Uber Case Study

1. Describe how Travis Kalanick's leadership style may have negatively impacted

Uber's corporate culture.

Uber and Travis Kalanick has been criticized for an aggressive / toxic corporate culture.
Kalanick was well known for his aggressive strategies that began trickling down to employees.
Many started to question how Kalanick’s temperament could impact his leadership after several
negative events within the company. An example of Travis’s behavior was when he had raised
his voice talking with a driver that was recorded and released to the public. This was known to be
regular behavior from Kalanick.

2.  Would you characterize Travis Kalanick as an ethical leader, an apathetic leader or an
unethical leader?  Support your answer with facts from the case.

I would characterize Travis Kalanick as an unethical leader. Uber hurts other taxi businesses and
has an unfair advantage as Uber drivers are not subject to the same restrictions as licensed taxi
drivers. The fact that Travis Kalanick structured a business to avoid many of these regulations in
its self-shows how unethical he is as a leader. Uber hurts businesses and has an unfair advantage
as Uber drivers are not subject to the same restrictions as licensed taxi drivers. Cities have taken
action against Uber due to Travis’s unethical business practices by blocking ordinances and
issuing cease-and-desist orders. Uber does not need to pay for expensive licensing fees, nor
follow the same standards as taxis. Along with so much public backlash and his aggressive and
toxic leadership style, he is defiantly an unethical leader.

3.  Which of the six leadership styles do you think would benefit Uber the most knowing their
challenges, risks and expansion opportunities?

Out of the six leadership style I believe that the coaching leadership style would most benefit Uber
knowing the ethical challenges they currently face in order correct and expand their business. I believe
that this would be the best style to recover the company since there has been such a toxic company culture
spread from the top down and to correct this unethical culture staff will need to train / develop staff.
Leadership would need to bring a positive climate training environment by responsibly and skillfully
issuing some of these challenging assignments in the near future of improving the ethical practices of
their company. There is a lot to correct and it will take time a positive training with support.

Uber’s dual business model delivers value to both

drivers and passengers alike by catering to each group’s
unique incentives in constructing a symbiosis between
the two. Thinking of drivers as the “other customer” and
not merely a resource deployed in providing a service to
the end user has enabled Uber to cultivate a higher-
quality workforce, resulting in both lower employee
churn and increased customer satisfaction. Not only do
Uber drivers’ hourly wages exceed those of taxi drivers,
but Uber’s employees are saved the downtime and
inconvenience associated with procuring a hackney
carriage license and renting a vehicle from a cab
company. From a fiduciary standpoint, paying drivers an
80% commission on their fares as opposed to an hourly
wage more accurately ties revenues to local market
share and unlocks increased analytical capability.
Furthermore, having drivers use their own cars allows
Uber to boost bottom line profits by saving both the
capital expenditure required to invest in a fleet of
company-owned vehicles as well as the operating
expenses associated with insurance and repair costs.
These operational decisions are directly in line with
Uber’s business model aimed at converting driver
satisfaction to customer satisfaction through industry-
competitive employee incentives and innovative
business practices.