UBER: The State of Autonomous Transport- A Management and Operations Perspective

UBER: The State of Autonomous Transport- A Management and Operations Perspective

Introduction

Previously known as UberCab, founded back in 2009, the company initially started its business by availing traditional taxi by digital methods. This created an ongoing phenomenon which sparked the cab market dynamically while sharing a continuous growth in the economy. With innovations and ideas in the business operations, the company seeks its way to sustain its standards. The brand now operates in more than 69 countries while generating a value of 14.1 billion US dollars as its revenue (uber.com, 2019).

Sharing a vast culture of multidimensional aspects, management and operations often deal with planning, strategizing, production, and manufacturing in accordance with managerial and leadership traits. While delivering responsiveness and efficient working culture along with long term sustainability within the organisational structure, management and operations concerns with the various duties are denoted in this study. It also covers the roles and responsibilities of a leader and a manager respectively along with an approach to various models used in business perspective are shared with great importance.

LO1

P1 Define and compare the different roles and characteristics of a leader and a manager.

Differentiation

Leader and Leadership

The ability to lead people along with motivation and encouragement that tends the employees to move in the direction of the shared vision of the company. This brings a positive impact within the organisational structure along with defining the working culture. Leadership traits also help in communicating within the workforce to increase productivity and bring diversity. Based on the art of motivation in achieving common goals leadership qualities are helped with proper communication and engagement with the employees (Qureshi, 2020). Defining the act leadership traits involves critical thinking and the knowledge of using the best available resources.

Manager and Management

A manager is often referred to as an individual that helps in bringing change within an organisation by taking responsibility of deciding and leading the various functions and departments involved along with the workforce. Assigned as a higher position, an individual is also responsible for the implementation of success (Lucia, 2018). Managerial culture is often referredto the skills that contribute to rationality and control which energises in resolving the problems based on seeking the organisational objectives. The necessity to overcome the objectives are born out of managers which are deeply embedded in the culture of the organisation. The ability to strengthen the structure comes from establishing strategies which are often decided by the managers while bringing possible changes. While most of the functions of the manager involved in the process of management which are discussed below in their roles and responsibilities. Often referred to a systematic process, there are different levels of management which are concerned with increased productivity while having a common goal.

Roles and characteristics

Leader

One of the major characteristics as a leader is a personal quality that tends in self willingness for people to follow which comes from influence and attitude of an individual. Making apart from others within the workforce, a leader can be anybody that has the support of the people concerned within the organisation.The ability to change in respect to the organisational goals in different circumstances, a leader fills in theroles stated bellow.

• Setting short term goals that help in persuading the employees to work with zeal and increased self-continence (Lehmann-Willenbrock et al., 2018).

• Shaping the organisation through assigning the roles and responsibilities of individuals as per their capabilities while supporting in achieving the goals.

• Reflection of new ideas is to be inherited by the leaders that rely on taking initiatives in the mattes of fulfilling the objectives.

• Providing direction as well as motivation is one of the main attributes of a leader that also helps in cultivating confidence within the workforce with increased productivity.

Manager

Building mutual trust within the working culture is one of the main attributes of a manager while producing responsive ways to reach the milestones with a proper approach in measuring the risks involved. Focusing on the employee strengths and placing the working atmosphere accordingly along with bringing improvements through training programs are overviewed by managers which also increases employee retention. While the major roles of a manager are stated below to provide a greater understanding.

• Mapping out to reach the organisational goals, one f the main functions of the managers involve planning. Usually, the steps involve advertising, promotion, sales staff and inventory which are executed with proper approach and time management (??????, 2020).

• In order to succeed, the manager needs to organise teams that can exhibit effectiveness along with having the authority to input elements in accomplishing the goals.

• Areas of improvements which involves motivating, guiding, encouraging, and communicating while aligning with the human resource department in staffing are well attributed in the functions of a manager

The General manager of Uber UK, Melinda Roylett is responsible for fulfilling the organisational objectives of the company. While increased growth of the company that covers more than 40 towns across the country, the managers seek in increased market penetration that is well figured out in numbers. The managers serve as a role model within the company along that seeks leadership qualities. Prioritising the safety of the drivers operating across the country, the managers have come out with new measures.

LO2

P2 Examine examples of how the role of a leader and the function of a manager apply in different situational contexts.

Stable Situation

In the case of a stable situation, the leaders develop a bias on its employees that are more compassionate and empathic. Leaders help in creating a sensibility of trust within the working culture while depending more upon their shoulders in terms of increasing sales and productivity (Fordet al., 2017). The managers often oversee the effectiveness of the workforce and allow transparency by acknowledging interpersonal skills.In Uber, at stable situations both the managers and leaders highly rely upon its workforce while acknowledging an initial change in accordance with theirdecision-making capabilities.

Slow to Moderate Situation

At the time of slow to a moderate situation, the company seeks a proper approach in conducting a market survey to find the gaps and challenges of the company. In addition to it, bringing effectiveness for stabilising the economy, the leaders and managers in Uber need to motivate and encourage the employees. A further concern in acknowledging the difficulties faced by the employees in seeking increased sales at the time of providing services is to be resolved with a proper approach.

Fast Changing

Acknowledging new trends by the employees in order to increase organisational revenue, the mangers in Uber needs to provide training programs and workshops in order to enhance productivity. This will also help in seeking increased knowledge about the organisational structure along with gaining increased customerexpectancy. While the leaders take the initiative to meet the objectives along with ensuring the day to day impact on the employees.

P3 Apply different theories and models of approach, including situational leadership, systems leadership and contingency.

The various theories involved in the organisation that seeks improvement and development are discussed below.

Hersey and Blanchard Situational Model

Broken down into four primary leadership styles, situational leadership seeks the best suited strategy that is based on the situations. This leadership style seeks adaptability as per the nature of the job and other factors contributing to getting the job done accordingly (Ghazzawiet al., 2017).

Figure 1: Situational Model

(Source: Ghazzawi et al., 2017)

• Directing (S1): In this style, the leader directs its employees in stating the various ways and methods in accessing the assigned task at hand.

• Coaching (S2): This involves accessing the various ideas back and forth in providing a particular message to its employees within an organisation.

• Supporting (S3): In this leadership style, contribution in supporting the fellow employees while having a concern in making them more active along with bringing improvements through implementing new innovations and taking decisions.

• Delegating (S4): This style helps the leaders to acknowledge trust within the employees along with enabling the employees to take discissions and responsibilities by their own in completing the assigned task

While adaptability, coaching, directing, participation, clear vision is closely related to this leadership quality as the key factors.

Fiedler’s Contingency Theory

The leadership traits are usually based on three situational variables which are further discussed below.

Leader-member Relations: This helps in measuring the trust the employees possess on their leaders while grater trust increases the favourableness and lesser trust reduces it.

Task Structure: This helps in measuring the assigned structure the employees need to perform while making clear of the facts in increasing productivity (Suharyanto and Lestari, 2020).

Position Power: The power to reward or punish the fellow teammates comes under this situational variable.

System Leadership

Developed to meet the potential in increasing productivity at all levels of the organisation, system leadership works on using sound principles in creating good leadership, system design, social process,and organisational strategy.Capability to change the process and bring system change,enablesupport, and catalyse the effects are referred to as the key factors of system leadership. The collaboration of leadership skills between the system and the community is one of the greatest traits of this style of leadership (Ramosaj, 2014).

The major changes that can bring to Uber in terms of the following aspects are stated below in context to the overall leadership qualities.

Major Product/Service Launch

Based on the market share of the Uber, the company still rises in the field of transportation along with varying delivery systems that deliver foods, couriers, and packages. With the help of situational leadership traits and that of Contingency theory, he company will increase its focus on the feedbacks of the customers and allow its organisational structure to rectify the matters as soon as possible along with help helping its workforce to motivate and encourage in taking more concern on the operations.

Conflict management

Areas of improvement that helps in building a long lasting relationship with its loyal customers can be recognised while implementing system leadership which will further impart support to its employees and building trust (Kay and Skarlicki, 2020).Enabling support in capturing new adaptations helps in bringing systematic change along with increased recognition in strategising positive impact. This also helps in handling the initial changes that exhibit continuous avoidance while helping in collaborating with different functions of the organisation in bringing diversity. Attending community growth and sustainability are also one of the main concerns for both the leaders and managers of the company. Assuming complete cooperation in all the departments are can be maintained while implementing system leadership in accordance with conflict management.

LO3

P4 Explain the key approaches to operations management and the role that leaders and managers play.

Total quality management

TQM is denoted as anorganisationalapproach for supporting sustainability through the mode of customer satisfaction, constituting of various members in improving products, culture, process, and services. It is based on eight principles namely, customer focused, employee involvement, process-centred, integrated system, strategic and systematic approach, continual improvement, decision making and communications (Pambreni et al., 2019).

Role of a leader

Taking advantages of its principles, a leader can exhibit traits based on the quality of the employees while continuously monitoring the different variations of each individual.On the other hand, providing a strategic approach in the direction of the shared vision of the company.

Role of a manager

Managers can bring upmost concern in resolving the challenges faced by the employees by providing training to achieve increased customer retention along with involving greater workforce towards a common goal.

Six Sigma

It is denoted as a method that provides organisational tools need in improving the business process while providing support in the enhancing process control and reducing processvariation (Antonyet al., 2017).However, lean drives out non value-addedprocess while providing standards of the concerned work and maintaining the workflow.

Role of a leader

As Uber adopts Lean Six Sigma, leaders can channelise the entire organisation while help in improving the process. This will also help in cutting cost on all the projects along with supporting huge revenue for the company.

Role of a manager

Managers can identify the opportunities in bringing cost effective measures in the process along with gaining the use of resources needed in different levels of the department within the organisation. Extraordinary participation in rewarding the engaged employees will also help in bringing motivation and improve employee retention.

Kaizen

The Japanese term for Kaizen that is denoted as “change for the better” is a management strategy that helps in continuous improvement involving the organisational functions and all the employees.Encompassed with a vast range of ideas, it helps in increasing efficiency in the team performance, employee engagement and job satisfaction (Carnerudet al., 2018).

Role of a leader

Responsible for the group of the employees, leaders in Uber can help in identifying the quality improvements along with having a concern in the total waste within the organisation while eliminating it with the best suited strategy.

Role of a manager

Responsible in taking initiatives in the operating process, managers can help the employees by providing time in improving along with coaching throughout the process. The manager can also take emergency measures while creating a safe and secure working environment.

P5 Explain the importance and value of operations management in achieving business objectives.

Operations Management

It is chiefly concerned involving planning, supervising, organising, manufacturingandprovision of the products and services within the organisation (Ivanovet al., 2017). Mainly subjected to business practices in creating efficiency at the highest level for maximising the profits are known as operations management.Cost effective measures in attempting the highest net profits are one of the main attributes of the operations management (Reid et al., 2019).

Process Design

The means of achieving the goals of the concerned company by the act of transforming the vision and resources into discernible and measurable means are referred to as process design.Usually starting with the process analysis by recognising redundancies, areas of risks and inefficiencies along with implementing KPI’s are often the defined path of operations management. In Uber, the process is designed in a way to recognise the safety of the employers along with gaining increased brand value.

Capacity management

Capacity management is denoted as the act of the maximising business by ensuring its potential activities and production output all the time under all circumstances. In simple words, measuring the capacity to achieve, sell and produce business within a particular time period is known as capacity management (Csilla, 2019). The mode of constantly meeting the expectations along with taking cost cutting measures is one of the attributes of this management. Exhibiting poor capacity management, companies can fail in gaining increased revenues and decreased marketvalues. Operating to more than 40 towns, Uber serves its customers around 5 million riders which ensures the potentiality ofcapacitymanagement.

Enhancing product/service quality

The very company seeks to enhance its products and services in order to increase sales while achieving growth and sustainability. Focused mainly on the expectancy of the customers, companies are usually embedded in providing the best quality products and services while accessing cost effective measures and increased revenue.Uber has been continuously producing new strategies in order to meet customer expectancy like app enabled transactions and sharing telephone contacts to various people while having rides.

Profitability

The measurement of accessing effectiveness within the organisation is referred to as profitability. Based on the success of the company the ability to transform the investment in higher market values is one of the aspects of profitability. The organisational structure of Uber seeks a well-defined path that helps in support maximum profitability which further supports customer expectancy while using its available resources accordingly.

LO4

P6 Assess the factors within the business environment that impact operational management and decision- making by leaders and managers

Corporate Social Responsibility

Leaders can enhance the working culture of Uber that can benefit the company by having motivated employees within the company. Along with measuring the performance of the employees in terms of ethical behavioural attributes. In addition to it, the managers can help in defining the economic conditions of the community by providing increased amounts of employment and medical cares. Use of natural resources is required by the company to seek sustainability exhibiting increased responsibility towardsdeclining pollution and eliminating carbon footprints (Yusliza et al., 2019).

Values

Being a customer eccentric brand and high-performance driven organisation believing in providing affordable services within the country, Uber values its customers like none other. Making its priority in meeting customer expectancy, managers can help its employeesin seeking the shared values by providing training while the leaders can make a fruitful approach in making an effective approach in inheriting the qualities (Bergeret al., 2018).

Ethics

Ethical business handling is closely related to CSR of the concerned company that impacts on the organisational profits in terms of behavioural attributes to its employees, the interest of the stockholders and the environment of the company. Therefore, the leaders of Uber need to promote awareness in acknowledging the interest of the stakeholders along with encouraging sustainable development. While the mangers can ensure the organisational policies are being followed ethically in all levels of the hierarchy along with maintaining the code of conduct in doing further business (Thelen, 2018).

Conclusion

This study reflects the organisationbackground of Uber in response to its operational function making its one of the most recognised brands in the world of transportation. While it also concludes the various aspect of leadership traits and managerial qualities along with strategising the various aspect of management and leadership models to convey a vast understanding of the subject matter. Trustworthy journals and websites are taken for the research to gain evident knowledge about the subject.Greater understanding is further denoted by exercising the roles and responsibilities of leaders and managers within the concerned organisation depicting its strategic plan in achieving greater market penetration and business gains.

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