Uberisation

The term Uberisation defines a transition to an operational model which enables economic agents to exchange underutilized capacity of existing assets or human resources with close to zero transaction cost.

Uberisation is a term derived from the company name Uber. The company developed a mobile application that allows consumers to submit a trip request which is then routed to Uber drivers who use their own cars.^[1][2] The term refers to the utilisation of computing platforms, such as mobile applications, in order to facilitate peer to peer transactions between clients and providers of a service, often bypassing the role of centrally planned corporations. The model has different operating costs compared to a traditional business.^[3][4][5]

Background

Uberisation has been made possible by the development of digital technologies developed in the 20th and 21st centuries. Business organisations such as Uber, GrabCar, and AirBnB enable potential customers to be put into direct contact with potential providers of a service. The phenomenon of uberisation is characterised by the elimination or quasi-elimination of middle man roles.^[5]

Uberised business formats are characterised by the following elements:^[6]

• The use of a digitalised platform enabling peer to peer, or quasi-peer to peer transactions
• Minimising the distance between the provider and customer of a service
• The use of a rating system for the quality of the service provided by a provider.

Prevalence

Uberisation has, as of yet, taken place in a limited but growing amount of industries. For example, with the advent of AirBnB, the hospitality industry has been transformed to a large extent, estimated by industry analysts to have a total annual value, just in New York City, of over US$2.1 billion.^[7] Whilst uberisation has been criticised as potentially catalysing a chaotic shift by undermining existing corporate models in the hospitality and taxi industries, existing companies in industries such as marketing can use the phenomenon to reduce expenses and provide more specialised services for customers.^[3]

Examples

Notable examples of uberisation include:

• In the transportation industry (displacing taxi companies such as Comfort Delgro^[8] and international equivalents):
  • Uber (the company for which the phenomenon is named)
  • GrabCar^[9]
  • Didi Kuaidi^[10]
  • Lyft^[11]
  • Careem (Dubai based company)
  • Ola Cabs (India based company)
  • Gett
  • Blablacar
• In the hospitality industry (rivalling traditional hotels and guesthouses)
  • AirBnB
  • Booking.com
  • CouchSurfing
• In the film viewing industry (displacing DVD rental companies and traditional movie theatres^[12]):
  • Tudou
• In the fundings of projects :
  • Kickstarter
  • Indiegogo
• In the retail sector :
  • Craigslist
  • eBay
• In the services :
  • TaskRabbit

Ethical concerns

The phenomenon of uberisation has been criticised for its role in facilitating the decline of labour-intensive industries, and hence for threatening jobs.^[13][14]

Uberisation has also raised concerns over government regulations and taxation, insofar as the formalised application of the sharing economy has led to disputes over the extent to which the provider of services via an uberised platform should be held accountable to corporate regulations and tax obligations.^[15]

See also

• Digitalisation
• Access economy
• Generic trademark
• Internet of things
• Network economy
• The Wealth of Networks

References

1. Rusli, Evelyn (June 6, 2014). "Uber Dispatches trips". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved November 7, 2014.
2. Goode, Lauren (June 17, 2011). "Worth It? An App to Get a Cab". The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company.
3. "Taking uberization to the Field - Disruption is coming for Field Marketing". 9 May 2016.
4. "Uberisation and the New Economy". Curatti.
5. M. Lazo, Kristyn Nika. "Execs wary 'disruptive tech' to heighten biz competition – IBM". Manila Times. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
6. Pichère, Pierre (29 April 2016). "Les artisans face au choc de l'ubérisation". Le Moniteur. pp. 12–15. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
7. "New study confirms Airbnb's negative impact on hotel industry".
8. "Taxi operators must pick up the challenge". AsiaOne.
9. "Uber rival GrabTaxi plans carpooling service in Singapore". The Straits Times.
10. Daniel Roberts (19 August 2015). "Uber Rival Grabtaxi Scores Funding From Uber Rival Didi Kuaidi - Fortune". Fortune.
11. Victoria Ho (4 December 2015). "Lyft makes big play for Asia by partnering with 3 main Uber rivals". Mashable.
12. Evan Schuman (18 April 2016). "Need more proof of mobile's impact? Look to AMC CEO's statements". Computerworld.
13. "The 'uberisation' of the workplace is a new revolution". EurActiv.com.
14. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic (21 March 2014). "The Uberisation of Talent: Can the Job Market Really Be Optimised?". Forbes.
15. "'Uberisation' of economies pinching state tax revenues". Business Insider. 27 September 2015.

External links

• The dictionary definition of uberisation at Wiktionary