Due Diligence in global marketing

GLOBAL MARKETING 4
Drive-Sharing Memo
The question that is existing centers on whether U-Drive Transport could or should expand within its home country or whether it would be wiser to keep the current scale and size that it has now. Of course, there are a number of important factors to center on and discuss when it comes to that subject. These include the marketing methods, legal factors, environmental factors and the economics involved. On the whole, it is hard to provide a single and monolithic answer to whether U-Drive should expand and how to do it. However, the closest thing to it would be to say that it would work if things are done the right way.
The first major part of things to look at when assessing whether U-Drive should expand within the United States is the current competition climate that exists. Indeed, Uber is the “big dog” in the yard and Lyft and a few smaller outfits are out there. Uber in particular has faced some economic and legal challenges including charges of sexual harassment, whether the drivers for those firms should be treated as employees or contractors and so forth. The primary way that U-Drive would be able to address this is that they would have prices that would be competitive with Uber and Lyft but things would be done in a way that is more efficient and regulated. First, there is rather poor control when it comes the staffing levels that Uber and Lyft employ. The fact that there is no regulation or control on when people clock in or out leads to too many drivers in some instances (thus meaning less fares for everyone involved) and not enough drivers when it is really needed. Rather than just having controlled chaos, U-Drive would be wise to have drivers present to the degree that is necessary. U-Drive can pay a decent wage, let people keep their tips and reimburse for gas and so forth. In other words, there would be a way to provide the value and discount of Uber and Lyft without all of the problems that seem to come along the way (Hawkins, 2017).
As for competition and the like, U-Drive will need to ramp things up slowly. There will be the need to keep the drivers busy while at the same time not cutting things to the bone. As volume gets higher and higher, U-Drive can ramp up personnel. It will be through quality cars and quality service that will get the company more business rather than allowing for a huge inconsistency from driver to driver like is present with Uber and Lyft. At the same time, the overall price point will be kept down. Rather than have to worry about reckless drivers, chain-smoking drivers or poor service, U-Drive will be able to blend between value and keeping the service level where it needs to be (Tiku, 2017).
The demographics in question are clearly trending younger, although that is not entirely true. Sure, a bulk of the business involved will be Millennials but having a quality yet cheaper car/taxi service will help attract Generation X people and Baby Boomers to the fold. Further, as Generation Z comes of age and starts to move out on their own and spend money, they will have a ripe opportunity to sample what is out there and hopefully come to the conclusion that U-Drive is the best option. Finally, there is the culture side of things. This means making sure the drivers know the city well, know where the “hot spots” are such as the bar areas and so forth and otherwise have a “local feel” for the people that buy their services. There could and should be a blend between a firm and controlling corporate presence while at the same time keep things polite and local.
It is a tall order to suggest or demand that all of the above be done correctly. However, Uber and Lyft are clearly not doing things as well as they could or should and there is a lot of untapped demand that is not being met including drunk people who should not be driving, more mature passengers-to-be that are apprehensive about Uber/Lyft yet not willing to pay double for taxis and so forth. Rather than engaging in a roughshod money-grab that is more about making revenue as quickly as possible, there should instead be an organic and positive emergence at work.






















References
Hawkins, A. (2017). The five issues holding Uber and Lyft back in big states. The Verge.
Retrieved 1 August 2017, from https://www.theverge.com/2016/9/21/12987566/uber-
lyft-five-issues-big-state-legislation-failure-schaller
Tiku, N. (2017). Why Aren't More Employees Suing Uber?. WIRED. Retrieved 1 August 2017,
from https://www.wired.com/story/uber-susan-fowler-travis-kalanick-arbitration/