1- The company Overview

- Uber Technologies Inc. is a transportation network company (TNC) headquartered in

San Francisco, California. Uber offers services including peer-to-peer ridesharing, ride

service hailing, food delivery, and a bicycle-sharing system.

- The company has operations in 785 metropolitan areas worldwide. Its platforms can be

accessed via its websites and mobile apps.

- Uber has been so prominent in the sharing economy that the changes in industries as a

result of it have been referred to as uberisation, and many startups have described their

products as "Uber for X".Uber is estimated to have 110 million worldwide users and a

69.0% market share in the United States.

- Uber is a gold member of the Linux Foundation and has a five star privacy rating from

the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

- For riders - Uber is a convenient, inexpensive and safe taxi service. Hire a private driver

to pick you up & take you to your destination with the tap of a button on any

smartphone device. A nearby driver often arrives to pick you up within minutes. Not

only is this an on-demand car service, but you can even watch as your driver is en-route

to come pick you up.

- For drivers - Uber provides exceptional pay, allows you to be your own boss, and even

receive tips. Take on fares whenever you wish (work as much or as little as you desire)

while meeting new people in your city from all walks of life.

- Uber is much more than a catchy name, Uber has managed to capture its share of the
market through a great app, excellent social media marketing, and aggressive courting
of drivers. The background technology is remarkable, connecting riders and drivers
with a smooth interface that rarely reports errors.

- Uber has also been criticized for allegedly questionable tactics in trying to woo drivers
away from Lyft, its major competitor.
2. Uber features
a- click hailing –pick up here in 5 mins.
b- Fast response time – easier than calling.
c- Luxury drivers –rate your trip.
d- High tech solution: GEO- aware auto dispatch.
e- Optimized fleet –Logistical LBS software.
Uber has recently taken initiatives to increase safety on the app, announcing
new features like Trusted Contacts, which allows users to share their ride
details with up to five friends or family members.

3. The places where Uber is banned

a- London
London is the most high-profile city to ban Uber so far. A decision was
made by Transfer for London not to renew the ride-hailing company's
operating license. Transfer for London cited several areas of concern when
defending its decision. Among the reasons was Ubers's approach to
reporting criminal offenses and the way it carries out background checks
on drivers. Uber has been vocal about its wish to appease London officials
and stay operating on the city's streets. Mayor Sadiq Khan has said that he
is open to keeping the dialogue going about potentially resolving the
situation

b- The Northern Territory of Australia

While it's true that Uber operates across Australia, there is one exception.
Uber was banned from the Northern Territory of Australia after refusing to
pay a steep licensing fee for each car. The region's government was
demanding that Uber pay $300 per vehicle. Uber made the decision to pull
out of the region rather than comply. Plans are currently in motion to
restore Uber service in the region soon.
c- Denmark
Uber was forced to withdraw from Denmark after heavy regulations left
the company unable to operate successfully. Denmark began requiring fare
meters and occupancy sensors to be mandatory in all cars providing taxi
services back in 2017. Uber is currently working on making a comeback in
Denmark and begin serving its 300,000 Danish customers once again.

d-The United States

It may come as a surprise to many people that Uber has actually faced bans
in some cities in the United States. The reality is that Uber has fallen out of
favor with some local governments following concerns about the
company's practices and the way it influences local economies.

Uber is actually illegal in most places in Oregon besides Portland. Uber

was also briefly absent in Austin during a period in 2016. The company
stopped operating in Austin after citizens voted to make fingerprint-based
background checks for all drivers working for ride-sharing companies
mandatory. However, that vote was canceled out by a new bill that
overrode local ordinances and Uber returned to the city.
4. Uber scandal s
Uber has been rocked by a steady stream of scandals and negative publicity
in recent years, including revelations of questionable spy programs,
a high-stakes technology lawsuit, claims of sexual harassment and
discrimination and embarrassing leaks about executive conduct
The PR disasters culminated in CEO Travis Kalanick resigning and
promises of bold reform that largely ignored the ride-hailing company’s
strained relationship with drivers.

- Google Self-Driving Car Unit Accuses Uber of Using Stolen Technology

Waymo, the self-driving car business spun out of Google’s parent
company, claimed in a federal lawsuit that Uber was using intellectual
property stolen by one of Google’s former project leaders.In a federal court
filing in San Francisco, Waymo said Anthony Levandowski, who runs
Uber’s autonomous car division, downloaded 14,000 files from Google a
month before leaving to start his own self-driving car company, Otto. Uber
acquired Otto in August for $680 million, about seven months after Mr.
Levandowski left Google.“Otto and Uber have taken Waymo’s intellectual
property so that they could avoid incurring the risk, time, and expense of
independently developing their own technology,” the company said in the
filing. “Ultimately, this calculated theft reportedly netted Otto employees
over half a billion dollars and allowed Uber to revive a stalled program, all
at Waymo’s expense.”

In its filing, Waymo said it was inadvertently copied on an email from one
of its suppliers with drawings of Uber’s circuit board design for its lidar
technology, short for light detection and ranging, ” that are laser-based
sensors used in self-driving cars. Waymo also said that a number of
 Google employees, who subsequently left to join Mr. Levandowski at Otto,
downloaded additional trade secrets before departing. These included
supplier lists, manufacturing details and technical information, Waymo
said Otto was the brainchild of a handful of former Google employees who
pioneered autonomous vehicle research at the search giant. Mr.
Levandowski, who had been at Google nine years, led that effort.He is a
prominent figure in the world of self-driving vehicles, having worked on
the technology for more than a decade and achieving some degree of
renown as a graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley, in
2004, when he designed a self-driving motorcycle that was entered in the
Pentagon’s first contest for autonomous vehicles. For Uber, Otto represents
a significant bet on the future of transportation. Mr. Levandowski was
named vice president of Uber’s self-driving technology, and he reports
directly to Travis Kalanick, the company’s chief executive. Mr.
Levandowski leads Uber’s Advanced Technologies Center in Pittsburgh,
the epicenter of the company’s testing and self-driving efforts.
- Targeting the competitor, August 2014
Uber faced accusations that it booked thousands of fake rides from its
competitor Lyft in an effort to cut into its profits and services. Uber
recruiters also allegedly spammed Lyft drivers in an effort to recruit them
away from the rival.
- The ‘God View’ scandal, November 2014
Uber executive Emil Michael suggested digging up dirt on journalists and
spreading personal information of a female reporter who was critical of the
company. He later apologized. It was also revealed that Uber has a so-
called “God View” technology that allows the company to track users’
locations, raising privacy concerns. One manager had accessed the profile
of a reporter without her permission.
- Boob-er’ backlash, February 2014
 Uber CEO Travis Kalanick faced backlash for a sexist joke about his
increasing desirability, telling an Esquire reporter: “We call that Boob-er.”
- Spying on Beyoncé, December 2016
A former forensic investigator for Uber testified that employees regularly
spied on politicians, exes and celebrities, including Beyoncé.
- Self-driving pilot failure, December 2016
Regulators in California ordered Uber to remove self-driving vehicles from
the road after the company launched a pilot without permits. On the first
day of the program, the vehicles were caught running red lights, and
cycling advocates in San Francisco also raised concerns about the cars
creating hazards in bike lanes. The company blamed red-light issues on
“human error”, but the New York Times later claimed that the company’s
statements were false and that the autonomous technology failed.
- False advertising, January 2017
Uber was forced to pay $20m to settle allegations that the company duped
people into driving with false promises about earnings. The Federal Trade
Commission claimed that most Uber drivers earned far less than the rates
Uber published online in 18 major cities in the US.
- Delete Uber goes viral, January 2017
Delete Uber campaign went viral after the company lifted surge pricing
during a taxi protest at a New York airport against Donald Trump’s travel
ban. A total of roughly 500,000 users reportedly deleted accounts after the
scandal erupted.
- Trump ties, February 2017
CEO Travis Kalanick resigned from Trump’s advisory council after users
threatened a boycott. Kalanick said: “Joining the group was not meant to
be an endorsement of the president or his agenda but unfortunately it has
been misinterpreted to be exactly that.”
- Sexual harassment scandal, February 2017
 Former Uber engineer Susan Fowler went public with allegations of sexual
harassment and discrimination, prompting the company to hire former US
attorney general Eric Holder to investigate her claims. The story sparked
widespread debate about sexism and misconduct across Silicon Valley
startups.
- Deceiving law enforcement, March 2017
The New York Times reported that Uber for years used a tool called
Greyball to systematically deceive law enforcement in cities where the
company violated local laws. The company used Greyball to identify
people believed to be working for city agencies and carrying out sting
operations, the Times reported. The revelations led to the launch of a
federal investigation.
- CEO caught yelling at a driver, March 2017
Kalanick was caught on camera arguing with his own Uber driver, who
complained about the difficulty making a living with the company’s
declining rates. The embattled CEO yelled at the driver: “Some people
don’t like to take responsibility for their own shit. They blame everything
in their life on somebody else. Good luck!” He later issued an apology and
said he intended to get “leadership help”.
- Escorts in Seoul, March 2017
Tech news site the Information reported that a group of senior employees,
including Kalanick, visited an escort and karaoke bar in Seoul in 2014,
leading to an HR complaint from a female marketing manager. Patrons at
the bar typically select women to sing karaoke with before taking them
home.
- Spying on the rival, April 2017
News leaked of a secret program that Uber internally called “Hell” that
allowed the company to spy on its rival Lyft to uncover drivers working
for both companies and to help steer them away from the competitor.
- Underpaying drivers, May 2017
Uber agreed to pay drivers in New York City tens of millions of dollars
after admitting it underpaid them for more than two years by taking a
larger cut of fares than it was entitled. The average payout per driver is
expected to be about $900.
-Twenty employees fired, June 2017
Uber revealed that it had fired more than 20 employees following an
investigation into the sexual harassment claims and workplace culture.

- Questioning a rape victim, June 2017

Reports revealed that a top Uber executive had obtained the medical
records of a woman who was raped by an Uber driver, allegedly to cast
doubt upon the victim’s account. The executive, Eric Alexander, was fired
after journalists learned of the incident, according to tech website Recode
and the New York Times. The woman later sued the company for
violating her privacy rights and defaming her.
- Kalanick takes leave of absence, June 2017
Kalanick announced that he would take an indefinite leave of absence as
the culture that recommended Uber “review and reallocate” the CEO’s
company released a damning report on workplace responsibilities.
- Board member’s sexist joke, June 2017
David Bonderman resigned from Uber’s board after he made a sexist joke
during an all-staff meeting about reforming the company and combatting
sexual harassment. The venture capitalist had joked that there was “likely
to be more talking” with another woman on the board. He apologized and
stepped down hours later.
5. the response to the scandal

Kalanick announced that he was formally stepping down, reportedly in the

face of pressure from five of Uber’s largest investors. The resignation, just
one week after announcing his leave of absence, came after a group of
investors who own more than a quarter of the company’s stock demanded
his departure in a letter delivered to him in person, according to the New
York Times. He will remain on the board.
Around the same time, Uber hired a new head of human resources, Liane
Hornsey, who came from Google. Hornsey said that when she informed
professional contacts about her new position, she “got this really weird vibe
back.” People told her that Uber had a bad reputation, and said, “Oh, they
really need you.” Hornsey’s initial impression was that many employees
seemed anxious and overworked. Kalanick had promoted the idea of internal
competition, with different teams battling against one another on the same
project, which led to secrecy, lack of cooperation, and animosity among
employees. “There was no sense of trust, no sense of ‘We’re building this
together,’ ” Hornsey said Uber initially claimed the suit had no merit — it
described it as a “baseless attempt to slow down a competitor” — but it’s
since had to fire Anthony Levandowski, the engineer at the heart of the case,
and it appears to be bunkering down for a long court case. A recent report
also suggested that Kalanick himself was aware that Levandowski had
obtained Waymo data before leaving, which would put a significant hole in
Uber’s legal defense. Dara Khosrowshahi, a new CEO is cleaning house
after scandals and lawsuits.Eight months later, he's still listening. That's
earned him a reputation as a measured and diplomatic leader. But it doesn't
mean he's meek. He's dramatically reshaped Uber's famously "toxic"
corporate culture, smoothed relations inside Uber's board and sealed a $9.3
billion investment deal led by Japanese internet giant Softbank. He also
pushed to settle Waymo's high-stakes lawsuit that alleged stolen trade
secrets on self-driving cars.Khosrowshahi's leadership style stands in stark
contrast to that of his predecessor, Travis Kalanick. Uber's co-founder used a
"burn the village" approach (as he called it) that built the startup into the
behemoth it is today -- an international ride-hailing service in 73 countries
with 18,000 employees that's valued by investors at $72 billion.
From the start, Khosrowshahi wanted to hear what people at Uber had to
say. In his first two weeks, he held a roundtable discussion with drivers to
hear their complaints (they want a higher cut of earnings) and shadowed
Uber's customer support representatives to listen to what passengers were
saying. He also met the company's staff-run clubs that support people from
different backgrounds. They include "UberHue," which promotes black
diversity, "Women of Uber," "Los Ubers" for Latino diversity and
"UberPride" for LGBTQ inclusion.
Along with his apology tour, Khosrowshahi has aimed to eliminate
distractions for the company.
Under Kalanick, Uber's board was a battleground, with some directors
fighting to oust the former CEO while others tried to protect him.
Khosrowshahi worked to reform the board and he reshaped Uber's
shareholder structure, so that early investors and Kalanick (who is still on
the board) were stripped of their supervoting rights and limited to a one vote
per share system.
Khosrowshahi also pushed to settle the lawsuit with Waymo, the self-driving
car unit owned by Google's parent company Alphabet. In one of the highest-
profile legal battles in Silicon Valley history, Waymo sued Uber in February
2017 for allegedly stealing its driverless car trade secrets.
Waymo accepts $245 million and Uber's 'regret' to settle self-driving car
dispute. The settlement allows Uber’s chief executive officer, Dara
Khosrowshahi, to put another scandal behind the company and move ahead
with development of self-driving technology, following the tumultuous
leadership by former CEO Travis Kalanick.

7- Conclusion
Ethics concern an individual's moral judgments about right and wrong.
Decisions taken within an organization may be made by individuals or
groups, but whoever makes them will be influenced by the culture of the
company. The decision to behave ethically is a moral one; employees must
decide what they think is the right course of action. This may involve
rejecting the route that would lead to the biggest short-term profit. Ethical
behavior and corporate social responsibility can bring significant benefits to
a business. For example, they may:
attract customers to the firm's products, thereby boosting sales and
profits
make employees want to stay with the business, reduce labour turnover
and therefore increase productivity
attract more employees wanting to work for the business, reduce
recruitment costs and enable the company to get the most talented
employees
Attract investors and keep the company's share price high, thereby
protecting the business from takeover.
Unethical behavior or a lack of corporate social responsibility, by
comparison, may damage a firm's reputation and make it less appealing to
stakeholders. Profits could fall as a result.

8- lessons
- The lesson we should have learnt from these scandals is that corporate
culture matters. The hard question is not who did what, but why they did
it. The standard answer to this question is simple. It is that somebody got
greedy - that corporate skullduggery is an economic phenomenon,
explained by how the average person responds to constraints and
opportunities.
- As Uber lists its workplace culture among the many risks the company laid
out in detail and says that recent changes “may not be successful, and
regulators may continue to perceive us negatively, which would adversely
impact our business, financial condition, operating results, and prospects.”
- workplace culture and forward-leaning approach created significant
operational and cultural challenges that have in the past harmed, and may
in the future continue to harm business results. That culture included such
well-known problems as Uber’s “focus on aggressive growth and intense
 competition” and “failure to prioritize compliance”, as well as less public
struggles, like “a lack of transparency internally” resulting in “ siloed
teams that lack coordination and knowledge sharing”.
- Again culture is there and it matters. The low context culture of
the company has affected the employee’s behavior that why considering
culture in management is so important

https://www.slideshare.net/SkylarDann/uber-presentation-final

 https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/23/technology/google-self-driving-
waymo-uber-otto-lawsuit.htm

 https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jun/18/uber-travis-
kalanick-scandal-pr-disaster-timeline

 https://www.cnet.com/news/ubers-u-turn-how-ceo-dara-khosrowshahi-is-
cleaning-up-after-scandals-and-lawsuits/