Expert answer:Business Strategy
Expert answer:Assignment 1 Select one of the following case studies to read and do
research on from The Practice
of Public Relations: Uber SuccessWrite a 700- to
1,050-word paper and respond to the questions at the end of your selected case
study to form the basis for your response.
What went well regarding the PR
response to the situation?
What might you have recommended
to improve the response?
Cite PR concepts from your
text, ERRs, or other sources to support the points you are making.
Include two references
with your paper.Format your paper
consistent with APA guidelines.Case Study Uber Success Brings Uber Public Relations ProblemsBehold the phenomenon
that is Uber.The 21st century
personal taxi cab service, headquartered in San Francisco, is worth
approximately $50 billion and isn’t even public. It is a staple in 300 cities
in 58 countries, employs 300,000 drivers and generates annual revenues of $10
billion.Uber ImpactfulUber was founded in
2009 by Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp as a transportation network company
that uses an app to allow consumer to submit a trip request then routed to
Uber’s nexus of drivers. Uber lore suggests that Kalanick and Camp hatched the
idea one snowy night in Paris when they couldn’t find a cab.Almost immediately,
the concept disrupted taxi companies and governments around the world.Meanwhile, private
investors piled on to finance the upstart company, assuring it of one of
history’s most monumental public offerings—if and when it decides to go public.Uber’s impactful
growth appeared unstoppable. In the summer of 2015, CEO Kalanick announced
plans to invest $1 billion in China, increasing to 65 the number of Chinese
cities served by Uber. Despite challenges from entrenched taxi companies and
the Chinese government, Kalanick predicted that China might turn out to be a
more important market for Uber even than the U.S.Uber ArrogantDespite Uber’s
roaring success, it suffered public relations problems from its start.One primary reason
was its not-yet-40-year-old CEO Kalanick. While any Silicon Valley “disruptor”
must be a feisty competitor by nature, the Uber founder found himself in more
hot water virtually every time he opened his mouth.·On
the long-standing industry he wished to dethrone, CEO Kalanick immediately
enraged taxi drivers and local governments when he declared, “It’s not Pinterest where people are putting up pins. You’re
changing the way cities work, and that’s fundamentally a third rail. We’re in a
political campaign, and the candidate is Uber and the opponent is an a—hole
named Taxi.”·On
the upstart competitor Lyft raising money to challenge Uber, Kalanick made a
veiled threat to investors, “Just so you know, we’re going
to be fund-raising after this, so before you decide whether you want to invest
in them, just make sure you know that we are going to be fund-raising
immediately after.”·When
asked by an interviewer about his skyrocketing “desirability” as young CEO of a
multi-billion company, he responded, “Yeah, we call that ‘Boob-er.’” And
if that didn’t reflect enough public relations tone deafness, Kalanick followed
the comment up by blaming the media for reporting a claim by a political
organizer that she was choked by an Uber driver; dismissing the accusation that
Uber was somehow liable “for these incidents that
aren’t even real in the first place.”Unfortunately for the
CEO and his company, Uber’s public relations “incidents” kept on coming.Uber CrisesKalanick’s “take no
prisoners” attitude permeated his company and antagonized taxi drivers and
governments throughout the world.In
cities from Paris to London, from Shanghai to Mexico City, taxi companies and
unions protested against Uber alleging that its use of unlicensed drivers
was unsafe and illegal (Figure 5-6). Joining the protests were city
governments and their taxi commissions that regulated taxis and depended on cab
revenues. In New York and other cities, governments proposed regulations that
would rein in car-service apps.Figure 5-6 Not
so jolly Old London.London
taxi drivers blocked the streets with a go-slow protest outside the Transport
for London offices to protest Uber’s invasion in the spring of 2015.Photo: Guy Bell/REX Shutterstock/NewscomThen there were
mounting safety issues stemming from allegations against Uber drivers.·A
woman in New Delhi accused an Uber driver of raping her, and in response, the
Indian capital banned the taxi-booking service.·In
Chicago and London, female passengers accused Uber drivers of sexually
assaulting them.·In
Los Angeles, an Uber driver was arrested and charged with kidnapping a drunk
woman and taking her to a hotel to sexually assault her.Then on top of all
the other public relations challenges being thrown at it, an Uber executive
acknowledged in the winter of 2014 of telling reporters at what he thought was
an off-the-record gathering that he proposed spending $1 million to dig up
damaging information that would discredit journalists critical of the company.
According to BuzzFeed, he singled out one technology reporter, saying he wanted
to prove a “particular and very specific claim” about her personal life. When
BuzzFeed exposed the story and the company was engulfed in a social media
firestorm, even the pugnacious Kalanick unreservedly apologized for his
subordinate’s stupefying stupidity.And even as the
revenues rolled in, the public relations problems just kept on coming, from
criticisms for aggressively poaching drivers and using dirty tricks to
undermine rival services to offering rides to “hot chicks” to promote Uber in
France to allegedly pushing subprime auto loans on drivers to not doing enough
to address female passengers receiving unwanted sexual attention.No wonder that in
2015, Kalanick, according to TechCrunch, had embarked on a public relations
campaign to convey a “kinder, gentler Uber.”And
not a moment too soon.*Assignment 2 Write a 1,200- to 1,400-word paper using the same organization you
selected in Week 2. Apple IncCreate a business plan
for this organization to enter a global market in which they are not already
doing business (see section 2 of Table 8.1). Be sure to include the following:
Description of the business
Description of the industry
Technology Plan
Marketing Plan
Financial Plan
Production Plan
Organizational Plan
Operations Plan
Include at least 2 of the 7
recommended appendices (exhibits) as listed in Section 3 of Table 8.1
Format your paper
consistent with APA guidelines.Click the
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