Do you believe that diversity and harassment improve when workers are legally classified as employees or independent contractors as this new gig-economy grows?
Place your order now for a similar assignment and have exceptional work written by our team of experts, At affordable rates
For This or a Similar Paper Click To Order Now
Uber Pays the Price
(adapted from Principles of Management, Rice University, OpenStax)
In March 2009, Uber revolutionized the taxi industry and the way people commute. With the simple mission “to bring transportation—for everyone, everywhere,” today Uber has reached a valuation of around $70 billion and claimed a market share high of almost 90% in 2015. However, in June 2017 Uber experienced a series of bad press regarding an alleged culture of sexual harassment, which is what most experts believe caused their market share to fall to 75%.
In February of 2017 a former software engineer, Susan Fowler, wrote a lengthy post on her website regarding her experience of being harassed by a manager who was not disciplined by human resources for his behavior. In her post, Fowler wrote that Uber’s HR department and members of upper management told her that because it was the man’s first offense, they would only give him a warning. During her meeting with HR about the incident, Fowler was also advised that she should transfer to another department within the organization. According to Fowler, she was ultimately left no choice but to transfer to another department, despite having specific expertise in the department in which she had originally been working.
As her time at the company went on, she began meeting other women who worked for the company who relayed their own stories of harassment. To her surprise, many of the women reported being harassed by the same person who had harassed her. As she noted in her blog, “It became obvious that both HR and management had been lying about this being his ‘first offense.’” Fowler also reported a number of other instances that she identified as sexist and inappropriate within the organization and claims that she was disciplined severely for continuing to speak out. Fowler eventually left Uber after about two years of working for the company, noting that during her time at Uber the percentage of women working there had dropped to 6% of the workforce, down from 25% when she first started.
Following the fallout from Fowler’s lengthy description of the workplace on her website, Uber’s chief executive Travis Kalanick publicly condemned the behavior described by Fowler, calling it “abhorrent and against everything Uber stands for and believes in.” But later in March, Uber board member Arianna Huffington claimed that she believed “sexual harassment was not a systemic problem at the company.” Amid pressure from bad media attention and the company’s falling market share, Uber made some changes after an independent investigation resulted in 215 complaints. As a result, 20 employees were fired for reasons ranging from sexual harassment to bullying to retaliation to discrimination, and Kalanick announced that he would hire a chief operating officer to help manage the company. In an effort to provide the leadership team with more diversity, two senior female executives were hired to fill the positions of chief brand officer and senior vice president for leadership and strategy.
Would this trend have changed if workers were classified as employees verses independent contractors? In 2018, California’s Supreme Court ruled that workers performing tasks within a company’s regular business must be treated as employees. Laws were updated in 2019; however, “California voters carried … a ballot measure that allows gig economy companies to continue treating drivers as independent contractors… [with] a concession to labor advocates, the initiative offers a wage floor and limited benefits to drivers” (Conger, 2020). We’ll see if that changes anything.
Case Study Questions: (edited from original text)
Based on Taylor Cox and Stacy Blake’s business case for diversity, what are some positive outcomes that may result in changes to Uber’s leadership team?
Under what form of federal legislation was Fowler protected?
What strategies should have been put in place to help prevent sexual harassment incidents like this from happening in the first place?
Do you believe that diversity and harassment improve when workers are legally classified as employees or independent contractors as this new gig-economy grows?
Guidelines:
This assignment is considered a complete Business Case Study. Therefore, your report should be written as a formal business report of your analysis.
This report should be between 2-4 pages (not including title page and references).
Internal references (e.g. textbook, readings, lectures, etc.) and External references (e.g. other published works) should be used to add credibility to your statements.
To be professional, always write in a formal style (e.g. using impersonal nouns such as “the team”, “the analysis” and “this project”, while avoiding personal pronouns such as I, we, you, he, she, and they)
As this is a real-time analysis, write in the present tense to describe your findings and recommended actions (except when describing past events).
Current APA format is required, including title page and reference pageUse Headings and Sub-headings as appropriate
Exception: DO NOT include an Abstract or Table of Contents for this short report
DO NOT cite your own information (personal or corporate), which is everything provided in the Case Study (if details or data are provided)
NU Library resource for APA guidance: https://nu.libguides.com/citations/APA Sources:
Uber (2017). Corporate Website. https://www.uber.com/newsroom/company-info/
Fowler, S. (2017, Feb 19). Reflecting On One Very, Very Strange Year At Uber. https://www.susanjfowler.com/blog/2017/2/19/reflecting-on-one-very-strange-year-at-uber
Lien, T. (2017, Jun 6). Uber fires 20 workers after harassment investigation. Los Angeles Times. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-tn-uber-sexual-harassment-20170606-story.html
della Cava, M. (2017, June 13). Uber has lost market share to Lyft during crisis. USA Today. https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2017/06/13/uber-market-share-customer-image-hit-string-scandals/102795024/
Conger, K. (2020, Nov 4). Uber and Lyft Drivers in California Will Remain Contractors, The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/04/technology/california-uber-lyft-prop-22.html
Due Date
Nov 13, 2022 11:59 PM
Hide Rubrics
Rubric Name: Diversity rubric
Print Rubric
Criteria
Outstanding
Commendable
Acceptable
Marginal
Failing
Missing/Unacceptable
Criterion Score
Introduction (10%)
2 points
Clear description of of events. Written as a business problem statement. Ends with an overview of what follows. 1.7 points
Complete description provided. Clear presentation of the business issue/problem & some details that will be used in the analysis. Overview of the sections that will follow.
1.5 points
Description is somewhat complete; however, more depth &/or length are needed. Lacking details or overview.
1.3 points
Brief with some depth, fails to meet some criteria. Lacking details and missing overview
1 point
Some description provided but lacking major details of the case and including unrelated information.
0 points
Score of Introduction (10%),
/ 2
Benefits to Uber & Legislation (20%)
4 points
In-depth analysis of question. Exceptional integration of the business case and course material. Several positive outcomes presented in depth. Clearly stated federal legislations.
3.4 points
In-depth analysis of question. Good integration of the business case and course material. Some positive outcomes presented in depth. Clearly stated federal legislations.
3 points
Overview analysis of question. Limited integration of the business case and course material. A few positive outcomes presented in with some depth. Reference only to federal legistrations.
2.6 points
Minimal analysis of question. Limited integration of the business case and course material. One positive outcomes presented in depth. Minimal reference to federal legislations.
2 points
Little analysis of question. No integration of the business case and course material. One positive outcomes presented with minimal depth. No stated federal legistrations.
0 points
Score of Benefits to Uber & Legislation (20%),
/ 4
Strategies for Prevention (25%)
5 points
In-depth analysis of question. Exceptional integration of the business case and course material. Strategies are strategic in nature and clearly lead to prevention.
4.25 points
In-depth analysis of question. Good integration of the business case and course material. Strategies are strategic in nature and have some lead to prevention.
3.75 points
Overview analysis of question. Limited integration of the business case and course material. Strategies are more operational in nature but still clearly lead to prevention.
3.25 points
Minimal analysis of question. Limited integration of the business case and course material. Strategies are operational in nature and have little toward prevention.
2.5 points
Little analysis of question. No integration of the business case and course material. Strategy is not clear. Poor focus on preventation, more reactive instead.
0 points
Score of Strategies for Prevention (25%),
/ 5
Future of gig-economgy (10%)
2 points
In-depth analysis of question. Exceptional integration of the business case and course material. Personal belief is clearly stated and well supported.
1.7 points
Personal belief is clearly stated and somewhat supported.
1.5 points
Personal belief is not clearly stated but still well supported.
1.3 points
Personal belief is not clearly stated and not well supported.
1 point
Personal belief is not clearly stated and not at all supported.
0 points
Score of Future of gig-economgy (10%),
/ 2
Conclusion (5%)
1 point
Clear summary of key points and recommendations. Ends with strong action statement.
0.85 points
Summary of all key points and recommendations. Ending isn’t action or big-picture.
0.75 points
Summary of most key points and recommendations. Ending isn’t action or big-picture.
0.65 points
Summary of some key points and some recommendations. Ending isn’t action or big-picture.
0.5 points
Summary of some key points. Missing recommendations. Order is not the same as the report. Ending isn’t action or big-picture.
0 points
Score of Conclusion (5%),
/ 1
Critical Thinking and Support (10%)
2 points
A clear, logical connection is made between the data, analysis & recommendations. Claims are supported by reputable sources, both from class and external to the course material.
1.7 points
A logical connection is made between the data, analysis & recommendations, but may not be clear at all times. A few class and external sources are used. All are reputable.
1.5 points
Most of the time a logical connection is made between the data, analysis & recommendations, but may not be clear at all times. Only a few sources are used, or all from the course material. Not all sources are reputable.
1.3 points
Several logical discrepancies are made, and several points may not be clear. Only a couple of sources are used, or none are reputable.
1 point
Many discrepancies are note or no connection between data and analysis, or between analysis and recommendations are noted. Only 1 class reference is used, or none are reputable.
0 points
Score of Critical Thinking and Support (10%),
/ 2
APA Guidelines and Organization (10%)
2 points
Cover Page, title, headings & page numbers properly formatted. Questions used as main heading, plus Introduction & Conclusion. Correct quoting, paraphrasing, style & formatting followed.
1.7 points
Cover Page, title, headings & page numbers properly formatted. Questions used as main heading, plus Introduction & Conclusion. Correct quoting, paraphrasing, style & formatting followed.
1.5 points
Missing Cover Page, title or pages numbers. Questions not repeated as headings. Missing some in-text citations &/or quoting/para- phrasing errors.
1.3 points
Missing Cover Page, or title, page number and headings. Questions are not repeated as headings. APA Style guidelines not followed in many areas.
1 point
Some structure in formatting is consistent in the document, but not in accordance with APA guidelines. Report does not flow with the questions.
0 points
Score of APA Guidelines and Organization (10%),
/ 2
Grammar, Spelling & Mechanics (10%)
2 points
No errors. Paragraphs and sentences are properly structured to promote understanding by the reader.
1.7 points
Few minor errors or one major error. Paragraphs and sentences are properly structured to promote understanding by the reader.
1.5 points
Some minor errors or a couple of major errors. Most paragraphs and most sentences are properly structured to promote understanding by the reader.
1.3 points
Several errors. Lacking paragraph structure to support flow. Sentence structure in mostly correct.
1 point
Many errors. Some sentences difficult to understand due to errors. 0 points
Score of Grammar, Spelling & Mechanics (10%),
/ 2
Total
Score of Diversity rubric,
/ 20
Overall Score
Outstanding
18.5 points minimum
Commendable
17 points minimum
Acceptable
15 points minimum
Marginal
13 points minimum
Failing
10 points minimum
Missing/Unacceptable
0 points minimum
