Case Study of Uber

CASE STUDY ON DEMAND ANALYSIS OF UBER CABS How Uber works ? The process is simple from the consumer’s point of view: You request a car by texting your address or by using Uber’s iPhone or Android app. Because Uber sends the nearest driver to your location to pick you up, your ride arrives within 5 to 10 minutes. Then you just hop into your car and get out at your destination, with no need of fumbling with money because Uber automatically charges your credit card. (You punch in your credit card information into the app before requesting a car. The Algo: †¢ From the computer scientist’s point of view, the process is a noble attempt at solving the complicated traveling-salesman problem, in which you’re trying to determine the shortest path visiting each location only once. â€Å"Each car has its own traveling-salesman problem,† Kalanick told Wired. †¢ Uber has created algorithms that try to connect car-hailers with the nearest car. And it tweaks this algorithm every day, when they analyze car demand and routes. Ensuring that everything works smoothly are a bunch of operation managers looking at a â€Å"God View† (pictured above) that shows where each Uber car is. Demand: The way the company ensures there are enough cabs for demand is also complicated: They analyze weather forecasts, knowing that there will be more demand for rides when it rains, and also take sporting and other events into consideration, and increase fares depending on how high that demand is. So more cabs will be on the road when demand is high because the drivers will be getting paid more. And from the other perspective, only people who are willing to pay the higher price will be riding, which also moderates demand. ) Microsoft on Demand Analysis: http://blogs. discovermagazine. com/discoblog/2010/11/05/the-secret-knowledge-of-taxi-drivers-could-be-added-to-online-maps/ MERU CABS:: Driver Audit of Meru Cabs: This academy is for the chauffeurs. The professionals at the academy focus on personal key attribute of them . The academy runs a few comprehensive programs on personal grooming and hygiene and social hehaviour. To start with, the subscriber is given a one-week extensive training program on customer handling, safe driving skills, company processes, city road knowledge and operation of the vehicle hardware including the electronic meter and the devices in the vehicle. A refresher course is also conducted every quarter to ensure that the subscribers remain courteous to passengers and provide the best quality of service possible. How big is the fleet at present? What are the expansions plans, given the increasing demand? Currently we have 5000 cabs across four cities. ,800 in Mumbai, 800 in Hyderabad, 1,200 in Delhi, and 1,200 drivers in Bangalore. We plan on adding an additional 500 drivers in each city by March 2011. Meru cabs ply in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad. We are evaluating the cities of Chennai, Pune and Kolkata. What are the various technology best practices adopted by the company? We have installed various automated systems like a digital tamper proof meter on board, high- end GPS and GPRS to ensure real-time cab location and dispatch, a mobile data terminal (MDT). Currently, consumers also have the option to pay for their fare by a credit/debit card. Further, an automated speed control alarm in the cab warns the chauffeur if he crosses the speed limit. We get around 2. 5-3 lakh calls per week across the four cities that we operate in. The call center uses advanced interactive voice response (IVR) system. Also to increase productivity and improve service levels we have implemented ERP System from Oracle, Siebel. Our data center hosts a set of communication servers, application servers, and database servers which are connected with each taxi through GPRS. We are the only Indian company which has built such a world-class IT infrastructure. Does Meru have a segmented category of corporate and individual customers? What would be the figures like? Meru has incorporated additional facilities like a card payment option that has been launched in Bangalore, Delhi and Hyderabad, and will soon be launched in Mumbai. More than 1 million passengers travel per month across four cities. Meru Cabs are used for business travel, entertainment occasions, airport and railway drops. Today there is an increasing usage for shopping trips and sometimes even school trips due to parking issues.

Backchannel Responses in Japanese-English Encounters Essay - 1

Backchannel Responses in Japanese-English Encounters - Essay Example Given that the speaker and the listener belong to different backgrounds, the paper explores the evolving differences that present themselves, in responses across different language, gender, and cultural contexts. Â  Since communication takes root in feelings and ideas and manifests itself in behavior, the paper reviews existing research literature and examines if backchannel responses, in the intercultural context of English and Japanese encounters, have played any role explicitly or implicitly in improving communication between the two groups. Analyzing cross-cultural interactions, its value addition to intercultural communication is also studied. Â  The paper then critically scrutinizes convergence and divergence codes among the two groups and tests it in the background of the communication accommodation theory. Investigating into the speaking skills of the listener, the paper construes, that the non-native listener in a conversation with a native speaker, needs to use verbal and non-verbal backchannel responses, informatively and contextually to avoid misunderstanding brought-about by local and foreign interculturality. Â  Charles C. Fries, a renowned American lexicographer, and grammarian was one of the first known researchers to reveal backchannel responses in a published work. Later on, the study of backchannel responses was taken up by researchers from a variety of disciplines - communication studies, sociology, linguistics, and psychology. Â  Since each discipline approached the subject differently, they provided diverse terminologies for the concept of backchannel responses.

An organisation requires strong leadership rather than sound Essay

An organisation requires strong leadership rather than sound management if it is to become a learning organisation. Critic - Essay Example Strong leadership influences positive behaviour and strong belief among people in an organisation thus improving the overall performance of the organisation. Learning organisations are companies or organisations that develop programs to facilitate the learning of its people with the objective of continuously transforming itself to enable the company remain competitive in the harsh current business environment. Building an organisation into learning organisations begins with changing people’s rational of thinking and how they act to different business situations. Strong leadership is essential in shaping the working mentality of people in organisation, an element which is essential in shaping an institution to become a learning organisation. Sound management influences how different employees at different levels of management in the organisation relate with each other towards achieving the objectives of growing into a learning organisation (Gosling and Dennison, 2003). The succ ess of institution is however hinged on a number of factors that are under the control of the management and the people in the organization as whole. Sound management refers to the practical plan and control mechanisms put in place by an organisation to enable it implement its policies and organisational programs. Organizations struggle to adopt sound management practices hoping that such practices will improve their chances of growing into greater institutions that can be emulated by other organisations. Success in an organization however requires strong leadership capabilities as opposed to the adoption of sound management practices without improving the leadership abilities of the organization (Gosling and Dennison, 2003). The presence of good leadership in an organization can be felt throughout the entire organization through the sound policies that the organization implements and its ability to handle different challenging situations surrounding the business. Good leadership de velops a great corporate and organizational culture that guide the progress made by the organization and its success in the future decisions. The traits and features of a successful leader are quite evident in the way they handle different situations in an organization that affects the development of an organization. This paper will evaluate the traits of a great leader in organizations and how these traits shape the image of the business and its success. In providing the basis for the conclusion that strong leadership is important for an organisation that intends to grow into a learning organisation, this paper will analyse the various strong leadership theories and how they influences the development of an organisation. To demonstrate the choice of strong leadership as the best way of ensuring the growth of a company into a learning organisation, this paper will discuss three dimensions of strong leadership. In these dimensions, the different theories of leaderships will be discus sed to demonstrate my choice of strong leadership. The attributes of strong leadership is the second dimension that the paper will discuss with bias towards how these attributes can enable an organisation to grow into a learning organisation. In the final dimension, the weaknesses of sound management will be evaluated as compared to the strengths of strong leaders