Development plan of Uber

Due to the rise in the global cab industry, Uber Cab Company is up against fierce competition from other market players who offer taxi services.

As a result, a thorough business strategy is required, along with distinctive marketing tactics that will provide the enterprise an advantage over competitors. This entails fostering better client relationships, raising the level of professionalism in its operations, and assuring clear communication. Since customers are the primary factor in the success of the taxi industry, service enhancement is essential. Regardless of if they are happy with the service received or not, their feedback is needed to enable improvement and their ability to share the experience as a marketing promotion strategy.

Research/Project question and Objectives (50 words)

How will uber provide complete taxi services using the latest technology?

How will uber ensure professionalism among all its workers?

How will the company evaluate customer satisfaction through its communication channels?

How will the company ensure safety measures are put in place for both their workers and customers?

OD Consultancy Methodology (500 words)

Brown’s 5 stages of development are intended to ensure that the development of an organization is systematic and follows a long-term prescribed process.

This process involves five elaborate steps: Anticipation of the Need for Change, Development of the relationship between the practitioner and the client, problem diagnosis, planning for intervention using set-out strategies and techniques and, affecting the required change, self-evaluation, monitoring, and stabilization.

The first stage in the organization development identifies the time one feels there needs to be changed in an organization. This could be because maybe the business is undergoing losses or there is a deviation to their missions and objectives. Step two of the process takes effect when an organization development practitioner opts in enhancing open and sincere communication in the firm by establishing trust with the membership and ensuring that there is equal sharing of responsibilities across the scope.

The third step in the process involves the gathering of information by both practitioners of the organization and their customer base. This could be by ensuring enhanced communication strategies are put in place and a feedback system for evaluation is established. This way the concerns and needs of the client are taken into account by the management and their specific causes identified to enable the formulation of a counter change strategy to the problems that exist in the system. The fourth stage involves a series of the implementation of the established strategies, programs and activities in order to effect change and consequent improvement of the system.

The fifth and last step of the process directs the stabilization of the development process with a decrease in the need for an organizational development practitioner decreases. The practitioner can at this stage disengage from the activities of the organization slowly. During this stage, the management of the organization is also involved in its monitoring and evaluation of their set out strategies.

Generally, the organization development process enables effect change in order for development.

The organization development affects various human processes. The structure of an organization affects the behavior and motivation of employees in the organization. This way, organizational development has a humanistic approach in its change management processes. As much as employees could be considered agents for production, the organizational development process gives them an opportunity to function as humans in development to their full potentials. This process also enables create such an environment for job satisfaction and positive interrelationships. Each employee is also treated uniquely in accordance with their personal needs and satisfactory development.

Limitations of OD change management model (700 words)

The organization development model has several limitations along with its steps of employment. These negative effects could be as a result of the implementation of the processes.

With the increase in the employee turnover rate, the changing composition in the employee structure may cause a reduction in the morale of the team thus preventing effective teamwork for positive organization results. Personnel transfers destabilize the group relationships and the individual employees may take time to familiarize with their new counterparts. This may, in turn, prevent the growth of the group on teamwork.

This model may result in social loafing at the point where the employees feel there is an unfair division of labor among the group. Other workers may also take the benefit of the crowd not to be held responsible for their actions yet still, others may have the perception that their co-workers are lazy and do not contribute in equal measure to the organization’s development. Some employees could also perceive that their individual performance to development is not measured and not awarded.

Team building is affected by the increased number of employees in the organization especially when they are new with different perceptive. This causes constant and prolonged disagreements on the tasks and objectives of the team, disagreement or confusion about role plays in the organization, reduced cohesiveness of the team and morale as well as increased in interpersonal conflicts among the membership.

When the employee turnover is excess, there are several negative consequences to it including; increase in the training costs to the organization, vacancy and replacement costs in instances where the organization needs to advertise for positions to bring fresh expertise on board for the realization of their development goals.

In spite of these limitations to change the organization development model, change is considered a rational activity as by it, strategies are formulated for implementation towards the organization’s objectives. Without change, there can be no room for improvement and usually, in case of stalled organization objectives, there needs to be changed to effect profitable strategies.

Change should always bring on board all the membership of the organization in order to minimize resistance that may otherwise impede the general objectives for the change. This is because an organization is considered a social construct that has different reasoning from individuals that all need to be harmonized with positive results.

Organizations should focus on their deficits in order to change their development strategies for a positive effect on their objectives. The steps of organization development both in their humanistic and collaborative aspects are applicable to international business culture and need to be implemented for growth.

Ethical Considerations (100 words)

Organizational development ethics dictate that practitioners do not let their personal values in the way of duty. The relationship with organization members should remain professional in nature. Practitioners should ensure that their intervention strategy is reasonable without misrepresentation in the program. Information gathered in the process should not be considered punitive to the membership. There should not be elements of collusion, coercion or promises for unrealistic outcomes in their undertaking.

These ethical considerations are applicable in all the five stages of organization development. When inaccurate information from either the management or the customer is obtained in the first stage, there may be a misrepresentation. In the second part, when issues that may affect change are not raised, there may be lack of or inappropriate of reality testing. In the specification stage, the degree of specificity on time frames, resources, and accountability may be altered.

Planning

The company will employ the use of Global Positioning System to enable give its customers an accurate estimated time of arrival for the order. This will also help easily locate the nearest driver from the particular location of the customer thereby increasing the convenience and customer satisfaction level. The GPS system will also help the management in monitoring the location of their drivers thus improving their security and safety measures.

The company will also employ the services of in-car credit system and a debit card access system as a form of payment. This will be significant in ensuring the safety of their customers during transactions, their privacy, and convenience.

The management will also organize continuous training forums to equip their drivers and general workers on customer relations and the computer dispatch system that will ensure timely delivery of taxi services to customers in their specific locations and convenience.

The management will also ensure periodic inspection and maintenance of their vehicles to ensure good conditions and consequent customer comfort.

There will also be an established call center that will ensure courteous and timely communication to both the company’s workers and clients. This will also allow a good and instant platform for feedback from the customers on the services provided and in turn give the management a framework to effect change and ensure formulation of better strategies.

Professional and career development skills

There will be increased education and training programs for the organization to increase their professional development and skills acquisition on technology and recent guidelines in the dynamic environment of taxi service provision.

Organizing mentorship services to the company’s employees for sharing experiences and learning the problem-solving skills.

Organizing sessions to outline the company’s strategic objectives to ensure employees align their work toward the same.

Organizing of communication and conflict resolution forums to enhance team building and ensure unity for purpose strategies.

References

Cummings, T.G., and Worley, C.G., 2014. Organization development and change. Cengage Learning.

Friedlander, F. and Brown, L.D., 1974. Organization development. Annual review of psychology, 25(1), pp.313-341.

Mirvis, P.H., and Berg, D.N., 1977. Failures in organization development and change. Wiley.