Uber's CEO takes temporary leave amid attempts to reset corporate culture
Uber CEO Travis Kalanick on Tuesday informed workers that he'll be taking an indefinite leave of absence from the ridesharing company, which is struggling to remake itself in light of complaints about a broken internal culture.
Kalanick should eventually return, but at that point will have some of his duties handed to a chief operating officer the company has yet to recruit, Bloomberg reported. In the meantime, Uber will be run by a management committee.
Kalanick's departure was motivated partly by the company's problems, but also by the recent death of his mother in a boating accident.
The company held a staff meeting on Tuesday, in which it revealed 47 recommendations stemming from a probe by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. Some of these include a board oversight committee, changes to corporate values, less alcohol at official events, and a ban on intimate relationships with bosses.
Those recommendations were approved on Sunday, and on Monday the company removed Emil Michael, its controversial senior VP of business who among other things once suggested building a team to dig up dirt on critical journalists.
Uber has also been dealing with accusations of sexual harassment, discrimination, and using underhanded tactics against competitors or even governments. One internal app -- "Greyball" -- once helped drivers avoid government officials in cities where the service wasn't legal.
To deter fraud, the company at one point began collecting UUIDs of iOS devices with the Uber app, hoping to deter people fradulently claiming new account bonuses. This led to a direct confrontation between Kalanick and Apple CEO Tim Cook, since the practice violated App Store rules.
The shakeup at Uber could continue, since a separate probe is reviewing 215 human resources claims, and has already led to over 20 people being fired.
Recently the company recruited Bozoma Saint John -- Apple's former head of Global Marketing for Apple Music and iTunes -- to serve as a "chief brand officer" who will reshape its public image.
Kalanick should eventually return, but at that point will have some of his duties handed to a chief operating officer the company has yet to recruit, Bloomberg reported. In the meantime, Uber will be run by a management committee.
Kalanick's departure was motivated partly by the company's problems, but also by the recent death of his mother in a boating accident.
The company held a staff meeting on Tuesday, in which it revealed 47 recommendations stemming from a probe by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. Some of these include a board oversight committee, changes to corporate values, less alcohol at official events, and a ban on intimate relationships with bosses.
Those recommendations were approved on Sunday, and on Monday the company removed Emil Michael, its controversial senior VP of business who among other things once suggested building a team to dig up dirt on critical journalists.
Uber has also been dealing with accusations of sexual harassment, discrimination, and using underhanded tactics against competitors or even governments. One internal app -- "Greyball" -- once helped drivers avoid government officials in cities where the service wasn't legal.
To deter fraud, the company at one point began collecting UUIDs of iOS devices with the Uber app, hoping to deter people fradulently claiming new account bonuses. This led to a direct confrontation between Kalanick and Apple CEO Tim Cook, since the practice violated App Store rules.
The shakeup at Uber could continue, since a separate probe is reviewing 215 human resources claims, and has already led to over 20 people being fired.
Recently the company recruited Bozoma Saint John -- Apple's former head of Global Marketing for Apple Music and iTunes -- to serve as a "chief brand officer" who will reshape its public image.
Comments
Fun fact: you're always, definitionally, going to have a "broken internal culture" if you follow a specific rule. I think we all know what I'm talking about. I don't have to say it, do I? Even if you don't want to admit it to yourself, you know what I'm talking about.
This is Uber
And as an staffer and consultant in tech for twenty years, including household brands and dot com era start ups, I can tell you corporate culture is a real thing. Just as culture exists in any city, university, frat, or club -- wherever there are collections of humans, there is a culture. It is defined by those who comprise it. Some cultural traditions are more revered than others.
Changing a corporate culture can be difficult, as a culture starts as a function of the people who work there, but can "outlive" the people responsible, just because it's the way things have always been. The classic example is about the family and the baked ham, where the reasons for doing it that way are forgotten, and you might even end up with a bunch of people who don't like ham perpetuating the culture because they haven't realised they can change it.
To this point, when you use other people's money to grow your business the culture is no longer yours to defined. I know people who own their own business and they define the culture and no matter what people think or say as long as that person is paying your paycheck your idea of what the culture should be does not matter.
Face it, many companies definite a culture only to make sure people do not leave and they work hard without giving it a second thought. These nice work environments and perks are all design to make sure people never want to leave work. I just read Ford just set up an R&D group in a space in large mall which left empty when large retailer left and they said that employees love it since they can got to the mall and shop during lunch. Yeah perfect to allow people to work longer hours.
#deleteUber #Lyft