button, and provide a feature that enables
the customers to obtain a guaranteed confidentiality on their provided data. (O2+W2)
Uber’s regulation should be aligned with that of taxicabs. These regulations should provide extra
assurance about protecting safety, interests and privacy of both the driver and the customers. On
the application there should be included the terms and conditions that drivers are obliged to
follow, and minimum trial period required to have these drivers become officially signed to
Uber. Also regulations should apply in a manner that the company will justify the penalty on
their drivers on any misconduct. This will increase Uber’s growth and social acceptance.
(O3+W3)
Customer feedback and reviews are vital to the company’s performance. The company should
provide incentives to their customers to provide their feedback. For instance, those customers
that make sure that the service is up to the required level and constantly provide their feedback
should be considered for promotions and free rides. They can also construct their social media
campaigns to interact with the largest number of people who are potential users, regular users
and to further reach those who are not aware of the service to collect reviews on Uber
performances. This will assist them in gaining a larger customer base along with getting
consultations and feedback from many people. This will allow them to improve their competitive
advantage (O4+W4)
Uber can motivate their drivers, by providing employee benefits, insurance coverage, monitoring
driver safety, discounts on car inspection, and providing a percent of fare. This will allow the
company to attract competent drivers from all over the world. Moreover, they will be willing to
provide best services as they already are sure that the company will reward them. Therefore, this
way Uber will be able to attract diverse numbers of drivers with different background,
demography. (O5+W5)
Uber should change their pricing method from dynamic to fixed, that according to the distance
travelled rather than the demand or more like the time consumed. This way Uber will decrease
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their threat of being replaced by their rivals, whether new entrants or already established
competitors both locally and internationally. This will furthermore, help them encourage more
customers to choose Uber over any other substitute, which will lead to better performance
appraisals of the company. Eventually this will lead to the company achieving higher
profitability. This will result in Uber having a better chance to provide tough competition due to
their unique services offered in the market. (W1+T1)
Priority should be awarded to the safety and privacy of customer’s information, that is in efforts
of avoiding losing customers. For instance, ride-sharing services have the highest background
checks. Uber needs to further comply with higher safety standards to improve the safety of
customers. This will further enhance customers’ confidence in using Uber service, which will
lead to an increased customer loyalty towards the brand. (W2+T3)
Further attention towards the welfare of the employees is needed in order to guarantee
customers’ satisfaction. Uber does not give much importance to the welfare of drivers because
they are classified as independent contractors. They can give them minimum wages per day even
when they do not receive any requests. Moreover, they should grant their drivers insurance to
give them a minimum assurance towards their safety. These proposals will further increase the
satisfaction of Uber’s drivers, which will further improve their reputation. (W5+T5)
PESTEL Analysis
PESTEL is a strategic analytical tool and an abbreviation that stands for political, economic,
social, technological, environmental and legal factors. PESTEL is a strategic tool that is used to
assess the impact of external factors on a company's business model, growth path of the
company, business case and market strategy. Uber PESTEL analysis refers to the analysis of
potential impact of these external factors in the environment in which the company operates on
the performance of Uber and its long-term development prospects.
Uber was the only ride hailing corporation, hence the governments’ policies were quite vague.
There were many inquiries directed towards Uber categorized as service, IT or taxi sector.
However, Uber was impacted by the political and legal factors as they were bombarded with
queries about who is to be accountable for accidents. Whether the Uber company or the drivers,
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as none of the drivers were employees. On the contrary they were contractors. Other questions
amongst others. Including questions regarding licensing their drivers.
The economy model of Uber relies on having shared the economy between drivers and the
company, while offering adequate employment opportunities for drivers. The pricing model and
the company overcomes the pricing issues.
Uber’s social presence is very strong, as it is a globally accepted and recognized brand. The
choice of Uber over other taxicabs because their prices are quite low in comparison to other taxi
companies. After a thorough introduction about the social presence, Ubers’ image is influenced
by the professional ethics and marketing strategies. Also the spreading of various traveling
experiences of Uber and the shared stories on social media persuaded the increased use of the
company’s services.
Technology on the other hand was of good use to a company that relies heavily on technological
advancements. This aspect had been advantageous to the company both internally and externally.
It was the good use of technological advancements that was reflected in the mobile app which
assisted Uber in being ahead over competitors, this is in regards to the internal impact. As for the
external impact, such technological advancements helped Uber in expanding its customer base.
For the initiatives of being environmentally friendly, Uber had introduced Uber pool to
encourage sharing rides and decreasing traffic jams. At the same time, under Uber green,
they started using electric cars in many countries.
Political Economical
1. The absence of regulations and legislations related to
1. A new tax law was introduced in the US that
the ride-hailing service in Egypt.
deducts 20% of the taxes for freelancers which
2. Causing political debates on the global scale in a way
made Uber more attractive to drivers.
that few companies have done.
2. Uber’s business model is based on the sharing
3. Uber has been banned in many countries due to the
economy, a concept that may change the state of
unfamiliarity with the ride-hailing services.
economies, especially in developed countries.
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3. Uber has created additional income opportunities

for many people, at the same time as taking away
jobs from local taxi drivers.
4. The negative effect of Uber has been drastic on
local taxi drivers and this was obvious as they
protested against the application and even filed a
lawsuit against the company due to the unfair
competition that Uber has created.
Social Technology
1. The increasing use of the internet and various apps for 1. Industry-specific technological innovations and
a wide range of personal and professional purposes all breakthroughs, changes in energy consumption
over the world in addition to the increased popularity practices, shifts in manufacturing maturity,
of the sharing economy. decreasing life cycle of technology.
2. Lower social classes were not aware of the idea of the 2. Uber’s objective is to convert their logistics from
application and feared the fact that they would get in 100% humane to 100% machine logistics.
the car with a stranger which was one of the
challenges that faced Uber.
3. Uber’s brand image was imaged due to corporate
scandals that have occurred in the past few years such
as discrimination, sexual harassment and other
scandals.
4. Other social factors include: demographic changes,
changes in the family values, changes in the level of
education of customers, the media perception of the
brand, changes in customer attitudes , opinions
towards ride-hailing
Legal Environmental
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1. The app was banned in Berlin in 2014. The court ‘s 1. The “natural capital” stress test found that
ruling followed heavy lobbying by the German taxi flooding in 2050 on a similar scale to the winter of
drivers’ associations that accused the start-up of not 2013/14 would affect more than twice as many
complying with the rules followed by regular German homes.
taxi drivers. 2. Air pollution is a serious environmental factor that
2. Concerning the case of Egypt, regarding Uber's can affect Uber via decreased employee
acquisition of Careem, The Egyptian Competition performance.
Authority (ECA) has approved of Uber’s merger deal 3. Neglecting the contribution to social responsibility
with Careem and their subsequent operations in the may result in damage to the brand image via
country in accordance with certain regulatory negative online and offline press coverage.
obligations.
3. The Egyptian competition authority will be
appointing a watchdog to monitor Uber’s compliance
with the regulations which would be implemented
initially for a two-year period prior to an automatic
renewal of five years.
1-Political Factors:
Factors such as government stability, bureaucracy, levels of corruption, impacts of home market
lobbying groups are from the major political factors that affect businesses in their home countries
and even on a global level when they enter new markets such as the case of Uber. In 2009 when
Uber first started operations it was the only ride-hailing app in the market and the customers
were not familiar with the idea. Accordingly, there were no regulations related to such services
and legislations related to the regulations of such services did not exist. With the appearance of
Uber as the first ride-hailing app, the following and other questions needed to be answered by
local governments and authorities:
Who is responsible in case of car accident: Uber or the driver?
Is it obligatory for Uber drivers to have taxi licenses?
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Can Uber list thousands of its drivers as contractors, but not employees?
Does Uber have to comply with minimum wage requirements?
Dealing with above and other related questions in different countries and regions have caused
charged political debates. Moreover, it can be argued that Uber has caused political debates on
the global scale in a way that few companies have done.
While some local governments have been favorable towards Uber taking into account its modern
business model, others demanded strict adherence to the rules and regulations making no
difference between Uber and regular taxi companies. As a result, Uber has been banned in a
number of countries, such as Bulgaria, Hong Kong and Germany and certain cities such as
London and Brno.
Economic Factors:
Regarding the economic factors, the range of economic factors affecting businesses is extensive,
the most vital factors include, unemployment rates, currency exchange rates, inflation rate and
macroeconomic climate. Furthermore, other economic factors that may have an effect on
businesses include cost of labor, changes in disposable income of consumers and tax rates.
For example, due to a new tax law introduced in the US in February 2018 ―freelancers and
other independent contractors will be able to deduct 20 percent of their income from their taxable
income before paying the new lower tax rates. This particular change in external economic
factors has a positive effect on Uber, because it increases the attractiveness of becoming an Uber
driver from a financial point of view.
Uber ‘s business model is based on sharing economy, a concept that may change the state of
economies, especially in developed countries. The economic impacts of the global transportation
technology company are controversial. Uber has created additional income opportunities for
many people, at the same time as taking away jobs from local taxi drivers. The negative effect of
Uber has been drastic on local taxi drivers and this was obvious as they protested against the
application and even filed a lawsuit against the company due to the unfair competition that Uber
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has created. Traditional taxi services had to cut down their rate to remain the competition. As
people would opt for cheaper products and services in the economic downturn, when it comes to
economic recession Uber does not get affected deeply as compared to other industries. The
development of Uber has been exceptionally quick even when they have had a challenge of low
prices put up by the normal taxi drivers maintaining the incredible care they provide.
Social Factors
The increasing use of the internet and various apps for a wide range of personal and professional
purposes all over the world in addition to the increased popularity of the sharing economy are
classified as the most important factors. As that positively affected the giant ride-hailing
company Uber. The Egyptian society has been acquainted with the concept of ride-hailing as
applications such as Raye7 and Kargot were introduced before Uber entered Egypt. However,
lower social classes were not aware of the idea of the application and feared the fact that they
would get in the car with a stranger which was one of the challenges that faced Uber when it first
entered the Egyptian market.
On the other hand, other social factors had adversely affected the organization, those factors
include the damage of Uber brand image due to corporate scandals that have occurred in the past
few years such as discrimination, sexual harassment and other scandals that has led to the
increase of the consumer sensitivity towards the corporate social responsibility aspect of the
business.
Other factors such as demographic changes, changes in the family values, changes in the level of
education of customers, the media perception of the brand, changes in customer attitudes,
opinions towards ride-hailing and health and welfare of the target customer segment have also
had a drastic impact on the operations of Uber both in Egypt and worldwide.
Technological factors:
Due to the fact that Uber is a global transportation technology company, Uber is widely affected
by many technological factors such as industry-specific technological innovations and
breakthroughs, changes in energy consumption practices, shifts in manufacturing maturity,
decreasing life cycle of technology.
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According to the analysis of Uber, it is clear that Uber recognizes the importance of
technological factors and commits to relevant investments in a regular manner. As previously
mentioned one of Uber’s objectives is to convert their logistics from 100% humane to 100%
machine logistics. In order to achieve this objective Uber runs Advanced Technologies Group
Centre in Pittsburgh, where the company is building autonomous cars.
Environmental factors:
A set of ecological factors can be indirectly impacting the performance of Uber, these factors
include: air pollution, global warming, thickening of ozone layer and others. Furthermore, the
effect of environmental factors on Uber performance can be direct as well in case of
environmental disasters such as earthquakes, flooding and tornados ...etc.
An example of the effect of environmental factors on performance is the “natural capital” stress
test that found that flooding in 2050 on a similar scale to the winter of 2013/14 would affect
more than twice as many homes. Such natural disasters can have negative implications for Uber
via damaging the company's properties in the UK and reducing customer purchasing power in
this important market.
Similarly, air pollution is a serious environmental factor that can affect Uber via decreased
employee performance. It has been estimated that air pollution is responsible for 656,900 sick
days a year in Central London. Employee productivity across 190 Chinese cities would rise by
about 4 per cent per year if the amount of fine-particle pollution in the air was cut to fall within
World Health Organization standards.
Any corporation the size of Uber is expected by stakeholders in general, general public and non-
governmental organizations in particular to behave in a socially responsible manner and to
illustrate commitment in dealing with a wide range of environmental issues. Neglecting this
expectation may result in damage to the brand image via negative online and offline press
coverage.
Legal Factors
Uber is directly impacted by a set of legal factors such as trade regulations, antitrust rules and
regulations, data protection regulations and others. Additionally, there is a wide range of rules
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and regulations related to employee health and safety, consumer protection laws, employment
laws, and competitive rules and regulations that need to be fully adhered by Uber. Changes in
these rules and regulations are most likely to impact Uber performance in direct and indirect
manner and in ways that are difficult to predict.
Legislators and regulators may make legal and regulatory changes, or interpret and apply
existing laws or policies, in ways that make Uber products and services less useful to its users,
require the company to incur substantial costs, expose it to unanticipated civil or criminal
liability, or cause it to change its business practices. The app has been banned in Berlin in 2014.
The court ‘s ruling followed heavy lobbying by the German taxi drivers’ associations that
accused the start-up of not complying with the rules followed by regular German taxi drivers.
In 2017 ―Uber was stripped of its London licence in a surprise move that dealt a serious blow to
one of Silicon Valley ‘s fastest rising companies and sparked an outcry from a coalition of
customers, government ministers and drivers at the ride-hailing company. The firm ‘s application
for a new licence in London was rejected by Transport for London on the basis that the company
is not a fit and proper private car hire operator.
Concerning the case of Egypt, regarding Uber's acquisition of Careem, The Egyptian
Competition Authority (ECA) has approved of Uber’s merger deal with Careem and their
subsequent operations in the country in accordance with certain regulatory obligations and
restrictions, as per ECA’s official statement. In March 2019, it was announced that Uber and
Careem have reached an agreement for Uber to acquire Careem for $3.1 billion, consisting of
$1.7 billion in convertible notes and $1.4 billion in cash.
In September, the ECA warned the ride-hailing giants of proceeding with the merge and carrying
operations in Egypt without permission, citing concerns with monopoly and protection of
competition.
“In the absence of regulations to manage the situation, completing the deal would lead to the
creation of the following damages: increased prices, low service levels, few options available to
the consumer, absence of innovation, and the possibility of damage extending to the relevant
markets,” read the recent ECA statement.
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The regulations which will need to be implemented concern various aspects of the applications’
services such as: setting a maximum surge price to not 2.5 times of the ride, a cap on the price
increases for UberX and Careem Go rides, a limit on ride reduction prices on Uber and Careem
buses, and an allocated percentage to driver recruitment among others.
Moreover, the ECA will be appointing a watchdog to monitor Uber’s compliance with the
regulations which would be implemented initially for a two-year period prior to an automatic
renewal of five years.
Porter's five forces analysis:

Uber Porter ‘s Five Forces analytical framework analyses five individual forces that shape an
overall extent of competition in the industry. The five forces are as follows:
1-Threat of new entrants
Threat of new entrants into the internet-based ride-hailing sector is significant. Nothing about
Uber's business model or its app is secret. In other words, Uber's business model and its app can
be replicated by any other company without massive amounts of capital requirements. Thanks to
internet-based nature of the business model, new entrants to the market will not have issue to
access distribution channels
Furthermore, due to low entry barriers into the ride-hailing industry, the numbers of local and
global competitors for Uber have been consistently increasing during the past few years. The
absence of switching costs from Uber to a new taxi technology company for customers further
increases the threats of new entrants.
Applying the threat of new entrants in Egypt, many new local ride-hailing startups were
launched such as Ousta, Halan, SWVL and all of those applications impose a competition threat
on Uber.
2-Bargaining power of buyers:
The bargaining power of buyers is great. Buyer bargaining power is mainly fuelled by the
abundance of competition in the industry. Uber customers are highly price sensitive. If the ride-
hailing giant decides to increase costs in its attempts to become profitable, considerable numbers
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of customers may stop using Uber services. For example, the customer has the ability to compare
the prices of different ride-hailing applications at once and request the cheapest ride, therefore,
customers have the authority to choose which application to use depending on the price and
quality of the service.
Taking into account increasing numbers and ranges of scandals Uber has been involved in during
the past few years, buyers may choose to exercise their bargaining power with negative
implications for the company. Specifically, customers may choose alternative ride-hailing
providers such as Halan or SWVL, or they can even switch back to using traditional taxis.
3-Bargaining power of suppliers:
Bargaining power of ride-hailing suppliers is extremely low. Drivers with their own cars or
rented cars are the main suppliers for Uber. There are millions of drivers who would like to drive
for Uber and the bargaining power of each supplier is low. The ride-hailing giant, Uber is known
to use its bargaining power for various reasons. For example, Uber deactivates accounts of its
drivers for receiving below-average ratings from passengers, violating the terms of Uber ‘s
Community Guidelines or cancelling too many rides, in order to preserve a certain level of
quality. Another implication is that Uber capitalizes on the low bargaining power and provides
low earnings for the drivers which has led to declining loyalty and high turnover rates.
4-Threat of substitute products or services:
The threat of substitute services for ride-hailing services is quite high. There are direct
substitutes such as traditional taxis, public transport or own transport. Indirect substitutes, on the
other hand, includes walking, instead of using any transport at all. There are no or little
additional costs for riders to switch to substitute services. Moreover, the threat of substitute
services increases, if their quality increases.
5- Rivalry among existing firms:
The degree of rivalry among existing firms in the ride-hailing industry in Egypt is quite intense.
Since the entrance of Uber to the Egyptian market in 2014, local and other global ride-hailing
competitors emerged to compete with Uber on a large scale offering the same service but with
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more competitive prices. These competitors include, Halan, Raye7, Careem, Dubci, SWVL.
However, despite the fierce competition in the market, Uber is still an undisputed leader in the
ride-hailing industry in Egypt and world-wide in terms of market valuation. Furthermore, taking
into account increasing popularity of the sharing economy and low entry barriers into the ride-
hailing industry, it can be argued that the extent of rivalry within the industry is going to further
intensify in medium and long-term perspectives.
Grand strategies and strategic position:

Cost leadership
The main strategy that Uber adopts in conducting its business operations according to the
porter’s strategies is the cost-leadership business strategy. Due to the internet-based nature of the
business model Uber gains a cost advantage. The global transportation technology company is
also attempting to increase its range of different services in order to tailor its service offerings to
suit the needs of a greater number of customers. Moreover, the first mover advantage has
resulted in a unique cost advantage for the giant ride-hailing company.
To conclude, the pillar upon which the business strategy relies is the cost-saving through
innovation, Uber enjoys the first-mover advantage in the internet-based ride-hailing sector is one
of the most important points of Uber competitive advantage. Therefore, operating at low costs
through innovation is placed at the core of Uber business strategy. Extensive user conveniences
as explained above are achieved at a low cost for the company, thanks to the app that integrates
Growth
Market penetration
Starting with market penetrations, which is selling existing products to existing markets. Uber is
actively engaging in markets using this strategy, through using many different sales promotions
on different occasions. These include distributing promo codes to grant discounts on users’ next
trip. Moreover, Uber’s VIP loyalty program rewards its riders who achieved the highest rated
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trips. Another feature that is used by Uber is the fact that they are awarded free rides when they
invite their friends to sign up and ride with Uber.
Product development
This aspect involves developing new products to sell in the existing market. Global
transportation technology companies are always providing a bigger range of services offered.
These services include Uber X, Uber XI, Uber Pool, UberGO, Uber AUTO, Uber Access, Uber
MOTO, Uber Premium and Uber Rush
Market development.
This strategy is related to the findings of new markets for existing products. Uber was launched
in 2009 in San Francisco, nowadays it operates in more than 700 cities around the world. Uber
further aspires to engage in more markets under the management of CEO Dara Khosrowshahi.
Diversification.
Being the riskiest strategy, Uber started as a taxi company shortly after it expanded into being a
takeaway food delivery company with Uber Eats. The company is still diversifying as it entered
the courier services. Uber has plans to further diversify by tapping on more segments to serve.
Acquisition
Uber has acquired Careem for $3.1 billion, Careem became a wholly owned subsidiary of Uber.
Though the brand kept its name and is still serving the Egyptian market till this day. The
management team wasn’t changed, as CEO and co-founder of Careem Mudassir Sheikha
continued to lead the business. He reports to the board which constitutes three members from
Uber and two from Careem. Both companies will operate according to the separate demand as if
they’re still independent brands. However, Uber has full control of Careem’s mobility, delivery
and payments across the Middle Eastern region. Both companies believe that this acquisition is
providing the opportunity to expand the variety and reliability of the services offered through
their applications. This will provide better economic opportunities, through having an increased
number of drivers on the road which will lead to obtaining increased profits. However, the
Egyptian government was Uber’s acquisition greatest obstacle towards closing this deal. The
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perception of the legality aspect concerned the fact that with this acquisition there will be
monopoly. That Uber will only be successful because its competitors are very low, thus acting as
a threat to new entrants. However, after thorough appraisals of the acquisition papers, they were
given the approval for the acquisition.
Turnaround strategy:
The last strategy that Uber has performed is turnaround attempts by new CEO Dara in order to
change the organizational structure from hierarchical mechanistic structure to an organic
structure with less layers of management that gives chance for horizontal communication which
would result in more effective communication between different departments and is expected to
eventually encourage long-term growth prospects. The new CEO is also trying to change the
mechanistic organizational structure of the company into a more organic learning organizational
structure by changing the leadership style from autocratic that was adopted by the former CEO
Travis into a visionary leadership style, where he listens to the different opinions of
managements and allows horizontal communication across departments so that the company can
react to this dynamic environment of today.
Company’s approach towards corporate sustainability:

After the corporate scandals that have taken place and damaged the company’s brand Egypt,
Uber is nowadays trying to adopt a more sustainable approach towards corporate practices. This
is clear as Uber started publishing a sustainability report that discloses information about the
company’s contribution to CSR and corporate governance practices.
There are many aspects of sustainability that Uber takes into consideration when it comes to
corporate sustainability such as: climate’s change, Covid-19 response, driver and delivery person
wellbeing, employee diversity, inclusion and culture, ethics and compliance, local impact,
privacy and cyber security, User safety. Each aspect is explained in the following paragraph:
Climate change:
Uber’s Board of Directors regularly receives updates on policy trends at the local, state, and
national levels concerning climate- and emissions-related developments.
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The Board or its committees also receive reports on Uber’s climate-change commitments. Uber’s
SVP of Mobility and Business Operations and the SVP of Marketing and Public Affairs share
responsibility for climate change–related issues and policies within the company. These
executives oversee the work of the Global Sustainability Policy Lead, who is responsible for
measuring Uber’s emissions footprint, evaluating potential related business and regulatory risks
(such as limits on emissions), and assessing options for emissions reduction. Uber’s executive
leadership team reviews Uber’s major climate commitments and endorses emissions-reduction
programs.
Covid-19 response:
As a response to the outbreak of the coronavirus in 2019 the company took decisive actions
focusing on employee’s safety and the customers partnering with local communities to help
contain the spread of the virus. The board of directors received updates from leadership
regarding the financial and operational impacts to the business in addition to comprehensive
reports on safety efforts around the world.
Driver and delivery person well-being:
Driver and delivery person satisfaction, retention and classification are among the issues
considered by the board when evaluating Uber’s risk management processes and when guiding
strategies and reviewing major plans of action.
Employee diversity, inclusion and culture:
Uber conducts an annual organizational review that includes succession planning and a talent
review. The compensation committee takes into consideration diversity and inclusion metrics
when developing compensation plans and includes diversity metrics in the compensation for
Uber’s most senior executives.
Ethics and compliance:
Uber tends to develop and maintain the workplace culture by incorporating the aspects of the
compliance and ethics programs into the performance evaluations of executive officers while
company culture is overseen by the compensation committee.
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Local impact:
The Board has regular discussions with senior management regarding media coverage and
regulatory, legislative, and public sentiment involving Uber.
Privacy and cybersecurity:
The chief privacy officer provides reports to the board annually and as requested from time to
time. Moreover, the board oversees the senior management’s efforts to address cybersecurity and
data privacy risks.
User safety:
Uber’s Board of Directors receives updates on user safety at least twice a year. The Board of
Directors’ Compensation Committee has tied executive compensation for our most senior
executives to the achievement of safety metrics, including reducing safety incidents and
increasing transparency and trust.
Conclusion:
To conclude, Uber is now moving towards a more organic learning organizational structure
thanks to the new CEO Dara who is trying to eliminate layers of management to promote
effective horizontal communication across departments and promote the organizational growth in
addition he is adopting a visionary leadership style in order to avoid the autocratic leadership
style adopted by the former CEO that led to the damage to the corporate image due to corporate
scandals such as the bullying, sexual harassment and discrimination.
Dara is trying to enhance Uber’s brand image through focusing on CSR and corporate
sustainability to enhance the brand’s image and allow future growth of Uber. in addition, Uber is
working towards developing its own ecosystem in order to increase customer loyalty with
positive consequences on the company’s revenues. Uber takes its first step towards developing
Uber ecosystems by the development of request API (application programming interface). The
new system is intended to give third party developers the ability to integrate their application into
Uber.
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Uber is also taking customer relationship management to the next level by offering loyalty
programs, free rides and promotion to its customers to increase their loyalty. In addition, they
take into consideration the complaints and recommendations of customers. They are trying to
enhance their services and meet the customers’ expectations. Moreover, Uber is investing in
technological advancements as they plan to shift their cars from 100% humane logistics to 100%
machine logistics, in other words, they are trying to keep up with the technological
advancements in order to respond to the constantly changing environment. With regards to their
competition, Uber is facing fierce competition on a global scale. Regarding its competition in
Egypt it has overcome this competition by acquiring its biggest rival Careem.
Recommendations and solutions:

On the basis of discussions and analysis above, the following recommendations can be
introduced to Uber in order to address the current challenges faced by the business and increase
its long-term growth prospects:
1) As a result of poor organizational culture at Uber has caused a wide range of scandals during
the past few years. Accordingly, Uber ‘s new CEO Dara Khosrowshani is recommended to
focus on improving Uber organizational culture in order to avoid such scandals in the future.
Specifically, the values of transparency, honesty and equality have to be placed at the core of
the new organizational culture.
2) It is recommended that the ride-hailing giant Uber further develop its ecosystem of products
and services in order to increase customer loyalty and long-term growth prospects of the
business. The list of potential services that Uber can diversify its business to include in its
portfolio such as hospitality, cleaning and barbershop services. It is important for Uber to
integrate its new products and services to its core service of ride-hailing and form a closed
pattern of organizational ecosystem.
3) It has been identified that one its main weaknesses associated with the brand is the low
earnings by Uber drivers. The management needs to address this weakness through
increasing financial compensation for its drivers. Uber can achieve more cooperation from
drivers and ensure the adoption of new organizational culture through increasing the earnings
52
of its drivers, and this will also help them engage their drivers and make them more loyal to
the organization. Despite the fact that the implementation of this practice is not easy,
especially nowadays during the pandemic that has affected the profitability of Uber and led
to decline of demand on the rides, this recommendation will help Uber improve its
competitiveness as the drivers are considered the technical core of Uber, they are considered
the most valuable asset the organization owns.
4) Due to the numerous corporate scandals that have been previously mentioned in the research,
Uber has to sustain considerable damages to its brand image. It is vitally important for Uber
to improve its brand image through engaging in effective corporate social responsibility
programs and initiatives, in addition the organization should release a sustainability report
annually in order to communicate the CSR programs and achievements initiated by the
company in order to enhance the company’s image in the eye of investors and global
communities as Uber has a global reach.
5) Another recommendation is to conduct interviews with the drivers before they work for
Uber, to make sure that they treat the customers well and provide them with high quality and
to avoid problems such as bullying, sexual harassment. Uber must maintain a certain level of
quality and customer service to maintain its positioning as a premium ride-hailing
application.
References:
Uber. 2021. Earn Money by Driving or Get a Ride Now | Uber United Kingdom. [online] Available at:
<https://www.uber.com/> [Accessed 25 June 2021].
Imaginewitzig.com. 2021. Uber industry analysis - the swot analysis of uber shows the strengths,
weaknesses,. [online] Available at: <https://imaginewitzig.com/swot-analysis-of-uber-technologies-inc/y-
1u-53646w-8> [Accessed 25 June 2021].
EgyptToday. 2021. Ride-hailing market revs up in Egypt. [online] Available at:

<https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/3/77540/Ride-hailing-market-revs-up-in-Egypt> [Accessed 25 June
2021].
Ahram Online. 2021. Egypt's ride-hailing market witnesses slowdown in rides amid coronavirus - Egypt -
Al-Ahram Weekly. [online] Available at:
53
<https://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/50/1201/369232/AlAhram-Weekly/Egypt/Egypts-ridehailing-
market-witnesses-slowdown-in-ri.aspx> [Accessed 25 June 2021].
CSRHub - Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsiblity (CSR) ratings on over 46,632 of the world’s
largest public and private companies. 2021. CSR information for Uber. [online] Available at:
<https://www.csrhub.com/CSR_and_sustainability_information/Uber> [Accessed 25 June 2021].
Corporate Board Member. 2021. Corporate Governance: Lessons Learned From Uber's Board -
Corporate Board Member. [online] Available at: <https://boardmember.com/corporate-governance-
lessons-learned-ubers-board/> [Accessed 25 June 2021].
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Uber Strategic Management Final Final

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UBER STRATEGIC

• Founders: Travis Kalanick and Garre Camp.

• Company Headquarters: San Francisco, California, United States.

• Funding received by Uber: $22.2 Billion. (as of December 2017).

• Company Valuation: Over $70 Billion.

• Number of Users: More than 50 Million.

• Number of registered drivers: Approximately 7 Million (as of November 2017).

• Average number of daily Uber Trips: 1 Million

Contribution to the society (CSR):

Direct competitors Indirect competitors

Careem Public transport

Mission and Vision:

Policies as well opinions

Mr. Sundeep Jain Chief Product Officer N/A N/A N/A

C. Ethics and Conflicts of Interest

D. Annual Meeting Attendance

All directors are expected to attend the Company’s annual meeting of

Resource based view analysis:

Another resources and capabilities include:

Value chain analysis

Uber Inbound logistics

Uber Outbound Logistics

Uber Marketing and Sales

UberGO ride in a hatchback

Uber-MOTO Booking bike rides around the city

Uber a fleet of stylish vehicles to choose from. Uber Premium comprises

UberRUSH Courier Package Service

UberEATS allows customers to order food on the go

Generally, Uber pricing strategy integrates the following principles:

Procurement Activities at Uber Uber's

 World-renowned brand  Higher costs relative to local

 Introduce courier services  Decrease in sales due to pandemic

4. Cashless payment system 4. Violating federal law for commercial calls

Moreover, Uber is a cashless service which is considered to be a systematic way compared to

3. Uber has created additional income opportunities

Who is responsible in case of car accident: Uber or the driver?

Is it obligatory for Uber drivers to have taxi licenses?

Does Uber have to comply with minimum wage requirements?

Porter's five forces analysis:

1-Threat of new entrants

2-Bargaining power of buyers:

3-Bargaining power of suppliers:

4-Threat of substitute products or services:

5- Rivalry among existing firms:

Grand strategies and strategic position:

Company’s approach towards corporate sustainability:

Driver and delivery person well-being:

Employee diversity, inclusion and culture:

Ethics and compliance:

Privacy and cybersecurity:

Recommendations and solutions:

EgyptToday. 2021. Ride-hailing market revs up in Egypt. [online] Available at:

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