Business and ethics essayEssay Writing Service

Business and ethics essayEssay Writing Service Business and ethics essay Business and ethics essayBusiness and ethics often turn out to be antagonistic concepts. Even though business ethics is one of the milestone concepts of the contemporary business but it is rather the formal, illusionary concept which has little to do with the real world. In this regard, the film Glengarry Glen Ross and the book Good Faith attempt to reveal the true nature of business and business relations to uncover their immoral ground. At the same time, the film and the book show that one of the main problems of the business and contemporary society are immoral agents that drove others to immoral acts and act immorally themselves. In such a way, James Foley, the director of Glengarry Glen Ross, and Jane Smiley, the author of Good Faith, show the destructive impact of egoism as the milestone of one’s personal philosophy on individuals, including not only moral agents driven by egoism but also their social environment because they influence other people and make them egoisti c too. In such a way, both the film and the book warn the audience against the immoral nature of business grounded on norms and principles of egoism, when individuals cares only about their personal well-being and neglect interests and needs of others.Glengarry Glen Ross attempts to justify the immoral in its essence actions of some of the main characters. In this regard, Levene seems to be the most deceitful and immoral person, who always tries to find his way out of any situation even at cost of his partners, colleagues and other persons, whom he is ready to deceive, betray or ruin as long as he knows that he can gain some benefits from it. He is trying to pursue his own benefits in the situation, when his colleagues face the risk of losing their job. In such a situation, the means he chooses to reach his goal, to stay in the company, are disgusting from the moral standpoint since he tries everything from flattery to bribery.On the other hand, the chronically ill daughter is the m ain driver that actually forces him to commit all his immoral acts, starting from his attempt to bribe Blake to make him stay Levene in the company to his decision to break into the office to still the leads. In this regard, the illness of his daughter turns out to be a strong motivator for Levene’s illegal actions. In a way, the illness of his daughter justifies in a way his actions and changes the attitude of the audience to the character.Therefore, Levene turns out to be not absolutely immoral person as it may seem to be. At any rate, he has a strong motive, the urgent need for money to treat his daughter, while others act out of sheer greed and desire of retaining their position in the company. In this regard, Moss is probably the most immoral person, who acts out of sheer egoism, as he plans to steal the leads and at first tries to persuade Aaronow to steal the leads and later involves Levene, who has no choice but to agree upon the crime.In this regard, the behavior of Aaronow is also unethical because he was aware of the plan of Moss but he has never informed neither Blake about the preparing crime nor the police after the crime have been committed. Instead, he preferred just to stay aside of the ‘business’ because he was afraid of being involved somehow in the crime. The indifference is probably even more dangerous than the proactive position that Levene has eventually taken. Aaronow is the person, who knew about the plan elaborated by Moss and he apparently understood, who was behind the crime, as soon as he learned about the crime. However, he has never tried to prevent the crime or help to investigate the crime. Such people are probably the most dangerous and morally degraded since they stay silent and indifferent, when they witness the most terrible crimes occurring right in front of them.Such behavior of Aaronow is another manifestation of egoism as the major ethical framework within the main characters of Glengarry Glen Ross o perate. Just like Ross, who is concerned with his personal interests and position, Aaronow is also concerned with his position in the company and his future. This is why he prefers not to assist the investigation rather than prevent the crime or help to uncover the criminal.In such a situation, Roma seems to be quite different from his subordinates since almost all the time he stays behind the desperate struggle for survival. At any rate, he has never been involved in any crime. However, egoism is also the attribute of Roma just as it is the attribute of Aaronow and Moss. Roma is a pragmatic person and, when he realizes that he has uncertain future in the company, he decides to start up his own business and offers partnership to Levene, being unaware of his crime.However, his offer is not a manifestation of his friendship or desire to help Levene to tackle his problems and earn some money to treat his chronically ill daughter. On the contrary, this act is the act of sheer egoism aga in, like was the case of other characters pursuing their own interests and well-being. Roma is just aware of Levene’s prospects as a good partner, whom he can use effectively in his new business. This is why he makes the offer.In this regard, Levene is probably the only character that is driven not by his egoism or, to put it more precisely, not only by his egoism but also and mainly by his concerns about the health and well-being of his daughter. He is probably a good person, in essence since he never tries to act absolutely immorally and illegally from the start. For instance, at first, he just wants to talk and persuade Blake that he is worth staying in the company but, when it never works, he tries to bribe Blake. When his bribe attempt does not work either, he finally slips to the crime as the only way to gain some benefits from the deal being aware of the high risk of losing his position in the company.At the same time, the characters of the film may be roughly divided into two groups. On the one hand, there are puppeteers, like Moss or Roma, while, on the other hand, there are puppets, like Levene and Aaronow. In this regard, Moss is probably the most immoral character. The milestone of his personal philosophy and ethics is egoism. He is just pursuing wealth and wants to rip off maximum benefits for himself. He schemes the crime, even though he is not in such a desperate position as Levene is and the loss of job is not related to the end of life issues as is the case of Levene. Nevertheless, it is Moss, who inspires the crime and, first, tries to force Aaronow to commit the crime, but, eventually, talks in Levene to become his puppet, who breaks into the office and steals the leads.In this regard, the book Good Faith’s characters are, to a significant extent similar to characters of the film and so are their actions. In this regard, it is possible to distinguish Marcus as the evil genius, who plans and schemes to meet his egoistic goals as is the case of the main characters of the film.Business and ethics   essay part 2

The Public Education System is a Failure

The Public Education System is a Failure A child miseducated is a child lost. - President John F. Kennedy Education policy is one of the few issues vigorously debated at every level of government. Local communities (parents), counties, states, and the federal government struggle for control over control of the education system. Conservatives overwhelmingly support school choice and broad educational opportunity. We believe in a competitive environment that sees private, public, parochial, charter, and alternative schools where parents can choose the best fit for their kids. We also generally believe in voucher programs that would help children in poorer communities have the same opportunities to go to the same schools as their wealthier counterparts, almost always with a lower price-tag than simply sending them to failing public schools. Liberals love, as one might suspect, the big government solution. One central policy fits all. Appeasing the wealthy and voter rich teachers unions is their top priority, though they will always claim its for the children. This is why Democrats always favor protecting government teachers over helping kids - often minorities who need such help the most - escape a bad environment. Stomping out the competition and battling alternative forms of education, such as private schools or homeschooling, is also high on the agenda. Government always knows best, and decades of failure will not change their minds. But how do such opinions toward public education develop? Why is it that conservatives and liberals are so far apart when ensuring a successful educational system is one thing we should all agree on? Often, people take a political position based on the political party they have chosen. My position comes from my own experiences. My Life as a Public Education Student I was lured with an offer: Choose our high school and earn college credits. It was 1995 and I was heading into high school. No-one in my family had ever gone to college, and it was pretty well beaten into me that I would be the first. My family was on the lower-end of the middle class scale and private school was out of the question at this point. Luckily, as most would view it, I was zoned to go to a mostly white and wealthy public high school. But there was an alternative: a separate public high school recently started offering free college credits through a set of different magnet programs. As you might guess, a magnet program is meant to attract students to that school. The magnet school was located in a low-income, high-crime community and many thought I was crazy to voluntarily go there. With roughly 40% of students failing to graduate, the school had the highest dropout rate out of the two dozen district schools. But the option of free college credits that would eliminate over a year of college was too good to pass up for someone in my situation. I actually had a choice, though not as many as I would want my kids to have today. And as I would later realize, the system was not set-up with the students best interests in mind. I realized it was both a scam for me and the community that the school served. Importing Improvements Why was a magnet program established at, of all places, this failing public high school? In retrospect, it seems obvious. News reports at the time hinted the program was put into place for diversity reasons and to integrate the school better (the student body is roughly 5% white). But their was no real integration. The people bussed in from other communities were shoved into honors or Advanced Placement classes with each other and were effectively segregated from the rest of the students anyway. The only diversification that could be seen was in the hallways as we rushed from class to class or in P.E. So, that clearly was no reason to have the magnet program located there if you were seeking to diversify. One critical factor is that the magnet programs have requirements. Above average grades were required both for acceptance and in order to stay in the various magnet programs. The requirements are necessary and logical given that students would be taking college level classes. But it made even more sense as to why the programs were developed in this particular school: to import successful students and help get the school out of the basement. It was a pretty safe bet that the students being brought into these magnet programs, which were located in a school with high drop-out and low college preparedness rates, would both graduate and go to college. The number of magnet schools increased, and so to did the importation of better students. Is it cynical to suggest that these programs were introduced into this school for no other reason than to make the school seem as though it was improving, when they were doing little more than filling seats with kids who were supposed to go to other sch ools? Where the unable to make real change with the students they had so they attempted to stack the deck? Failing the Students who Lived in the Community I dont oppose the idea of having magnet schools. I believe the concept of letting high school students both earn college credits and decide on a career path would work well in a competitive educational system. But the model here was seemingly to make a school appear more successful by bringing in students who were highly likely to succeed, rather than actually fixing the underlying problems with the broken public education system. Nothing changed for those who lived in that community and went to that school. The school system tried to put lipstick on a pig. The magnet school would have logically fit into any other public school besides this one. If anything, it made absolutely no sense to put the school there at all. Yes, some of the kids in the magnet program were from the community, but that was a very small percentage. My classes were filled primarily with those who were brought in from outside of the community, then we were bussed out when the bells rang. The horrible irony is rather than taking good kids with few options out and sending them somewhere to be successful, they were taking good kids who were in a good situation and putting them into a pretty bad environment. This is why I and most conservatives support public choice. Eventually, we have to put the needs of children above the needs of teachers and and the governments dream of complete control over education.

Oswestry Mutual Insurance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Oswestry Mutual Insurance - Essay Example In 1991, the company decision-making process was highly centralized. The growth experienced by OMI in the mid to late 1980's and the need to become more responsive to the dynamics of the industry, top management decided to change the operating structure. In 1991, they reorganized into 6 sectional-regional profit centers. The branch offices remained at 68, each branch office reports to a specific sectional profit centre and sectional office. The sectional office is responsible for approving all policies written and claims filed through both branch offices and the independent agents located in that region. The head office's is suppose to establish overall corporate policy and provide support to 6 sectional offices. The head office in Oswestry and the sectional offices were organized on a functional basis. The functional units in all locations are: Premium Audit, Underwriting, Sales, Claims/Losses, Finance, Human Resources, Loss Monitoring and Support. However, even though the operational structure was decentralized, most of the information services still remain centralized in the head office, which includes related planning, control, budget authority and decision- making stays at the head office. Computers were used, at first, for financial and statistical report production: standard MIS reports included, profit/loss, operations, claim data, loss ratios, and marketing information. In the 1980's, it became painfully obvious to OMI that the companies method of processing policy and claim data needed a major overhaul. John Robson, at the time, director of Information Systems called for a serious review of information service operations. He wanted to know what data was being collected, processed, and how the information was being used by every department and branch office. In 1991, a committee was established. Representatives came from Information Systems, and the major functional area user groups. They studied current information system problems, determined future requirements, and developed specifications for new systems to meet their needs. The project was completed in 1993, implemented was: an automated policy-writing system which would issue policies, cancellations, changes and renewals, marketing and financial reports were regularly prepared, directly from the data already entered into the policy writing and claim system, an automated claim input system which automatically issue claims cheques, online retrieval of policyholder information became possible at all branch offices, online retrieval of claim information became possible at all branch offices Overall Process To Implement Change The new systems were not perfect, but was a great improvement. When a new application for insurance was received by the Underwriting department in a sectional office, relevant data was entered by a sectional office by a PPD clerk over a telephone line link into the company's large IBM 3090 central mainframe located in Oswestry. Data would then be processed in overnight batch mode to produce a policy which could be printed in multiple copies the next day in Oswestry, and on a remote printer in the sectional office. Also, an online policy-holder file would also be available the next day for retrieval on the sectional office terminal which was also connected to the 3090 in Oswestry. Prior to the systems development, work that took place between 1991-1993 and before, the establishment of the sectional offices, handling personal policy information was a semi-automated clerical

Laws Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Laws - Essay Example Albeit there was considerable opposition to Miranda warnings for more than fourteen years after the decision, these days, little practical impediment exists in the police ability to procure a confession. In Dickerson v United States, the fact that law enforcement groups did not en masse, file amicus briefs urging the court to overturn Miranda showed how much things have changed since 1968, when law enforcement lobbies prevailed in Congress to enact an unconstitutional statute (18 U.S. Code sec. 3501), which purported to overturn Miranda. As detailed by Sociologist Richard Leo (university of California-Irvine), â€Å"police use a variety of deceptive techniques to extract confessions these days. Because the confessions are not â€Å"coercive† (according to judicial interpretation), the resulting confessions are almost always admitted into evidence†. (Leo) Why do so many people confess? Professor Leo explains the incidence thusly: that suspects are often put into a physic al environment –such as a small isolated room-which is designed to make them talk. After the isolation, the appearance of a police officer may seem like a welcome form of human contact, then the police routinely deliver the Miranda warnings in a perfunctory tone of voice and ritualistic behavioral manner, effectively conveying that these warnings are little more than a beaucratic triviality. (Leo)

Community Service Essay Example for Free

Community Service Essay Before actually partaking in community service, I always thought of it as a means of overworking students for the employers to save money, but after actually getting myself involved in itI realized that doing community service is actually a privilege for us the volunteers. It gives us an opportunity to gain experience, widen our skills and get a better understanding of the hard labour and it is a process that essentially goes into the outcome of a product or service. Community service has literally made me realized how little I contribute to my country, how little I know about my country and has brought to my attention and conscience that I should try my best to assist more—free of wage—in the continuous growth of my economy. Doing my service at St. Rose Nursery, has opened my eyes to the not so easy process of growing flowers, plants and trees; for example how important fertilizers are and what a big difference the right fertilisers make—and also the different types of fertilizers and their functions . Before I never really understood the beauty of them nor did I realize how much work went into nurturing and harvesting them, but now I am more aware and more concerned about the health of trees and how they are treated and even situated in a pot or the ground. On my first day at St. Rose Nursery, I was given a tour of the compound and while getting the tour, I could not help but feel relaxed and free. The ambience of the nursery changed my mood and thought completely; it had me wondering why do we stress out ourselves? Also it made me realize that I should take time to get in touch with nature and myself. After being introduced to the employees, I felt intimidated because I was the only female surrounded by five males so I saw that as a challenge in terms of them underestimating me and my abilities but after talking to them for a little I felt right at home and was able to be myself and even challenge myself by learning to pot plants, fertilize them and water them all in one day. They were all so helpful and very explanatory and took the time to show me exactly what to do before I did it, at the end of the day I excelled and  accomplished far more than they expected; the good energy at the nursery led me to spend longer hours there than I actually expected to spend per day. Throughout my time at St. Rose nursery, I would like to believe that I have brought a youthful and eager emotion to the compound; despite the fact that we worked in separate areas. I believe that I have shown them that a woman can be productive in the nursery field and can also keep up with their speed and even surpass them; I stared of potting only 1 plant per 2 minutes and by the end of the day, I was able to plant 2 plants per minute—it was fun and we turned it into a game—I observed the workers fertilizing the plants and heard the headman tell him that he was applying too much so I made an attempt to fertilize the next batch of plants and was told that I had done a good job! Not too much and not too little; I felt pleased and proud of myself—I had done better than someone who had much more experience in that field than me. It is funny how one can assume that plant nurturing to be a simple and senseless skill, well I learned the hard yet interesting way that it is far from simple and a lot of thought and precision goes into the whole process, from the pot the plant goes into, the climate atmosphere and type of soil that it is planted in. I have learned from this experience that it is possible to push myself a bit further when trying to accomplish a certain task in a given amount of time, I have learned that I am far more patient than I thought and most importantly I have learned that I personally stress myself over minor issues instead of taking time to breathe, relax and find a solution for it; through this I have come to the conclusion that I should find more time to clear my mind and possibly do something that I find interesting, productive and selfless to release my stresses of life. I have learned that even though I am an introvert, working with people is not that bad after all it just takes getti ng used to them and knowing how to work to suit all their different personalities. I also learned that working with other people really helps to get more work done faster. I honestly can say that I enjoyed the interaction with people who were not of my norm; I enjoyed the whole learning about new trees and their fruits,  smells, blooming and reproduction time. I enjoyed planting and reposting plants and most importantly I enjoyed the view of the surroundings. This endeavour was a challenging one in terms of patience and precision but in the end it all paid off, because I was blessed with the opportunity to enhance my gardening skills and was given the opportunity to be social with people who I would normally be afraid to talk to or even be around. Before transposing myself into the real life community service equation, I thought to myself and made an oath to myself that my main aim was to simple complete my thirty hours of community service as fast and as soon as possible, but after starting and observing the nursery, I realized that it would provide me with far more knowledge and far more fun and experience than I expected and I realized that it would be in my best interest to use it to my advantage to gain a greater skill. I believe that service to others is important because it is a good way to give back to the community and also to increase one’s level of experience and variation. I believe in my distant future I would once again volunteer my time to another estate to expand my comprehension and also to help improve my community and help improve myself as a person. The people at the St. Rose Nursery are very hospital and down to earth, to the point where I can honestly say that there is nothing I would change about their mannerism. To potential volunteers, I would like to advice them to go into the experience open minded and willing to learn. I would also suggest that they find something that is within their comfort zone or something at that they at least have a strong interest in learning or have a passion for, simply because if one does something that they do not like or will not like, then they will not enjoy the experience to the fullest and similarly if one does something that seemed interesting to them before they actually partook in it, then they would draw from that experience that it is simply not something they would like to do in the future and would have learned a valuable lesson.

Tlo Vs. New Jersey: When Is The Constitution Invalid? :: essays research papers

TLO vs. New Jersey: When Is The Constitution Invalid?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the case of New Jersey vs. TLO, I rule in favor of the petitioner, the state of New Jersey. In this case, I found no reason in the claims made by TLO and her defense. They claimed that the search conducted by school officials was unconstitutional. These officials were searching her purse for cigarettes, which she was caught smoking in the bathroom. During the search for the cigarettes they found the cigarettes, rolling papers used for making joints, a list of names with quantities of money owed to TLO, and finally a bag of marijuana. TLO says that she cannot be tried for any of these offenses, because she was violated of her rights promised in amendment 4, unlawful search and seizure. Yet, the incriminating items were found at the same time as the cigarettes, and given reasonable cause for suspicion, the school does have the legal right to search its students, and finally, the school officials had the right to search her purse because there was a reasonable doubt of her claiming to innocence being true.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  TLO's 4th amendment rights were however, in fact not violated due to the reasonable cause and suspicion of her smoking, so the search was truly reasonable. And there is the fact that the teacher caught her smoking. Obviously it is the teacher's responsibility to take the student to the principal for suspension or other means of punishment. When TLO was asked whether or not she had been smoking, she said no.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The school officials then had a reasonable doubt, and they now had by all legal means the right to search TLO for evidence that she had been smoking. The search of her purse, if she had been innocent, would have proved her innocent, or guilty if she actually was guilty. The search was conducted privately, and was by no means humiliating to TLO.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Finally the officials did search TLO's purse for any kind of evidence, to prove her innocent, or guilty. They, in the process of the search, found all the following incriminating items: the cigarettes, rolling papers used for making joints, a list of names with quantities of money owed to TLO, and a bag of marijuana. The order in which they were found is still unclear. None the less all these items were found during the search which was justified by the suspicion of her smoking.

Marketing Management UBER Analysis Essay

1. Introduction Application software has been very popular as distribution platforms since 2008 due to rapid spread of smartphones all around the worldwide. According to a marketing research done by Gartner (2013), there is an increasing trend in mobile apps usage worldwide, He indicates that 21.58 billion dollars of  revenue has been made by mobile apps in 2013. Uber was established in 2009 as a digital platform that connects cab drivers and customer, by downloading the online application. Uber determines the location of customers and shows the location of the cabs nearby. Once the customer accepts to get a ride with push of a botton, the application is then authorized to take the payment based on the credit card information that has been registered under the customer’s name, without any further exchanges. Uber was established in San Francisco and has become the world’s most valuable startup in the past five years. Uber’s latest market value has been determined as 18.2 billon dollars in June 2014. However, as a disadvantage of developing markets, the entrance of Gett and Hailo in the UK market, decreased Uber’s market value. The major advantage of Gett in this compà ©titive market against Uber is charging flat fees unlike Uber. Uber has a surge pricing strategy depending on the demand, weather and distance, which is not a cost efficient way for customer. Therefore Uber it is not the cost leader in the UK e-hail market. On the other hand surge pricing has persuaded more driver to work for Uber, as it is more in their favor so that, they will not have to go through bad weather conditions or give rides in the rush hour with the usual flat fares. 2. Audit 2.a Organizational environment The increasing trend of smartphone usage especially in younger generation, technological improvements and increasing value for time perception established Uber’s increasing value. 2.b Uber’s business model Uber employs driver after they and their cars have been screened by Uber to  ensure comfort and safety of customers, Drivers are also given an iPhone once they have become a member of Uber. Uber drivers have higher income compared to traditional taxi drivers also they do not have to pay for the taxi license and the taxes that black cab driver are obligated to pay. On the consumer side, after downloading Uber, they can track the car as it approaches them on their as well as having some information about their driver before arrival such as previous reviews and ratings and their photo. Uber ‘s pricing strategy is based on the demand, distance and the car type, incase of high demands or bad weather conditions customers may have to pay a higher fee for their journey or depending and the type of car they request prices are different. Payment is done by the credit card information that the customer is registered the app with. Transactions are totally safe and secure. Uber splits the ride receipts with the driver. Uber originally used to take 20% margin of the transaction between the customer and the driver, which is now reduced to 15% due to high compà ©titions with Gett and Hailo. Uber covers its Research and technology developments, marketing and employees expenses by the percentage they take on each transaction. Another advantage is that Uber does not own a fleet of cars so they are much less costly than their competitors, This low cost business model enables Uber to keep the large percentage of it’s revenue as profits. Uber grows by reinvesting in R&D and acquisitions rather than investing in cars or expensive infrastructures. In the spotlight of this information, it is possible to say that Uber’s business model is low inventory, high transaction and high margin. Moreover, its business model is receiving the majority of funding from Google Venture. 2.c External and internal analysis of Uber Analyzing Uber from the resource-based view is crucial to understand competitive advantages of it in London taxi hailing app market. Constraints imposed by environment can have a big impact on Uber’s strategic planning and marketing. Therefore, six external conditions (Political, Environmental, Social, Technological, Economical and Legal) will be examined in relation to Uber’s business situation by using PESTEL analysis. Political factors effects transport services external environment in terms of CO2 emissions and climate change. Even though Political factors are more in favor of public transport in order to decrease CO2 emissions and help with the climate. Uber however is providing a superior service comparing to their competitors for instance Uber is offers hybrid cars, which is low in emissions and makes it easier for Uber to have some advantage when it comes to the political factors. Environmental factors such as weather conditions can affect Uber for instance higher demand due to bad weather conditions is evident. The price of the  journeys also increases when the demand is higher. Social factors including the change in lifestyle and high percentage of younger population using smartphones, indicates the customer needs, which brings them to the market. Technology developments have a major impact on Uber’s business. Increasing role of Internet in people’s life is also crucial for Uber to make innovations. Economical factors such as recessions influence directly the customer’s budget, therefore their buying power. On the other hand volatile fuel prices can have a huge impact on pricing and they are also quite unpredictable. Legal constraints also have a direct impact on Uber. Governments have the possibility to ban Uber, which is already the case in Germany, or even set new regulations for Taxi hailing apps such as Uber which can affect their performance in the market. In the next section we under take a SWOT analysis in order to analyze Uber’s Capabilities, which enables us to determine the company’s Strengths and Weaknesses as well as pointing out Threats and Opportunities. It is essential in a competitive market to be aware of the weaknesses and threats in order to be able to find solutions for them and also use the opportunities to gain more of them market share and hence increase the revenues. Figure 2: Presents SWOT analysis Strengths; which consist of internal capabilities, Uber was first in the market which creates a competitive advantage by high consumer awareness. One of the strengths of Uber is that, it has different alternatives for different customers. For example, Uber POP and UberX car alternatives are available for a cheap and fast drive, whereas if the customer is searching for quality it offers them the Uber Black Car and Uber SUV. Another strength  of Uber is that it has spread worldwide starting from USA. It has expanded through 200 cities worldwide. Moreover, the transactions are easy, safe and trustworthy. It offers a convenient way of travelling for costumers. Weaknesses indicate the areas that could be improved internally. The major point that is considered as a weakness for Uber is that they do not charge flat fees whereas Gett, which is their main competitor, offers flat and predictable prices. Moreover, Uber drivers do not have a taxi license, which can cause legal problems by time. However it operates in many cities, Uber does not operate in rural areas, which can be considered as a weakness. One of the complaints that Uber is facing is the poor consumer service. Uber offers a surge pricing for its drivers and do not hire them, but find them through agents. Analyzing the opportunities in depth we can determine that the most influential aspect in Uber’s business model is the fact that it’s a service rather than a product hence they do not have the high sunk costs that their competitors have to deal with. Moreover, being a mobile platform and not having a fleet of taxis, which is highly costly, has enabled the firm to turn most of its revenues into profits. These revenues are made from transaction costs rather than production cost. Uber does not employ drivers, which in this case allows the drivers flexibility also permit Uber to employ more drivers. The most important external threat for Uber in UK e-hail app market is the decreasing market share due to competitors such as Gett. The flat prices of Gett and some other competitors are creating a disadvantage for Uber. Not having the proper taxi license is another disadvantage for Uber. aside from that, there have been many protests by taxi companies in Germany, France, England and other nations accusing Uber to be illegal due to the fact that their driver are not paying the same tax rates as other taxi drivers, and other taxi companies accuse Uber of compromising passenger safety, and undermining legislations which exists for them. Competitors: According to the statistics of market shares of taxi hailing apps in London, Gett with 20-30% of market share is the market leader, Uber with 20% shares is the market challenger and Hailo with 10% is the follower in the market. Uber as the challenger is in a position where they can undertake some of the facilities and services that Gett is already providing for their customers in order to be able to improve their service, gain more customer and consequently gain more market share over time. Outlining the competitive landscape is important to appraise competition and indicating the strengths of the competitors can give the company objectives on what can be improved and examine weather they can be implemented by Uber. According to national statistics from department for transport, it is estimated that there are 78 thousand taxis and 153 thousand licensed private hire vehicles in England. The fÄ ±gures present that the number of PHV are twice the number of taxÄ ±s operatÄ ±ng in England. 31% of total licensed taxis and private hire vehicles in England are in London from which we can assume that private hirÄ ±ng is a popular choice for Londoners. Analyzing Gett-Taxi as the market leader we can imply that some of their most influential advantages are: Competing with flat and predictable prices: People who take taxis are not usually loyal to a specific brand and most people would choose the cheaper option and Gett has the advantage by having predictable prices without surge pricing. Enables Advance booking: Unlike Uber, Gett offers advance booking 2 weeks prior to journey whereas Uber has failed to implement this feature in their app. Offers 24 hours customer service for driver and customers: Uber has proven to be quite poor at following through with customer enquiries. On the other hand the only major advantage of Hailo that we came across is the fact that they are the only company, which has a real taxi license for all their cars. 3. Strategic Options: According to Porter, competitive advantage is derived from the value a firm  is able to create for its buyers that exceeds the firm’s cost of creating it. Utility of Uber can be increased by the following three categories: †¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¯ Service: Reducing the time to reach customers when they need the service can enhance Uber’s service. The cab and the driver have to be reliable and can provide modern and comfortable cabs for service. †¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¯ Personnel: service can be provided with professional drivers, drivers must be trained to provide personalised customer service. †¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¯ Image: Advertising, promotions on special days and to first users. Porter’s Generic Strategies: Porter called the generic strategies has three direction where the market can be segment or focused on particular path. They are 1. Cost Leadership, 2. Differentiation 3. Focus The Focus strategy has been subdivided into two parts: â€Å"Cost Focus† and â€Å"Differentiation Focus†. (Refer below figure) The Cost Leadership Strategy This strategy will help to gain competitive advantage through two main methods such as maximising profits by declining costs while selling for average price in the particular industry or growing market share through selling for lower prices, although still producing a even-handed profit on each sale as you’ve focused on lowering the cost. The Differentiation Strategy This strategy involves in creating your goods or services different from others and more eye-catching for your customers as well as to your competitors. Differentiation strategy can be achieved in a success way through good exploration about the goods or services, expansion and innovation of the goods or services, and the ability to provide superior quality products or services. This will create an inimitable image in the particular industry and alongside some scopes will lead to be valued by consumers. The Focus Strategy The Focus strategy is concentrating on specific niche markets through considerate the associations of that specific niche market and the  exceptional needs of consumers in it. This can be exclusively low-cost or well-specified goods or services on that particular industry. This will construct strong brand loyalty among consumers. This will lead the market segment to be less attractive to the competitors. Uber’s marketing strategy is to provide a premium service at premium price and have loyal customers. It aims at hip, tech-savvy customers whose time is valuable and who are willing to spend money for convenience. The campaign of Uber focuses on the service. The ice cream campaign in NYC is an example of the difference in convenience and experience. Where else could you have an on demand ice cream truck pull up in front of your house delivering ice cream for few people? The focus is on providing an extraordinary experience for the customer and let them do the talking about the brand and the unique service. Uber is having partnerships with Virgin America, which offers Uber’s points to its flyer members which increases awareness and credibility to their service. And Trulia is a real-estate company provide prospective renters a discount for up to three apartment visits as long as they registered for this promotion. Potter’s Five Forces Analysis states that business can be affected by some facts which are determine the competitive power of the business to drive in reality. The fact can be classified into five important forces. They are Supplier power, Buyer power, Threat of substitute, Threat of New Entry and Competitive Rivalry. 1. Supplier Power: the number of suppliers involved determines the supplier power in the particular business and the exclusivity of their goods or service, their business strength and power over your business, and the cost of swapping from one supplier to another. UBER’s suppliers power is high because UBER don’t employ drivers, free-lanced drivers get register with UBER and get the training and the guidelines before start their self-employment. 2. Buyer Power: the number of buyers involved determines the buyer’s power in the particular business, the cost to the buyer to swapping from your goods and services to someone else. UBER’s buyer power is high because it’s a  mobile platform and customers have different alternative services like Gett and Hailo. 3. Competitive Rivalry: the number of capability of your competitors determines the competitive rivalry. When the business has more competitors, and if the competitor can offer equally attractive products and services, then the competitive rivalry is high. UBER’s competitors are Gett and Hailo, they provide service in lower cost and they have their own drivers. 4. Threat of Substitution: the number of alternative options of your customers determines the threat of substitute. When the service or the goods has more substitute, then the threat of substitute is high. UBER’s threat of substitute is high because in London there is many substitute such as tubes, trains, buses, and black cabs. 5. Threat of New Entry: the capability of other business can enter into your market space by starting up a similar business like you is the threat of new entry. If the startup cost is low in terms of capital, time, and technology the new competitor can enter in to your market easily. Uber’s threat of new entry is very high because entering to taxi service business is very easy because the new business needs a simple mobile application and some free-lanced drivers. Alternative Market Directions for Uber Diversification strategies/path: Uber can focus on Event specific marketing like special events such as Valentine’s Day, Harvesting day, Children’s Day, Christmas and New Year days. Uber can provide special offers or promotions for its loyal customers. Personalised Car/Cab with the special trained driver for business people, celebrities and high-class tourists. Market development Strategies/Path: †¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¯ Expand the market with average pricing in nearby small cities and rural areas to attract more new customers. †¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¯ Initiating and developing new long term partnership with local hotel chains and airport local travel unit to provide transport service such as site seeing, and airport pic & drop to  their customers. †¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¯ Initiating and developing new long-term partnership with local schools to proved service for their students. †¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¯ Initiating and developing new business wing/unit for disable people to accommodate their transport need with the special features they need. †¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¯ Initiating and developing new long term partnership with courier service organisations like Royal Mail, DHL, and FedEx to provide their delivery service to their customers. †¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¯ Initiating and developing new long term partnership with local manufacturing companies to support their logistic service such as transporting to shipping, delivering goods to their customers, and transporting their raw materials for their production. 4. Marketing Strategies Uber focuses on hiring local drivers in each city. They are trying to localize the company in each city in every aspect they see. The effect of that is building a trust between the company, the drivers, and the customers all together. After hiring local drivers, Uber give these drivers trainings and guidelines to teach them the â€Å"Uber Way†. They also provide their employees with a global chat room that they interact in, talk, give ideas and suggestions, and best practices are shared across the company. So by cultivating collaboration and building trust internally and externally, Uber is trying to gain a competitive advantage in order to increase their market share, therefor increasing revenue. Uber likes to surprise and delight their customers. For example they delivered kittens and ice cream in New York. This is on of Uber’s ways to allow customer actions to go viral on social media and offline to try to send their message to new markets in order to gain new opportunities. Uber uses a unique way in serving their customers. They have a special team whose mission is to make sure customers get their taxi when and where they need them in no more than 9 minutes. They created a referral program integrated in the Uber app. It gives customers the ability to share a special code between their friends, and in that way Uber can track how many shares made, which indicates the percentage  of Uber’s customer’s acquisition. Uber’s Marketing Objectives: 1. Offer Better Service. 2. More Reliability. 3. Improve Customer Support. 4. Unique Style. 5. Provide Comfort. 6. Reduce Frustration. 6. Critical Analysis: The SMART analysis indicates that Uber can have many ways to improve every aspect in the company. Their objectives are not time-oriented. On the other had, their objectives are all achievable and relevant to the company’s mission. The analyses also show that most of the strategies and suggestions given are specific, achievable, and relevant. That indicates that Uber has many opportunities that they can benefit from in order to gain more competitive advantage and to operate better in the market. 7. Conclusion: Overall market share of Uber in e-hailing market can be increased by implementing some strategies.The report shows that Uber has many opportunities to increase their market value, market share and gain a competitive advantage over their competitors. Looking at the analysis we realise that Uber has a very high potential in achieving their objective about gaining customers and eventually increase their revenue. Along the side of improving some of their services, following some of the strategies mentioned above and solutions suggested by us, proves that Uber has a high potential and can use the first mover advantage. Distribution channel of Uber can be improved by targeting other parallel industries and move customers into greater contribution. Branding image of Uber can increase its value by providing good service and the operating areas can be increased to reach a higher volume of customers. Moreover, the opportunities discovered by using the analysis might be considered as a useful w ay of taking Uber to a higher position in the e-hail market in London. 10. References: Anon, How is Uber different from a standard taxi? Available at: https://support.Uber.com/hc/en-us/articles/201968463-How-is-Uber-different-from-a-standard-taxi- [Accessed November 13, 2014a]. Anon, The Business Co-Founder. Available at: http://businesscofounder.tumblr.com/post/34572063959/lessons-from-Ubers-marketing-strategy [Accessed November 13, 2014b]. Damodaran, A., 2014. A Disruptive Cab Ride to Riches: The Uber Payoff.Forbes. 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