International Challenges for Ubers Expansion

International Challenges for Ubers Expansion Uber’s future depends on international growth, but currently they are experiencing international challenges within their non-U.S. markets. I will introduce their brief history, explain their current challenges, international expansion plans, their strategy plans, and a few insights on how they can achieve greater success in international markets. Predominantly, Uber has brutally underestimated the challenges of operating in countries that embody totally different economic, political, and cultural environments. Their definitive goal is to become one of the only international ride-hailing company, however they didn’t realize all the major setbacks they would come across internationally. Quick Uber History Uber headquarters is â€Å"located in San Francisco, California and operates in 632 other cities worldwide† (Uber Technologies Inc., 2017). In conjunction, â€Å"Uber has expanded to more than 80 countries since its June 2010 initial launch in San Francisco, California† (Hyder, 2014).   Uber was â€Å"founded March of 2009 by Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp† (Uber Technologies Inc., 2017).   Uber Technologies, Inc. â€Å"provides e-commerce services for car hire and the company offers a website which develops applications that allow users to request a car for hire from any mobile device text message while serving customers worldwide† (Bloomberg, 2017). Moreover, the company was originally an idea that Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp originated, while encountering some trouble attaining a cab. Their idea was to simply invent something that with the tap of a button you could get a cab/ride and not have to struggle like they did. Stated on the Uber website, â€Å"What started as an app to request premium black cars in a few metropolitan areas is now changing the logistical fabric of cities around the world. Whether it’s a ride, a sandwich, or a package, we use technology to give people what they want, when they want it† (Uber Technologies Inc., 2017). Uber not only provides rides to their customers, but they also provide men and women a way to earn money by letting them use their own vehicle to give their clienteles rides. Also, noted on the Uber website, â€Å"for the women and men who drive with Uber, our app represents a flexible new way to earn money. For cities, we help strengthen local economies, improve access to transportation as reliable as running water, everyone benefits† (Uber Technologies Inc., 2017). Current Challenges Uber was the first major ride-hailing company with mobile on-demand transportation. As competition started to intensify, Uber strategized on how to remain number one in this market area. They realized in recognition of the risk posed by these followers into the market, they needed to rapidly and aggressively grow both domestically and internationally. However, along the way â€Å"Uber’s expansion was met with both excitement and major blocks resulting from lawsuits, technological limitations, and government regulation† (Hyder, 2014). Ubers expensive push into china ended abruptly in 2016, when its domestic rival Didi Chuxing announced it had acquired Uber China and more recently Uber merged with Yandex, marking its exit from another major international market, Russia. Governments, drivers, and passengers launched a seemingly endless stream of lawsuits and taxi firms organized protests in Europe and South America as they recognized their business were under threat. Ubers legal and ethical conduct was put under further scrutiny when their drivers argued that they were being exploited as part of the sharing economy. Additionally, I will list some initial challenges Uber faced within these following countries. As mentioned in Recode article written by Johana Bhuiyan, â€Å"in Russia, it was a fierce opponent willing to play the subsidy game that drove the company out, while it was regulatory issues that has stymied it in Europe† (Bhuiyan, 2017). Also, in Denmark, where â€Å"Uber announced it was leaving in March, it was new regulations that required it to act more like a taxi company, requiring that drivers install things like meters in their cars. The company said it plans to revive its operation in Denmark when laws change† (Bhuiyan, 2017). Following in Spain, â€Å"the company had been previously banned in cities across the country, Uber has continued to face protests from taxi drivers in these cities† (Bhuiyan, 2017). France currently had legal disagreements with Uber regarding they should be treated as a taxi service hence controlled like one too which then charged Uber for being an illegal taxi service (Bhuiyan, 2017). In many more places like, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Thailand they have all charged Uber penalties for operating on their land illegally. In regard to India and China, â€Å"they are similar markets in terms of both size and the cost of undercutting prices to maintain or grow demand. Expansion within the region on its own would require significant capital† (Bhuiyan, 2017). These are just a few of the many different challenges Uber has been faced with since branching out internationally. International Expansion and Strategy Plans Astonishingly, in less than eight years Uber has accomplished expansion in more than 450+ markets all over the world and is continuously growing. As stated in an article, â€Å"expanding internationally has involved a series of changes to the mobile application and business model in order to localize it to the market and culture. Uber has had to make changes to accommodate different languages, currencies, and distance measures (e.g. miles vs. kilometers)† (Hyder, 2014). As cited by Hyder she mentioned, â€Å"Travis Kalanick wrote about Uber’s international expansion in a blog posting: as we started expanding, it became clear that individual cities were the unique factor in our launches. Each city is unique in its transportation pain points, its density, its transportation alternatives, regulation, even its transportation culture† (2014). Moreover, Uber first tried implementing what worked in the U.S. and applied some of those techniques to respective countries however, they were one of the companies that learned the hard way, realizing that what may have worked in the U.S. wouldn’t work elsewhere. Stated in an article written by Suhas Manangi, â€Å"the young tech company has committed a classic globalization mistake: it naively assumed that its business model and market approach, which ultimately solidified its market-leading position in the U.S., could translate just as seamlessly to other countries. It severely underestimated the challenges of operating in countries that embody totally different economic, political, and cultural environments† (2017). What Uber predominantly saw was the common transportation problem within many countries that required a solution. As specified in an article, â€Å"localization is a key ingredient of Uber’s Asia Pacific (APAC) marketing strategy as it battles to stay ahead of regional competition. However, localization goes beyond services which might include cash payments for some emerging markets where credit cards are not feasible, or in China, where Uber has partnered with Alibaba’s Ali-pay system – the preferred payment method of Chinese consumers† (Manangi, 2017). Correspondingly, this article mentions â€Å"Uber calls its globalization strategy â€Å"launch playbook,† a list of business strategies and operating guidelines that have been complied by an internal team of about forty employees. At the same time, Uber is smart to have flexibility in different markets that local Uber leaders can adapt and not have the same features everywhere† (Manangi, 2017). Examples of this include, UberCHOPPER in Shanghai, UberBOATS in Istanbul, and UberAUTO in New Delhi, India. Recommendations for Greater Success Internationally Following the six quick rules of thumb for doing business across cultures is a strategy Uber should incorporate. They need to be prepared, be considerate of time, establish trust, understand the importance of language, respect the culture, and understand components of the culture they are in.   As stated by Ball and Geringer, â€Å"knowing your customer is just as important in the world as it is in your hometown. Each culture has its logic, and within that logic are real, sensible reasons for the way they do things† (2013). Uber needs a â€Å"businessperson who can figure out the basic pattern of the culture which in turn will be increasingly effective interacting with foreign clients† (Ball & Geringer, 2013). Furthermore, for greater success internationally, Uber should be more careful in looking at its practice and policies therefore, considering if they are appropriate to incorporate in each specific country. China, India, and Europe differ in many ways from their home country, Uber will have greater success if they ask for permission to operate in specific countries instead of just intruding and then consequently finding out they were doing business illegally. Doing so will then convey respect to those countries regulations and organizations. As mentioned previously, aggressive entry tactics should be eliminated and instead Uber should initially invest time building solid relationships with the various unions within the country. Another tactic Uber should integrate is preparation and planning. Uber generally did not produce a plan before going international they just learned and adapted as they went resulting in cost inefficiency. Which, reverts back to the six quick rules of thumb, rule number one, being prepared is key. In order to help Uber with better preparation with planning, they should follow the global strategic planning process as referenced by Ball and Geringer, â€Å"global strategic planning provides a formal structure in which managers (1) analyze the company’s external environment, (2) analyze the company’s internal environment, (3) define the company’s business and mission, (4) set corporate objectives, (5) quantify goals, (6) formulate strategies, and (7) make tactical plans† (2013). Lastly, instead of withdrawing from the countries that already have a big advantage over Uber, because of their already existing taxi companies within the local country, they should instead try partnering with its local rivals. Simply because trying to do everything on their own is a strategically challenging, hence the reason why they have backed out of multiple countries. Conclusion To conclude, Uber has had to overcome many challenging obstacles along the way of becoming an international business. Failing to plan, failure to fit local market objectives, and learning from their mistakes are all topics resulting from expanding internationally. Uber needs to respectively appreciate and keep in mind while operating in different countries, their different economic, political, and cultural environments. Also, â€Å"providing customization to local markets is an expensive task requiring significant financial backing and of the mind share from the senior executives, hence the need for a carefully thought out strategy for global expansion is required† (Manangi, 2017). Their goal is to maintain number one within international ride-hailing companies, but with all the competition and challenges in today’s world there is potential in them losing this sustainability if a new direction in strategic planning is not met. References Ball, D. A. (2013).  International Business: The Challenge of Global Competition  (13th ed.).New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Bhuiyan, J. (2017, July 14). It’s a Hard World After all in Uber’s Path to Global Domination. Retrieved February 13, 2018, from https://www.recode.net/2017/7/14/15964808/uber-global-domination-yandex-didi Bloomberg L.P. (2017). Uber Technologies Inc: Company Profile Bloomberg. Retrieved from https://www.bloomberg.com/profiles/companies/0084207D:US-uber-technologies-inc Hyder, Y. (2014, February 7). Case: Uber. Retrieved February 13, 2018, from http://soumyasen.com/IDSC6050/Case15/Group15_index.html Manangi, S. (2017, August 1). Uber’s Global Expansion Strategy – â€Å"Think Local to Expand Global† – Will it Work for Startups? Retrieved February 13, 2018, from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ubers-global-expansion-strategy-think-local-expand-work-manangi Uber Technologies Inc. (2017). The Uber Story. Retrieved from https://www.uber.com/our-story/

Bubble Lab

The sugar solution will produce the best quality bubbles because of It's sticky texture. Procedure: First, three cups were labeled as #1, #2, and #3. Next, each cup had one teaspoon of dish detergent and % cup of water added to them and swirled around to have everything mixed. Cup #2 then had half a teaspoon of table sugar added and cup #3 had half a teaspoon of table salt added to them. After that, a straw was dipped Into each solution separately, and blown through In order to make bubbles.Data was recorded while blowing bubbles. Data Table 1: Bubbles using Different Solutions Control Sugar salt Appearance of Solution -Colorless -More translucent than cup one -Cloudy Bubble Size -Generally small -Occasionally medium -Medium sized -Larger than cup one -Medium to large Ease to Blow Bubbles -Easy -Needed to be gentle -Moderately easy -Some strength and speed needed -Dulcet -Needed to be gentle and slow Time Before Bubbles Popped* -5 to 10 seconds -15 to 20 seconds -10 to 15 seconds *Ti me when from when bubble left straw and popped.This Includes If It stuck on objects quality of bubbles. Based off Data Table 1, the sugar solution produced bubbled that lasted for 15 to 20 seconds. Although the salt solution lasted longer than control and created larger bubbles than the sugar, it was often hard to make bubbles unless very gentle blows were used. It can be concluded that adding sugar made the bubbles stronger, while salt was weaker than the sugar, and the control the weakest of all.Conclusion: It was proven that the hypothesis made, â€Å"the sugar solution will produce the best quality bubbles because of it's sticky texture,† did in fact come true. To improve this experiment, it could be done in a windless room as well as launched up higher. This way, the bubbles won't pop because of the wind, and it could take a anger descent before it is popped by the ground or other objects. In addition to this, a larger quantity of salt and sugar could be added in order t o make the changes more drastic and easier to see.Another hypothesis related to bubble making would be â€Å"Using a salt and sugar solution would enhance the quality of bubbles by taking in both the large size of the salt solution and the strength of the sugar solution. † In order to do this, one teaspoons of each, (salt and sugar), would be added to a 2/2 cup of water with one teaspoon of dish detergent. Then, a straw would be dipped in the solution and blown through in order to make bubbles.

Reading the Poetry of Sylvia Plath Can Be a Disturbing Experience Essay

I agree with the above statement as for me reading Plath’s poetry was quite disturbing. The best poems to explain this experience are â€Å"Black Rook in Rainy Weather,† â€Å"Finisterre,† â€Å"Morning Song,† â€Å"Child† and of course, â€Å"Poppies in July†. There are poems that aren’t quite as depressing, such as â€Å"Pheasant†, but certainly an unsettled atmosphere dominates throughout Plath’s work. Main text The theme explored in â€Å"Black Rook in Rainy Weather† is the lack of inspiration and the depression that arises therefore. Plath is in a state of desperation, she describes her life as a â€Å"season of fatigue† (part of the poems psychic landscape) with â€Å"brief respites from fear of total neutrality.† Her life is empty as she perceives it, to the extent that the most banal things may serve inspiration to her tormented mind: â€Å"A minor light may still lean incandescent out of kitchen table or chair as if a celestial burning took possession of the most obtuse objects now and then†¦Ã¢â‚¬  It is comforting to realise that Plath is able to find inspiration in this, but the poem is simply permeated with her pain and fear of losing all motivation: everything is black, it is raining and the background setting seems dull. It is a fairly routine situation in which most people have probably found themselves at some stage. Therefore, it is likely to that readers can relate to it, but its only effect could be to provoke bad memories and make one feel uncomfortable. It is crucial that the reader attempts to exclude the thoughts of her tragic death and almost permanent state of severe depression when reading her work in order to give it a chance. However, it seems to just stare at you from the page. Also knowing that, all her work acquires a sinister context, which is indeed disturbing: if a person to bright and talented couldn’t find a solution to her inner problems – what about the rest of us? â€Å"Finisterre† is an imaginative masterpiece. But the themes that feature in it are very important too. Sylvia Plath is emphasising the failure of organised religion and therefore rejects the beneficial qualities of the hope that religion normally provides. To take away one’s last hope is deeply unsettling. The poet describes a grand statue of Our Lady of the Shipwrecked to whom a sailor is praying and also a peasant who came to pray. However, according to Plath, Our Lady â€Å"doesn’t hear what the sailor or the peasant is saying, she is in love with the beautiful forlmelessness of the sea.† The dismissal of hope is harsh, those who are meant to care – don’t, according to Plath. What is one left with after one loses hope? Some other poets known for their gloomy outlook, like T.S. Eliot who also submerges the readers in the bleakness of reality, offered us hope in religion, but Plath failed to find refuge even in that. It is as if this is not only land’s end but it is also the end of hope, faith and all good things. She does, however, attempt to provide an alternative. The last line â€Å"These are our crepes. Eat them before they blow cold† calls the reader to make the most of the present moment but not think too deeply about life – this is emphasised by the very simple language used here. This may seem to come as a solution, but to me personally this conveys an even worse disturbance- running from the truth because it is so intolerable. As I said, the images in â€Å"Finisterre† are amazing. The cascade of rocks is describes as â€Å"fingers knuckled and rheumatic cramped on nothing,† rocks â€Å"hide their grudges under the water,† the waves are the â€Å"faces of the drowned,† the mist is made up of the souls of dead people. Everything described here is nothing, dead, or about to die, just like those seemingly doomed flowers at the edge of the cliff. This poem kills any hope in the reader and, therefore, I believe it is very disturbing. â€Å"Morning Song† offers us an insight into the relationship of a mother and a newborn baby. There are elements of joy in it, but even the arrival of a baby is full of negative emotions for the poet. The baby is described as a â€Å"new statue in a drafty museum†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Why is a baby, whose life just started described as a statue? A statue is something withdrawn, distant, it even echoes the statue of â€Å"Finisterre.† A newborn is non of those things, but that is how Plath sees it. The museum is drafty. To most of us a museum is a collection of distinct pieces but to her life again appears through the prism of depression. This is nothing new to a Plath’s reader but it is a new level of emotional disturbance when not even a new life, the birth of her own child was able to support her mood. The feeling of distance is further developed through an image: â€Å"I’m not more your mother than the cloud that distils as mirror to reflect its own slow effacement at the wind’s hoard.† Paradoxically, Plath focuses on her own feelings of the lack of attention to herself: the cloud is the mother, who gives birth to a puddle – the baby, and the baby is similar to the mother, and therefore, her reflection. Probably Plath felt disconnected from the baby and felt that her own role is now diminished. I think that this is quite unnatural, although understandable. However, such a description of motherhood is disconcerting. â€Å"Child† and â€Å"Poppies in July† are explicitly disturbing. In â€Å"Child† Plath feels unable to fulfil her dream of granting her children a happy life: â€Å"pool in which images should be grand and classical, not this troublesome wringing of hands, this dark ceiling without a star.† This is frightfully upsetting. The reader can just sense the pain and disappointment, feelings of failure and despair that the poet must be experiencing. But â€Å"Poppies is July† is just immersed in her pain, or even the lack of it. The state she describes is profoundly terrifying. It exhausts her to watch poppies flickering, yet she masochistically continues to carefully observe them. She is not just depressed now. We are seeing a rather neurotic and paranoid attitude here which alternates with complete emotional obtundation. She perceives them as â€Å"hell flames,† she wishes for pain or death: â€Å"if I could bleed or sleep.† She is at a point where the mind is so shocked ant tired that it cannot even feel: â€Å"but colourless. Colourless.† I think this is the most honest and strongest description of excruciating, suffocating emotional crisis that I have ever read. Conclusion Overall, Plath’s poetry is full of ideas, mesmerising images, honest and deep thoughts with no sugar-coating. Almost all of these are destructively negative, which makes her poetry disturbing. She callously rejects hope, cruelly picks out the worst aspects in everything, her soul aches is fear of loss of those rare transient moments of inspiration that kept her alive.

Effects of The Internet On Teenagers Essays - 783 Words

Human’s life has changed. Most of the people have come to cities instead of towns. Kids spend most of their time inside houses either watching TV or playing computer and maybe do their homework. Internet is one of the most recent changes in the last two decays. Not surprisingly, this new phenomenon is perhaps one of the greatest inventions of the last century, but unfortunately this occurrence has made some negative impact on our society and children. Teenagers are the most common group of society who can get artificial by the internet. As a matter of fact, internet addiction is a common habit for teenagers which will affects their future, also can have an effect on their social behavior and their education. Teenagers are spending more†¦show more content†¦In particular, individuals will utilize virtual casinos, interactive games, e-auction houses, or e-brokerage houses only to lose excessive amounts of money and even disrupt other job-related duties or significant relationships. Another important issue that these games have created is the fact that they have destroyed children activity and socialism. Children these days rather to spend most of their times in their house than go outside and play in parks or playground.. . The Internet has a double-edged sword characteristic for children: providing many opportunities for learning while exposing children to potentially negative content. The Internet not only provides signif icant benefits for children, such as research access, socialization, entertainment, and a communication tool with families, but it also connotes negative aspects such as violence, pornography, hate sites, isolation, predators, and commercialism (Media Awareness Network, 2003; National School Boards Foundation, 2003). If teenagers get obsessed with these contents on the internet not only they cannot continue their education, but also they will destroy their future career. 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