Uber Technologies is a tech firm that has been in the industry for over 10 years. Uber is financially stable. Uber has had a substantial increase in its annual revenue over the 10 years. In 2016 their annual revenue was 3.85 billion dollars and in 2018 their annual revenue shits up to 11.27 billion dollars. The same impact can be viewed on their revenue growth. In 2016 the firm had a growth of 92%, in 2017 the growth increased to 106.29%. This year’s growth in the first quarter has increased by 42.08%. Even though the revenue growth is lower percentage-wise compared to previous years, the revenue has continued to rise. Uber's market capital has also not had any big fluctuations in price. The company’s stock price has also been on a rise, the stock price is 45.13 dollars up and the company’s annual total trips have also increased from 1.8 billion in 2016 to 5.2 billion this year.
Uber is doing its best at helping the environment. They introduced uber pool allowing customers to drive to destinations together or even in the same car reducing air pollution. In London, most uber x vehicles are hybrids or electric cars which are eco-friendly. The company plans to help all uber drivers upgrade all their cars to electric by 2025 in London providing London with a cleaner environment. The same goes for other cities around the world such as Paris and Lisbon where uber is trying to work on a go green initiative. The uber pool project is successful where it is available, and more people are sharing more rides thus reducing the carbon footprint.
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From the “uber vs car ownership” report we learn that car owners are using Uber as a means to travel reducing their carbon footprint by using their cars less due to increased fuel prices and also putting less wear on their car reducing their maintenance expenses, this helps the environment by putting one less car on the road. Uber drivers as stated in the guardian paper have newer cars as they are trying to provide the best service possible and at the end of the day they have to pay for the fuel themselves, this release fewer fumes compared to an older car which has older parts that are broken releasing more fumes into the atmosphere. Thus, having a newer vehicle is more beneficial than having an older one. This clearly states uber is respecting its Physical environment.
Some uber services are good but some services are poor. Uber carpool is a great service as it provides customers a chance to enjoy and experience well-maintained cars that are driven by professional drivers. The uber driver rating service is also a great add-in as it provides the customer the chance to rate their experience with the Uber driver. If the driver is unprofessional then the consistently low ratings by the customers are enough for uber to fire that driver out of the company. In cities like Los Angeles and New York, a bad rating can get a driver fired immediately. Uber tries their best to provide customers with the best services possible. This can also backfire sometimes as a lot of customers fall under a guilt trip to give an unprofessional driver a 5-star rating just so that uber drivers don’t get fired. Once fired from the platform they will not be able to make money. It is easy for customers to give false ratings making other customers suffer the same fate. Due to this Uber decided to release “unambiguously private feedback”. 15% of customers gave a negative review in private their fore allowing customers to express how they feel by not getting guilty about it; this increased their service standards.
Uber eats has been one of the uber technologies' poor services. In London uber eats has been providing its customers with a list of restaurants with low health scores. In 2018 the food delivery platform provided its customers with 9 restaurants to order from with a rating of 0. This rating was awarded by the U.K food standards agency as they fell short in hygiene handling of food, cleanliness of the restaurants including their sinks, and pest control. All these ratings have been gathered by the FSA website as uber eats did not provide these ratings on their app. This was a very poor service provided to customers, who have trusted uber services in the past to be the best. Uber eats has since not recovered fully as there are too many customer complaints of their food being cold and late all the time. This is one of the uber technologies' poor services. In countries like India and the united states recently uber eats is rated 1 star out of 5 with thousands of poor reviews. The service is getting worse as drivers have ratings lower than 3 stars and are still allowed to deliver food.
Over the past years, there are several cases that demonstrate how Uber technologies mistreat human stakeholders. Information on the EEOC website shows that in April 2018, 103 uber drivers were arrested on charges of sexual assault on passengers during this period uber required victims to have confidentiality agreements in order to settle these claims, this did not permit them to speak publicly about their abuse. The new CEO of the company Dara Khosrowshahi came up with new safety measures that allowed the victims to settle their claims through mediation in public or in private through arbitration depending on what they preferred. This gave the victims a chance to choose their outcomes. Secondly, the victims could settle their cases with the company without being in a confidentiality agreement, giving them the freedom to speak freely about what happened to them. Lastly, Uber technologies decided they will release a transparency document that will include data on sexual assaults and other problems that have occurred on the Uber platform. Releasing this document will hurt their brand image in the long run.
In 2016, Uber has also been claimed to have paid some of its employees below minimum wage payments. These drivers had claimed to have worked more than 70 hours a week to make basic money. This claim led to 83 drivers reporting they took less than national living wage home after paying costs off. Uber was asked to change this “sweating labor wages” before renewing their licenses in 2017. Since 2011 Uber has made pay-outs that total around $7.5 million to FCRA employment settlements. Uber also had an issue dealing with a racist tweet posted replying to their customer's complaint, this involved the official uber Twitter handle replying inappropriately and being racist towards a driver. Uber recently paid off another settlement claim that cost them $20 million. Uber has had to invest a lot of money in the past years to settle all their claims as they try their best to keep their public image up to par. Uber has attempted to help its stakeholders recover from sexual abuse and harassment cases by paying their claims but not being able to stop it from happening makes it seem that the customers are not being treated with dignity and compassion.
The company has also been conscious of the communities around it. The company has always tried to help the communities grow. Uber has a program called “The uber community impact initiative”. They have partnered with Mary’s place (homeless shelter) and donated free rides to the shelter. These rides make their lives easier for example a mother of 3 at Mary’s place does not have to worry anymore about how her kids will get to school every day. Uber supports this family by dropping the kids off at school reducing the number of obstacles they face. As stated on the uber-blog platform “Uber NW Community Impact Initiative will contribute over $450,000 in financial assistance and rides to 30+ non-profits across the Northwest region” (uber-blog, 2017, para.2)
Uber allows local community centers to train drivers using their technology program and it promotes a scholarship program allowing drivers who want to further their education by providing that opportunity. Uber has been trying to increase the number of female drivers in their workforce and therefore it has been working with female advocacy groups to increase female uber driver percentage ratings higher, which stand at around 20% right now. Uber also works with public transit authorities to improve their service to allow people to use more public transit and fewer cars. In the long run uber explains a good public transit system is good for them. Most of their clients also use public transit to move around. For example, as phrased on the Washington technology site “often, they’ll combine a bus and Uber ride in the same trip and will take a bus, for example, to a dinner but then rely on Uber for the late ride home.” That makes traveling more efficient plus reducing the carbon footprint created by cars. This also reduces the pollution effects providing communities with a cheaper and more efficient way to travel around.
Uber has also released a video on sexual assault increasing awareness between riders and drivers that explains the steps and measures the company has taken by working with No More, they are an organization that increases awareness and are dedicated to ending domestic violence and sexual assault. Since this initiative started uber sexual assault cases have been plummeting. This awareness that has been created has provided a safe space for communities to thrive and grow.
In conclusion Uber has been having issues with paying their workers minimum wage in some areas such as Washington and sexual assault has been a major issue that the companies image continues to face. Uber has tried to support and increase awareness where it is necessary. Uber has improved its services by adding other features such as tipping the driver which allows drivers to make some extra money on the side with what they get paid for the trip. Uber has been able to pay claims and pay for repercussions that were caused by their services. Uber has tried establishing new money routes through uber eats which has been less successful compared to the uber taxi platform. Uber has become more socially responsible. Even though they have lost a lot of money to claims. They have been able to uphold their image this far. Uber has made mistakes in the past, but they have been able to stay socially responsible towards their customers and the community by supporting them and providing help when needed giving them the chance to thrive in today’s world.
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