Reference no: EM132271077

Uber’s innovative platform for ride-hailing services in the ground transportation market has revolutionized how travelers get around town. Since launched in 2010, Uber has rose to the top with a total valuation of $68 billion. They exist to provide “transportation as reliable as running water” (Hum, 2018). The use of the mobile application-based service allows users to create an account with Uber, where the can save payment information, upload a photo (if desired), etc. Since the Uber is application-based, both users and drivers can track one another through their cell phone’s GPS after the driver accepts the riders ride request.

Additionally, both parties have access to phone numbers, which Uber assigns a phone number to the driver while working, in order to protect their privacy, allowing each party to communicate prior to the pick-up happening at either the users designated location or one of the communities designated Uber pick-up locations, which are designed to aid the streamlining of transportation in the area.

Uber markets through various mediums such as social media, television shows, movies, as well as joint ventures with credit card companies like American Express. However, none serve more successful than good old-fashioned word of mouth, which is how I first heard about Uber.

Financially, Uber is just about breaking even, if not in the negative thanks to “Uber’s more expensive, trouble-prone projects. Specifically, the company’s beleaguered self-driving car operation is said to be losing as much as $200 million a quarter” (Hawkins, 2018), which is just another innovated method the company is investing in to impact the ground transportation market. The company builds revenue by deducting a rider fee of $1.65 and then 25 percent of the total fare at the completion of each ride—leaving the driver earning 85 percent of the fare. Lastly, what I believe to be Uber’s wisest business decision, which saves them billions of dollars in overhead is the simple decision to leave drivers responsible for the primary and most expensive asset, the vehicles.

Question: Provide feedback to the post above description of the chosen company. Use citations and references as applicable to display research and scholarship.