Uberisation
Uberisation describes an economic and social phenomenon marked by the rise of digital platforms that connect service providers directly with users, often bypassing traditional players and existing regulation. The phenomenon takes its name from Uber, which transformed passenger transport by launching a mobile app to book a car with a driver, without going through traditional taxi services.
There are as many definitions of uberisation as there are consultants in France, as though uberisation could be used to illustrate whichever angle of your business model you happen to need.
Is it a question of customer relationships? A question of automation? Of platformisation? Of multi-sided markets? What is certain is that we now know uberisation was only the beginning.
Running 6 months of research into the creation of Uber for my podcast Startup Autopsy, I picked apart the strategy its founders followed, the management practices in place and their distinctive company culture.
The 6 pillars of uberisation
I have identified 6 essential elements that every company needs to take into account to understand uberisation while steering clear of the stereotypes and the needless worry.
Customer dissatisfaction: the absence of empathy as an accelerator of digitalisation
This pillar rests on the idea that customer dissatisfaction often comes from a lack of empathy on the part of companies. When companies fail to understand the needs and the expectations of their customers, a gap opens up between them. Digitalisation can help close that gap by making customer needs easier to understand and by delivering more personalised solutions.
Digitalisation: the digitisation of knowledge and the rise of AI
Digitalisation is a process that turns information and processes into digital form. It includes the digitisation of knowledge, meaning the conversion of expertise into digital data. The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) also plays a key role in this pillar, because it allows that data to be analysed and used far more effectively.
Democratisation: commoditisation and the shift of value
Democratisation refers to making products and services available to a far larger number of people. Commoditisation is the process by which a product or a service becomes an everyday commodity, easily accessible and interchangeable. A shift of value happens when the added value of a product or a service moves from one player to another along the value chain.
From service to solution: anything as a service becomes anything as a solution
This pillar puts the emphasis on the move from delivering services to delivering solutions. Companies now aim to solve their customers’ problems by offering complete solutions that reach well beyond the delivery of a service. The concept of Anything as a Service (AaaS) is evolving into Anything as a Solution (AaaS), where companies offer personalised solutions to meet the specific needs of their customers.
Defragmentation: a single player takes over the customer relationship
Defragmentation refers to the consolidation of several services or suppliers into a single point of contact for the customer. Customers can hold one relationship with a single supplier who takes care of all their needs, and the old pattern of juggling several suppliers for different services falls away. That simplifies the management of customer relationships and improves the customer experience.
Transferring the work to the customer: a shift of responsibility. Ikea as a model of uberisation?
This pillar concerns the transfer of certain responsibilities and tasks from the supplier to the customer. In the Ikea model, for example, customers are responsible for assembling their own furniture. Transferring work to the customer in this way can reduce costs for the supplier and give the customer more control over the product or the service. It can also increase the customer’s workload and call for far more involvement on their part.
Using uberisation in HR
On-demand recruitment
Companies can use online platforms to recruit temporary workers or freelancers for specific projects. That lets companies find talent with the required skills quickly without having to hire full-time employees. Companies can also use algorithms and artificial intelligence tools to filter and select the most qualified candidates.
Talent management
Talent management platforms allow companies to track and manage the skills and the performance of their employees. Employees can also use these platforms to look for training and professional development opportunities. Companies can use data analysis tools to identify talent trends and talent needs, and to plan training and development initiatives accordingly.
Online training
Opening online learning platforms to employees lets a company offer them training on demand. They can then reach training resources at any time and follow courses suited to their needs and their own pace. This is what clients do to access my online training on change through Udemy for Business.
Performance management
Managers are no longer necessarily involved in assessing the performance of their employees. Employees can assess each other, in the way peer to peer platforms work. In that case, the manager’s role shifts towards analysing performance trends and needs, and planning individual training and development initiatives.
Communication and collaboration
Online communication tools make communication and collaboration between employees easier, particularly in teams spread across different locations. That lets employees work together more effectively and share information in real time. Companies can also use data analysis tools to assess how effective their communication and collaboration are, and to identify the areas that need particular attention.