Uber CEO Travis Kalanick is out. After a series of public relations disasters resulting from claims of sexual harassment, sexism, privacy invasions and law enforcement evasions, the co-founder announced his resignation under pressure from investors. The new face for the company will undoubtedly encounter<\/b>
\nUber CEO Travis Kalanick is out. After a series of public relations disasters resulting from claims of sexual harassment, sexism, privacy invasions and law enforcement evasions, the co-founder announced his resignation under pressure from investors.
But a changing of the guard won\u2019 t necessarily right Uber\u2019s listing ship. The new face for the company will undoubtedly encounter a slew of challenges right off the bat. But the most important matter is whether the person can continue to grow the business while completely changing its corporate culture.
\u201cIt\u2019s really important that they get someone in there that not only has a good business mind, but also has a good culture, \u201d said Gartner research director Michael Ramsey. \u201cThat will be vital for them going forward.\u201d
Kalanick, however, won\u2019 t be easy to replace. As Ramsey points out, a company\u2019s founder helped bring the business to life, and as a result, thinks differently about an organization than an outsider does.
Still, as much as Kalanick\u2019s leadership helped build the company to what it is today, it also damaged its standing enough to force investors to push for his resignation.
The change is all the more important as Uber moves closer and closer to its goal of going public. And while a $69 billion valuation is impressive, the company is still losing money. If Uber does want to become a publicly traded firm, its next CEO will have to provide some kind of blueprint for how the company will reach profitability.
\u201cYou can\u2019 t just manufacture losses without some plan for showing how those losses will disappear at some point, \u201d Ramsey said. \u201cI think that the management change and sort of a quiet period will help with that.\u201d
Outside of Uber\u2019s cultural and growth issues, the company needs to drastically improve relations with both drivers and riders.
\u201cThey [Uber] have to do things to restore people\u2019s trust, mostly their drivers\u2019 first and then, second, they have to perhaps take on some things to improve their image with riders, \u201d Ramsey explained.
It\u2019s true. According to USA Today, Uber\u2019s share of the on-demand cab industry fell from 90% to 74% in the past two years.
The data, which TXN Solutions compiled for USA Today using credit card receipts, also shows Uber saw a 3% decrease in rides following the explosive allegations of company-wide sexual harassment made former engineer by Susan Fowler .
During the same period, Uber\u2019s competitor Lyft saw its chunk of the ride-sharing industry increase by 3.5%.
\u201cIf there are drivers available, and the cost is relatively similar it\u2019s very easy to use a different service, \u201d Ramsey said. \u201cYou just need to have the space on your phone for two apps.\u201d
Ramsey suggests working to ensure that drivers are paid fairly, which could be important since Uber has been accused of shortchanging drivers.
The company has already begun working to do improve driver compensation by allowing riders in select cities to begin tipping their drivers, rather than simply giving them star ratings based on their performance.
Lyft, on the other hand, has given riders the option to tip their drivers for some time already. And while many Uber drivers also work with Lyft, Ramsey says there is a larger percentage of Lyft drivers who don\u2019 t work for Uber. The reason, he suggests, is Lyft\u2019s tipping policy.
If Uber wants to keep drivers on the road who aren\u2019 t also moonlighting for its direct rival, the new CEO will need to address their concerns and likely expand tipping nationwide.
Despite its cultural and driver-related issues, Uber has continued to make headlines for its continued push into self-driving vehicles. Sure, some of those headlines may not have painted the company is such a good light \u2014 putting cars on the road without the proper permits then having one run a red light will do that \u2014 but the promise that Uber could have vehicles on the road nearly 24 hours at a time could be huge.<\/p>\n

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