Uber(US): The Push for Autonomous Vehicles

Name: Uber(US): The Push for Autonomous Vehicles
SKU: 9B20D022_P

Thompson S.H. Teo; Vivien K.G. Lim

Product #:9B20D022_P

Supplier:Ivey/NUS

Discipline:International Business, Operations Management, Sustainability

Setting:United States, 2018

Details:Case (PDF) • 10 pages • 2020-09-24

Subjects:

Business ethics Business law and ethics Business management Leadership and managing people International business Operations and supply chain management Management

Geography:

North America United States

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$9.71

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Since early 2015, Uber had been investing heavily in research and development for its autonomous vehicles to revolutionize the ride-hailing industry and provide better ways of competing and fulfilling its promise of profitability to investors. Constant innovation was crucial to stay ahead of its competitors. While this strategy was groundbreaking for the ride-hailing industry, concerns were sparked when one of Uber’s autonomous vehicles was involved in a fatal accident involving a pedestrian in 2018. This accident brought safety lapses in autonomous vehicles into the public eye and was deeply controversial. Consequently, Uber was forced to examine its corporate strategy pertaining to its innovation portfolio. Should Uber continue its current investment in autonomous vehicles? If so, what business models and strategies could Uber adopt with autonomous vehicles to move the company towards profitability?

Learning Objectives

The case is suitable for undergraduate- and graduate-level courses on business innovation or service operations, and covers topics on business strategy and operations management. After working through the case and the assignment questions, students will be able to

understand the complexity and contributing factors of the accident and describe the roles of the stakeholders involved—Uber’s management, the government, the public, and Uber’s partners;
consider Uber’s decision to continue developing autonomous vehicles;
identify and evaluate important challenges of adopting a ride-hailing business model that is entirely dependent on autonomous vehicles; and
analyze how autonomous vehicle technology could influence Uber’s service strategies.