Uber: Changing the Way the Word Moves Case

Do you agree or disagree with Uber's surge pricing policy? What are the reasons it can be perceived as unfair? What does it mean to say that a pricing policy is exploitative? What are the risks of the policy to Uber? Given these risks, should Uber modify its policy? Defend your answer.

Surge pricing policy is that Uber would charge customer from 1.5x to 7x of normal prices due to rush hour, bad weather, or especial occasions (Moon, 2015) Surge pricing business model is not new concept but is used traditionally to built profits. Bad publicity and criticism can create negative image through several incidents like the one where uber customer was charged a lot (7x normal rate) compared to normal rate during extreme weather conditions. However Uber is trying to fight back on criticism by working on various factors. For example it started to give clear transparency on total cost of ride before taking or ordering ride. So customer is not blind-sided and shocked after ride ends. Secondly it announced that it will not exceed 2.8x its normal rates during future state of emergency.

2) Uber is notoriously aggressive in its business tactics. It frequently operates without getting regulatory approval and it often ignores legal concerns; as a consequence, the company has become a lightning rod for criticism. Do you agree with Uber's aggressive tactics? Is there a more diplomatic way for Uber to conduct its business? Should Uber be taking more of a "tiptoe" approach when it enters new markets?

Ride-sharing companies continue to grow and with emergence of new technology matching services, people have started to adapt it. But it also raises concerns like safety, regulations compared to taxis, liability and support. Uber and Lyft are constantly coming up with new ideas on dealing with these issues but on the other hand, each state is also trying to adapt and evolve in order to fit this new innovative service model into their markets.

Most laws and regulations have been created before even software technologies even existed and business models that are centered around technology is quite unprecedented for regulators and will take some time to get use to it. Uber is also praised for its success and most people like their service too but let us not forget that it also has aggressive marketing tactics and attitude to in market. Definitely not a tip-toe approach but diplomatic way of adapting this new ride-sharing model into today’s techonological savvy market.

3) Uber has become enormously popular among consumers in a very short period of time. How has the company accomplished this?

Uber and similar companies use technology like smartphones, GPS, electronic payment system, identification and feedback mechanisms to give access to anyone who wants to use their cars to offer taxi-like services. With the use of matchmaking app on smart