I co-authored this case with Professors Sandra Sieber and Robert W. Gregory at IESE Business School. It was written as the basis for class discussion on strategy, stakeholder management, and corporate reputation. Last update February 2019.
What the case is about
Uber: Doing the Right Thing? looks at Uber at a turning point: the arrival of CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, the London license crisis, and the question of whether the company could turn its reputation and business model toward long-term sustainability.
Less than a month into the job, Khosrowshahi had to respond to Transport for London’s decision not to renew Uber’s license. His memo to employees was unusually self-reflective. One line stuck: “The truth is that there is a high cost to a bad reputation.” The case traces how Uber got there – from Travis Kalanick’s founding story and Uber’s explosive growth, to tensions with drivers, regulators, and the taxi industry, and a tumultuous 2017 (#DeleteUber, Susan Fowler’s blog, the Waymo suit, Kalanick’s resignation). It then examines Khosrowshahi’s early moves: settling with Waymo, repositioning Uber as an urban mobility company (Express Pool, Jump Bikes, partnerships with cities and transit), and the open question of whether that was enough to win back trust and build a sustainable model.
The case is used in MBA and executive programmes to discuss disruption, stakeholder conflict, leadership transitions, and the trade-offs between growth and responsibility.
Read the full case
The complete case, including exhibits and teaching notes, is published by IESE Publishing:
Uber: Doing the Right Thing? – IESE Online Cases
This case was prepared by Professors Sandra Sieber and Robert W. Gregory, and MBA student Dushyant Sharma, as the basis for class discussion. Copyright © 2019 IESE. To order copies: IESE Publishing | iesep@iesep.com | +34 932 536 558.