Uber Technologies Inc.’s (UBER) has emerged as one of the most fascinating companies during the last decade. Its innovative idea followed by the tremendous growth astonished everyone. Its technological solution to integrate riders and transporters has transformed the way of transit and is continuously providing excellent service and customer experience to its customers. Founded in 2009, Uber is the major player in the ride sharing space and with a market price of $68 billion, it is among the highest valued company in the world. The company now operates in more than 900 cities throughout the world. As per the survey, Uber has captured 67% of the US ride- sharing business and 24% of the food delivery market. Uber has a global user base of 70 million people. How Uber has been able to do this? What are the mission, vision and business strategy of Uber? Let us try to find out the answer of these questions in this post.

Mission and Vision of Uber Mission

Mission

The mission statement of Uber is “Transportation as reliable as running water, everywhere for everyone”. This statement is a simple and precise statement and among one of the most insightful and thoughtful statement ever written. If we analyze this statement, then we find the following:

• The mission statement states that everyone should be provided opportunity. It means that every stakeholder of the company, especially the driver and the rider should have the opportunity. Uber provides opportunity to earn to the drivers and at the same time opportunity to save for the riders by enabling them to share empty seats to some other rider.
• The mission statement tells us that the transportation is important for everyone and it should be easily available to everyone like the water. Not only it should be easily available but it should be affordable also.
• The statement also mentions a word ‘reliable’. Everyone is concerned about safety during the journey. Uber is concerned about the safety of passengers and it is reflected in its mission statement as it contains the word ‘reliable’. Uber claims that it has verified drivers and it shares details of the driver with the passenger. The passengers can track the route where the vehicle is moving and can share the details of the driver, vehicle and the route with someone else. The drivers also know that Uber has all their information in its system and Uber has introduced rating system of drivers. Therefore, the drivers also behave nicely with passengers.

Vision

Uber’s vision statement is “we ignite opportunity by setting the world in motion”. We can analyze the vision statement in following way:

Ignite opportunity

Uber is successful in creating opportunities for riders as well as drivers. Uber has provided a uniform platform where the passengers and drives may connect with each other easily. Uber make sure that people arrive at their destinations safely, within time and at affordable cost. So this is a great opportunity for passengers. It also enables them to share empty seats with other passengers thus provide them opportunity to save money. At the same time Uber provides employment opportunity to many drivers by giving them steady business.

Setting the world in motion

This part of the vision statement mentions that Uber is keen to help the people move for their needs. Uber wants to establish itself as the most dependable mode of transportation in the world. It is dependable in terms of service, security, and pricing. Reliability is the most important thing; Uber wants to be identified for and Uber has been successful in getting the right things to the satisfaction of its customers.

Core Values

Uber’s core values consist of “we build globally, we live locally, we customer obsessed, we celebrate differences, we do the right thing, we act like owners, we persevere, we value ideas over hierarchy, we make big bold bets.”

By setting these core values, Uber wants to construct on a global scale while living on a local scale. Uber’s core values show that the customer is most important for it, it is proud of its differences, it follows the rules, acts like a proprietor, places a high value on the suggestions of hierarchy and place large, risky wagers.

Uber’s Business Strategy

Uber’s business strategy is based on the following points:

User Convenience

Uber has made its online platform customer friendly. Uber is concerned about the convenience of customer. No need to call or wait in a line, just tap a request on your phone from the convenience of your home and the cab will arrive within 2 to 3 minutes.

When the customer reaches their destinations, no need to pay cash. The amount will automatically deduct online from customer’s account and receipt is sent through e mail. The dispute resolution is also very easy in Uber. The ride route map is send to customer with the ride receipt and any complaint regarding longer route, etc. may be recorded online. Uber promptly refund in this case.

Cost- savings through Innovations

The app designed by Uber integrates innovative features and capabilities. Due to the innovative technology, Uber is able to run its operations at low cost and this is a competitive advantage of Uber.

Growth through Acquisitions

Acquiring related and adjacent businesses for growth is an important business strategy of Uber. Uber has acquired artificial intelligence company Mighty AI in 2014, grocery delivery app Cornershop in 2015 and geospatial software platform deCarta in 2015. Even in pandemic-troubled year of 2020 it completed the acquisitions of vehicle hire company Careem, food delivery service Postmates, taxi booking and dispatch software Autocab and transportation technology firm Routematch. This all shows that acquisition of related businesses is an important business strategy of Uber through which it aims to achieve growth in its business.

Increased Service Range to Fulfill the Customer Requirements

One of the business strategies Uber adopts is to provide a range of services to make the customers happy and to fulfill their requirements. Uber offers many services like Uber X, Uber XI, Uber Pool, UberGO, Uber AUTO, Uber Access, Uber MOTO, Uber Premium or Uber Rush. The customers can choose any service depending upon their budget, the occasion and purpose of ride.

Uber is continuously adding more services to its platform and utilizing same set of competitive advantages. Although offering these services brings some additional costs for the company, the advantages derived from these is manifold.

Conclusion

Uber is one of the firms who have achieved success through innovation. Uber’s business strategy is focused on the customer and the way it is making the transit easy for the customers through its online platform is amazing. It has not limited itself to the modern ride-sharing and transportation industry but its strategic investments in its food delivery arm Uber Eats showcases its diversification strategy appropriately.

Also read: Walmart’s Business Strategy and Competitive Advantages