Can Uber overcome the challenges from foreign governments?

Should it try to collaborate with these

foreign governments? If so, how? What are the pros and cons of doing so?

Uber is facing stringent regulatory issues in foreign Markets which is leading to stifle participation
and significant reduction in customer engage especially in European and Chinese market. Due to
heavily regulated markets in Europe and the strong presence of trade unions, Uber did not grow
there as quickly as it did in the U.S . Protests against the ridesharing service were staged across
Europe and Uber’s budget service, UberX, was banned in most of Western Europe as a result.
In China Meanwhile, Uber’s operation in Hong Kong was facing charges of providing illegal private
rides.
Validation by External Institutions

In order to succeed in such foreign markets where regulations are raising barriers to entry uber needs
to collaborate with foreign governments. A government certification would help in generating trust
among potential customers. For a firm like Uber, whose business model is based on matching model
and crowd-based transportation platform, one of the key drivers is development of trust among the
users. Regulatory approval could work as an effective signal of trust and safety to end users which
would also help to deal with trade union protest in European market, where such unions have
significant hold.

Con
Obtaining government licensing and certification could become challenging as well as an expensive
endeavour. Foreign governments might levy extra charges, tariffs and restrictions on licensing for
uber drivers in order to provide advantage to local players(GetTaxi in Europe, Did Dache in China
and Ola in India). Such expenses might led to uber driving prices and lose business to local
competition.

Leveraging Digitized Social Capital

Familiarity is a cumulative process, something that builds over time. Therefore, trust increases with
every positive experience. When the experiences of users get digitized and made publicly available
through digital social media platforms, peoples’ ability to trust uber might get enhanced because, in a
sense, we can learn from the experiences of others who have interacted with them. Currently, Uber’s
ride rating- system by uber is trying to achieve. For Instance, WeChat, a popular messaging app, used
by Didi Kuaidi receives greater number of bookings per day. Uber can also collaborate with popular
platforms to enhance their bookings.

Cons
Although leveraging digital landscape to make users broadcast their ride experience might develop
trust among other people but it also runs a risk of negative publicity by customers which would hinder
Uber’s image and perception among customers, leading to cascading effects on business.
The sharing economy is gaining ground, fundamentally altering how people own and consume.
Network technologies, social and collaborative software and the changing habits of consumers are all
abetting this growing movement. While the shift toward more sustainable modes of consumption
represents a major threat to a number of established business models and revenue streams, it also
offers several potentially profitable paths by which companies can benefit.