Issue
Uber, a transport service, is a digital transportation company that offers passengers the opportunity to book a ride from the comfort of their mobile phones. This company which is in its sixth year of operation has been getting relevant customer reviews and increased customer loyalty. However, recently the management has been receiving complaints about the professional ethics of their cub drivers. Such comments have heavily affected the company’s productivity because many of the customers are currently ceasing from seeking Uber services. One of the most recent reported cases that questioned the business ethics of the company’s cub drivers was written by a client who claimed that the driver was smoking while driving.
The client claims that she severally requested the driver to stop smoking because the smoke affected her. However, instead of listening to the customer’s pleas, the driver got annoyed and started talking to the passenger in an abusive manner. He argued that a woman had no authority to question or dictate his actions. The driver even went ahead and threatened to throw the lady out of the car if she continued insisting that he stop smoking. This awful experience made the lady develop a negative mentality towards Uber services as she believes that their drivers are unprofessional and disrespectful to women.
Such adverse experiences from this lady and many other customers have lowered the company’s customer satisfaction levels, thus reducing its productivity. This problem has caught the attention of the company’s management which is currently seeking to come up with an appropriate solution. The management’s main aim is to ensure that all their drivers uphold high standards of business ethics and that their customers are satisfied with the company’s services.
Solution
Discrimination is one of the most common business ethics issues that are experienced in various businesses globally. In different companies, people are discriminated against based on factors such as; age, race, religion, and even gender. In this situation, the client was denied the opportunity to express herself because of her gender (Nuseir & Ghandour, 2019). Discrimination is not only considered to be unethical in business, but it is also illegal. Various laws have been put in place to fight the existence of discrimination and harassment in the business field, but the evil act is still practiced in multiple business entities.
The management can solve this problem by ensuring that they develop strict discrimination and harassment policies. Setting such policies will help in preventing their drivers from exercising any form of harassment or discrimination towards the customers or even their fellow drivers. An excellent example of approaches that can be implemented is that drivers who are reported to be discriminative should be kicked out of Uber services. This policy will influence drivers to learn how to treat people equally and with respect because of their desire to keep working with Uber. In addition, the management should also consider training the drivers about business ethics and why it is essential to uphold them. Exposing the drivers to such training types will help them learn more about business ethics and the ethical way of handling and interacting with other people in business. Finally, the management should also consider holding a press briefing and apologize to their customers and assure them of better services in the future.
Reference
Nuseir, M.T., & Ghandour, A. (2019). Ethical Issues in Modern Business Management. International Journal of Procurement Management, 12(5): 592-605. Web.