The advantages and disadvantages of having electronic communications in the workplace?

Communication technology is advancing day by day. Advanced and effective communication tools have increasingly been adopted in the workplace to facilitate the flow of information that in return accelerates the rate of decision making in any organization. Many business owners and organizations are resorting to virtual meetings because they save time and money. More and more companies have adopted web-conferencing tools to ensure effective and efficient communications with their employees, customers and business partners.

Communication technology facilitates the creation of a shared information environment in an organization. Technology tools, such as electronic mail, enable employees to communicate with their managers without the need of having a dedicated time for meeting. Employees in an organization can easily consult each other and analyze information in a short period by using electronic mail and text messaging systems. For example, Mail Pilot allows only one single login to access all email accounts. And Skype, the best virtual meeting technology, which supports group video conferencing is widely used by businesses, professionals and organizations. During meetings, employees can collaborate at the same time and share screens with each other. Therefore, advanced communication technologies can improve on how information flows in any organization, especially those having multiple departments, without affecting daily organizational activities.

Communication technology increases all employees’ participation in organizational decision-making processes. Face-to-face communications tend to be difficult to some people, especially to those who are shy to ask for advice and help. However, they can approach other co-workers by using tools like electronic mail or text messaging services. The introvert can also use these tools to participate in decision making process to voice out their concerns. Additionally, many organization have used the web page to create organizational forums to support open discussions, where every employee of the organization can discuss about various issues and voice out their opinions.

References:

http://www.meammarketing.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-electronic-communication/  Advantages and Disadvantages of Electronic Communication, Mehedi Khan

http://www.useoftechnology.com/advantages-disadvantages-communication-technology-organization/ Advantages and disadvantages of communication technology in an organization; Karehka Ramey

http://www.useoftechnology.com/virtual-meeting-technologies/ 5 best virtual meeting technologies – communication technology; Karehka Ramey

http://www.useoftechnology.com/communication-technologies/ 4 new communication technologies to improve organizational communication; Karehka Ramey

Diversity in the workplace

Workplace diversity refers to the variety of differences between people in an organization. In a globalized world today, diversity will increase significantly in society, especially in the workplace. Successful organizations are willing to spend resources on managing issues brought by diversity in the workplace, such as communication, adaptability and change.

Employers in all sectors of the Canadian economy are now, more than ever, focused on attracting and retaining a diverse workforce. And companies that take diversity seriously and implement effective integration strategies have greater success in achieving optimal employee performance and retention of staff. Satisfied and engaged employees are more productive and likely to stick around. Retention of employees means saving resources that would otherwise be used to recruit, hire and train new staff.

There is a wealth of skilled and talented people who are not effectively engaged in the Canadian workforce. The immigrant workforce, Canadian-born minorities, persons with disabilities and aboriginal peoples have all been overlooked in the past. Companies need to retain the talent they need in order to thrive. To achieve this, they must be equipped with an understanding of how to connect with and support these undervalued groups.

Furthermore, a skilled and coordinated diverse workforce would be able to supply a greater variety of solutions to problems in service. Employees from diverse cultural backgrounds bring individual talents, skills and experiences in suggesting ideas that are flexible in adapting to fluctuating markets and customer demands. Increased diversity also means casting a wider net to connect with a greater variety of people, and access broader and deeper networks, such as connections with potential members, new employees, and sponsors. This diversity can result in further reach, greater visibility and a much broader base of support.

As the economy becomes increasingly global, our workforce becomes increasingly diverse. Organizational success and competitiveness will depend on the ability to manage diversity in the workplace effectively.

References:

http://www.multiculturaladvantage.com/recruit/diversity/diversity-in-the-workplace-benefits-challenges-solutions.asp; Diversity in the Workplace: Benefits, Challenges and Solutions; Josh Greenberg

http://hrcouncil.ca/hr-toolkit/diversity-workforce-matters.cfm; Why a diverse workplace matters

The importance of reward systems in the workplace

Many employees are motivated by two goals: earning a paycheck and doing work that makes them proud. The offer of an additional reward gives an employee that extra motivation to go above and beyond.

According to Microsoft’s Business website, a policy that offers incentives in exchange for achievement can motivate all employees to prove their worth. When worker productivity goes up, the bottom line often increases far in excess of the monetary rewards distributed.

Employees are motivated by a workplace atmosphere of mutual respect. When the team is united, the lines of communication are open, and employees are likely to share good ideas and put forth additional effort in the interest of the company’s success.

An employee who has been rewarded is often more motivated to remain with the company. It can cost a business quite a bit to deal with the loss of old employees and the training of new ones. Rewards, given to employees who are considering leaving the company, may increase employees’ probability of retention and decrease the company’s long-term training costs.

A good manager can encourage an employee to work harder and better from time to time, but a reward can go a long way toward building employee self-motivation. According to Carter McNamara, writing for the Free Management Library, the most effective rewards are tailored to an employee’s needs. An employee with children, for example, may be highly motivated to achieve more in the workplace if offering him additional time off to spend with his family. Additionaly, some companies select an employee as “Employee of the Week.” This technique praises the winning employee, while positively encouraging other employees to keep trying to do well.

By using positive reinforcement to motivate employees, a manager may build a good relationship with his employee that fosters a sense of trust. In a good manager-subordinate relationship, employees may feel respected and comfortable in their working environment. Providing rewards, both tangible and in the form of praise, can make employees happier. Satisfied employees often perform better at work.

References:

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/role-reward-employee-motivation-18814.html; The Role of a Reward in Employee Motivation; Ethan Pendleton

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/employee-motivation-reward-systems-15978.html; Employee Motivation & Reward Systems; Amelia Jenkins

As organizations continue to diversify, the opportunities for workplace problems intensify. Business and organization owners typically face one or more of three potential levels of conflict — employee, team or organization issues. Most of the time, the underlying causes of these problems are the lack of open communications or using the wrong organizational structure.

SandRidge Energy, for example, has problems in executive pay and benefits related party transactions. Their shareholders have serious concerns about the company’s pay practices. There are unclear relationship between compensation and performance, a short-term policy orientation and concerns about internal pay equity. Even worse, SandRidge’s CEO Tom Ward discloses very little information about its approach to handling its environmental and social risks and opportunities, which may raise concerns for investors.

SandRidge Energy is not the only company experiencing huge management red flags. PPL Corporation also has problems in executive compensation. This company’s annual performance bonus plan is discretionary with payouts, and it’s not based on hitting pre-established performance targets. And its CEO William Spence is entitled to over $24 million in the event of a termination following a change in control.

Both CEOs of SandRidge Energy and PPL Corporation have demonstrated ineffective leadership. They can fail their employees by not defining a compelling vision for the company, not delegating, and not representing multiple constituencies. Moreover, such organizational problems may lead to severe team problems, such as the absence of team identity. Employees of the company may not feel mutually accountable to one another for the company’s objectives. There may be a lack of commitment and effort, conflict between team goals and employees’ personal goals, or poor collaboration as their efforts are not being equally and fairly appreciated and rewarded. Furthermore, the lack of identity will lead to a lack of participation, where employees may fail to complete their assigned tasks and responsibilities. Thus, organizational behaviors are vital to organizational success in the dynamic global marketplace today, failure to do so will put companies with huge management red flags and cause irreversible severe consequences.

Reference:

1. https://workplacepsychology.net/2010/12/17/eight-common-problems-teams-encounter/; EIGHT COMMON PROBLEMS TEAMS ENCOUNTER;  STEVE NGUYEN, PH.D.
2. http://www.businessinsider.com/10-companies-with-huge-management-red-flags-2012-2#hewlett-packard-hpq-1 10 Companies With Huge Management Red Flags, business insider
3. The first picture: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-the-most-common-organizational-culture-problems.htm; What Are the Most Common Organizational Culture Problems?
4. The second picture: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sandridge-energy-inc-provides-operations-update-and-full-year-2016-guidance-300335604.html ; SandRidge Energy, Inc. Provides Operations Update and Full Year 2016 Guidance
5. The third picture: http://www.insidermonkey.com/blog/ppl-corporation-ppls-ppl-electric-utilities-planning-to-start-a-new-regional-transmission-line-project-324857/ ; PPL Corporation (PPL)’s PPL Electric Utilities Planning New Regional Transmission Line Project

“The greatest continuing area of weakness in management practice is the human dimension. In good times or bad, there seems to be little real understanding of the relationships between managers, among employees, and interactions between the two. When there are problems, everyone acknowledges that the cause often is a communication problem. So now what?” Jim Lukazewski, 2006  

Businesses do not thrive solely by successfully selling goods and services. Providing positive experiences to employees is equally important as offering good services to customers. Such experiences include how staff members engage in their work, how they interact with colleagues, superiors, and customers. A supportive working environment will encourage and model positive organizational behavior among employees, and thus ensuring high productivity in the workplace.

Positive organizational behavior is well-practiced in companies like Starbucks. Starbucks views their employees as more than just workers but also brand ambassadors. Effective employee engagement achieves employees transition from workers who show up every day in the coffee shop to brand ambassadors who incorporate the company’s mission into their daily work. Moreover, Starbucks cares so much about boosting customer service from within, that they spent $35 million to send 9,600 store managers to their Leadership Lab conference and exhibition.

Starbucks Leadership Lab includes leadership training and trade show with demonstrations of new products and signs with helpful sales suggestions, such as “tea has the highest profit margins.” The majority of experiences are educational and beneficial to employees, including giving store managers access to top managers of the company’s roasting process, blend development, and customer service. Employees’ experiences in the Leadership Lab facilitate and deepen their understanding of the brand, which will encourage more engagement with their company. Furthermore, running a small business within a global brand will give managers feelings of autonomy without disconnectedness.

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz Meets With 9,000 Store Managers

Such employee empowerment strategy has a promising impact on work performance and employee well-being. Employee engagement can increase company morale, employee motivation, efficiency and customer service. This may also explain why Starbucks maintains its position as the largest and most popular coffeehouse company in the world.

Reference:

1. http://positivepsychologynews.com/news/timothy-so/200903181667 Positive Organizational Behaviour and Better Work Performance; Positive Psychology News; Timothy T.C. So.
2. http://smbp.uwaterloo.ca/2015/02/social-media-and-employee-engagement-the-starbucks-example/ Social Media and Employee Engagement: The Starbucks Example tinageisel.
3. http://smallbusiness.chron.com/examples-illustrations-positive-organizational-behavior-81818.html Examples & Illustrations of Positive Organizational Behavior, Small Business; Kenya Lucas.
4. The first picture: https://www.insiderfinancial.com/is-this-the-beginning-of-something-more-serious-for-starbucks-corporation-nasdaqsbux/119335/Is This The Beginning Of Something More Serious For Starbucks Corporation
5. The second picture: http://www.gettyimages.ca/event/starbucks-ceo-howard-schultz-meets-with-9-000-store-managers-153609281?#howard-schultz-chief-executive-officer-of-starbucks-corp-right-jack-picture-id153377910; Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz Meets With 9,000 Store Managers
6. The third picture: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20140605005494/en/Starbucks-Significant-Education-Investments-Develop-Future-Leaders;

   Starbucks Makes Significant Education Investments to Develop Future Leaders in China; Eastern Daylight Time

Organizational communications play an essential role in effective public relations, which would maintain and enhance an organization’s reputation and brand image.

In order to ensure that the public and the target audience clearly understand and correctly interpret the organization’s message and information offered, especially in the modern world today, where customers are overwhelmed by various forms of information and marketing strategies. Organizational blogs, a media adopted by many companies, have become increasingly popular to facilitate the two-way communication between the organization and public.

Unlike traditional Websites, organizational blogs that allow readers to add comments and include hyperlinks, create an opportunity for fully two-way communications between organizations and their publics. Moreover, with the valuable and necessary feedbacks and reviews from the target audience, the organization would understand its potential customers better.

Microsoft actively encourages employees to blog at blogs.msdn.com. They communicate with a sense of humor, admit mistakes when they are pointed out, and provide links to competitors. Microsoft was the single largest host of corporate blogs in 2004 according to data collected by Sifry, who said that ”there is still a tremendous opportunity for forward-thinking companies and management to have a significant positive impact on their public perception’’ by way of hosting blogs.

Organizational blogs are the intersection of personal reflection and professional communication. Moreover, such blogs have evolved from both online and offline modes of communication and have characteristics of both personal and professional communication.

In adapting to the demands of the new market, the large online communities. The shift in approach from markets as targets to markets as conversations, such as being open to dialogue, welcoming conversational communication, and providing prompt feedback, will build a strong and collaborative relationship with publics, and customers will be more likely to remain loyalty towards the company.

With effective two-way communications, the needs of the target audience can be better understood. A more specific and direct targeted public relation activity can then be designed to meet and exceed the expectations of the public and achieve organizational success in today’s dynamic global marketplace.

Reference:

1. The first picture: https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com, Microsoft blog website
2. The second picture: https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com. Microsoft blog website
3. http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/management/Ob-Or/Organizational-Behavior.html, Organizational Behavior, Reference for business
4.  https://www.coursehero.com/file/8699175/Organizational-Blogs-and-the-Human-Voice/  Organizational blogs and the human voice, relational strategies and relational outcomes
5. http://www.instituteforpr.org/employee-organizational-communications/ Employee / Organizational Communications; The SCIENCE Beneath the ART of PUBLIC RELATIONS

SWOT Analysis (eCommerce)

Ecommerce has become one of the most popular and fast-developing industries in today’s world. As more and more well-known brands opening up their online stores and new enterprises starting their online businesses, the ecommerce industry becomes highly competitive.

Under such circumstances, some small online businesses, such as DodoCase, managed to thrive in this market. When DodoCase first started, they were well aware of the competitive market they were entering. In the few short years they have been around, they have soared to become one of the most notable and respected iPad cases in the market. In fact, they won Shopify’s Build-a-Business Contest. DodoCase, a new entrant into the game, has achieved this feat and taken a large market share with a unique design, and well executed handmade manufacturing. It was all about quality in a market flooded with cheap plastic alternatives.

Moreover, some small online businesses improve their competitiveness by investing new products. It is troublesome for customers to choose one product among many similar ones. Meanwhile, to small online stores, selling hundreds of different products requires a lot of labor and costs too much to purchase the initial stock. MorningHead, a shower cap with an absorbent material inside. One just fill it with one cup of water, place it over his head and rub it around. Bed head is fixed and the customer can now style his hair. MorningHead solves a big pain point with a simple product, especially to guys with short hair who are in a rush in the morning. Most importantly, MorningHead is once size. Therefore, the online store holder of MorningHead does not have to pay for extra storage in his warehouse; customers are not likely getting wrong sizes and colors; time and money are saved and can be invested into better uses.

From my point of view, the ecommerce, a click business, is creating an entire new economy, which has a huge potential accompanied with loads of opportunities. As the daily number of internet users is increasing and more people today feel comfortable to shop online, small online businesses today could compete with global giant online retailers by creating the best customer experience through keeping up to date with technology, making good use of the cost effective online advertising, focusing on its own uniqueness without blindly comparing itself with others, staying innovative and always paying attention to customers’ needs.

In conclusion, ecommerce, a new shopping channel, has changed people’s daily lives. Surely more new enterprises and start-ups will join this game as the market gets more stable. With their own uniques and inventories, many small online businesses will continue to succeed in this competitive online market.

(445 words)

References:

1. https://www.abetterlemonadestand.com/what-to-sell-online/ Reverse Engineering The Perfect Ecommerce Product; Richard Lazazzera
2. 1st Picture : http://www.dodocase.com; Reverse Engineering The Perfect Ecommerce Product; Richard Lazazzera
3. 2nd Picture: http://www.morninghead.com/#video-2; Reverse Engineering The Perfect Ecommerce Product; Richard Lazazzera
4. http://www.ecommercefuel.com/effective-email-marketing-for-small-business/#whynotHow to Boost Sales 25% with Effective Email Marketing; Andrew Youderian
5. http://www.ecommercefuel.com/ecommerce-experts/  10 eCommerce Experts You Should Be Following; Andrew Youderian

6. http://www.ripublication.com/aeee_spl/aeeev4n6spl_19.pdf Analysis of E-Commerce; Ms Kiran Yadav and Dr. Divya Sharma
7. https://www.techinasia.com/talk/online-shopping-catching-women-india Online shopping is catching on among women in India

SWOT Analysis (UberEats)

( https://blogs.ubc.ca/yaelapt/)

This blog really catches my attention as it talks about an important part of people’s daily lives, which is food, and also addresses a problem that concerns people the most, the food delivery especially during rainy season.

UberEats, a new food delivery service offered by the globally-known transportation service company Uber, is flourishing in the competitive food delivery market.

In Yael’s blog, she has addressed some of the key reasons of UberEats’ success, such as Uber’s strong brand image and special values offered in its food delivery service. It is true that UberEats does have lower delivery rates and faster delivery speed than Postmates, Grubhub and other food delivery services.

However, to many customers, ordering food from UberEats used to be a limited experience. There were limited service area and food choices. No customization of food makes customers who cannot stand onions on their salad or other preferences frustrated. Even worse, being a part of the Uber app, makes it feel like a small side project of a company that’s staked its reputation on transporting humans, not sandwiches.

Once sliding over to UberEats, customers see little fork and knife icons, rather than the cars that are around them when they use Uber to get a ride somewhere.

The company pays extra attention on customer reviews and keeps upgrading its UberEats service. In March 2016, the company has broken a product out into its own standalone app and that limited-selection UberEats was gone. In its place is Uber’s GrubHub killer.

While the new UberEats allows instant lunch or dinner deliveries for select dishes or full-menu options from restaurants. Moreover, UberEats offered two different ways to order food. Customers could order food from any of the restaurants on the app or from one of the pre-set lunch options that Uber would deliver in within10 minutes. These new functions of the new UberEats app make food ordering more convenient for customers and satisfy a greater number of customers with various preferences and needs.

With my personal pleasant experience of using UberEats, I really wish UberEats could reach a larger crowd and bring convenience to more people. From my point of view, since most UberEats’ customers are tech-savvy, who own mobile devices or use social media. It is important that UberEats communicates its brand effectively to these tech-oriented customers. Thus, UberEats should spend most of its marketing budget on online marketing.

Fig 6. #of Facebook users who like the various brands.

 Fig 7 and 8. Sample social media posts

UberEats could develop its customer base by expanding its social media presence on different channels, such as Facebook and Instagram, and sending email newsletters monthly to share newly onboarded popular restaurants and special discounts. With the effectiveness of these marketing efforts, I believe that UberEats can attract more customers.

I’m ready to order!

(450 words)

References:

1) https://blogs.ubc.ca/yaelapt/

2) http://www.businessinsider.com/why-uber-launched-uber-eats-2016-3; Uber’s GrubHub killer is finally in the US — here’s the inside story on its big bet on food; Biz Carson

3) https://www.quora.com/How-popular-is-UberEats-in-London; How popular is UberEats in London?

4) http://www.businessinsider.com/ubereats-is-convenient-but-overpriced-2015-6 What it’s like to order a $15 burrito through Uber’s food delivery service;Alex Heath

5) http://qz.com/664552/uber-is-killing-off-its-instant-food-delivery-option-in-new-york-city/ Uber is killing off its instant food delivery option in New York City; Alison Griswold

6)https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/68814480/UberEATS%20Market%20Analysis%202016.pdf Market Analysis 2016, Monisha Monikantarajan, July 2016

As a student from business school, “networking” is the word I heard almost everyday. To make myself look more like a Sauder student, I participated two networking events this week, Speed Dating and CEO Dinner Night with entrepreneurs from various industries. I had a great chance of listening to many of these entrepreneurs’ invaluable life and career experiences. What left me with deep impression was actually two delegates who both used to work in a consulting farm, but one quitted the job three days before his marriage and the other one left his job to start his own company in Africa. Though they were not consultants anymore, their working experiences evolved my interest in the consulting industry.

Most people may have heard about “The Big Three”, McKinsey, BCG and Bain, the world’s three largest strategy consulting firms. But only a few know exactly what the true values that a consulting firm bring to the business world today.

Management consultants often bring their own proprietary methodologies or frameworks to guide the identification of problems and to serve as the basis for recommendations for more effective or efficient ways of performing work tasks.

This explains why many CEOs are willing to pay high charge for a consultant. The high demand for consultants in society is also supported by a market research done by Source Information Services. This research organization surveyed 250 U.S. consulting clients, that over the next 12 months, 82 percent of the U.S. say they won’t cut the amount they spend on outside help. And nearly half, 42 percent, plan to bring in even more consultants, while 5 percent expect to boost their spending on consultants by more than 50 percent.

Moreover, this research also reflected that if consulting companies halve their fees, 59 percent of the clients surveyed would “buy a lot more consulting.” What this response suggests, is the inelasticity of consulting prices, because it would take a huge cut to stimulate growth. Rather, consultants should focus on communicating the value they add and differentiating themselves from competitors. It is true that consulting firm can be super competitive, but working is highly flexible and consultants get to connect with amazing clients from all types of industries. There is no one specific type of client which makes developing solutions and ideas exciting as every situation is different.

I am excited about the fact that McKinsey just opened an office in Vancouver, which was founded in 2015 by a group of entrepreneurial colleagues, eager to create a new talent hub for the firm here. Moreover, as Vancouver is Canada’s gateway to the Asia-Pacific region, this office is ideally positioned to serve clients in the emerging market. Most importantly, this Vancouver office opens a new door to many Sauder graduates.

Word Count: 450

References:

1) http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-06-13/where-the-growth-is-in-management-consulting Where the Growth Is in Management Consulting, Ira Sager

2) http://www.businessinsider.com/what-consultants-do-2014-2 Here’s What Consultants Actually Do All Day, Alison Griswold

3) http://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/mckinsey-analytics/how-we-help-clients/risk-advanced-analytics , McKinsey Analytics,

4) http://talentegg.ca/incubator/2013/09/30/the-10-best-things-about-a-consulting-career/ The 10 Best Things About Being A Consultant, Meghan Greaves

5) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Management_consulting Management consulting, Wikipedia

6) The first picture http://pantheonuk.org/business-conferences-perfect-networking-opportunity-says-pantheon-uk/

6) The second picture http://www.consultantsmind.com/2013/05/30/economist-article-51113-to-the-brainy-the-spoils/

7) The third picture http://wikimapia.org/17272534/Financial-District

( https://blogs.ubc.ca/yaelapt/)

This blog really catches my attention as it talks about an important part of people’s daily lives, which is food, and also addresses a problem that concerns and troubles people the most, the  food delivery especially during rainy season.

UberEasts, a new food service offered by the globally-known transportation service company Uber, is flourishing in the highly competitive food delivery market. In Yael’s blog, she has already addressed some of the key reasons of its success, such as Uber’s strong brand image and special values offered in its food delivery service. It is true that UberEasts does have lower delivery rates and faster delivery speed than Postmates, Grubhub and other food delivery services.

However, to many customers, ordering food from UberEats used to be a limited experience. There were limited service area and food choices during the lunch hour. No customization of food makes customers who cannot stand onions on their salad or other preferences frustrated as the food is already made. Even worse, being a part of the Uber app, makes it feel like a small side project of a company that’s staked its reputation on transporting humans, not sandwiches.

Once sliding over to UberEats, customers see little fork and knife icons, rather than the cars that are around them when they use Uber to get a ride somewhere.

The company pays extra attention on customer reviews and keeps developing and upgrading its UberEats service to make it more user-friendly. In March 2016, for the first time, the company has broken a product out into its own standalone app and that lunch-only, limited-selection UberEats was gone. In its place is Uber’s GrubHub killer.

While the new UberEats app had been just a lunch service, it will now allow instant lunch or dinner deliveries for select dishes or full-menu options from restaurants. Once a customer places his order, a specially trained Uber driver carrying lunch bags to keep the food warm or cold will deliver it while the customer can actually track their progress on his screen. Moreover, UberEats has no minimum charge requirement. Customers do not have to struggle to add more food to have a delivery. Furthermore, UberEats offered two different ways to order food. The first was a Seamless-like experience, in which customers could order food from any of the dozens of restaurants on the app, and Uber would facilitate the delivery. The second was an upgraded “instant delivery” menu that featured two pre-set lunch options from a rotating group of restaurants that Uber said it would deliver in as little as 10 minutes. These new functions of the new UberEats app make food ordering more convenient for customers and satisfy a larger number of customers with various preferences and needs.

Like what Yael said in her blog, “I’m ready to order!”

(450 words)

References:

1) https://blogs.ubc.ca/yaelapt/

2) http://www.businessinsider.com/why-uber-launched-uber-eats-2016-3; Uber’s GrubHub killer is finally in the US — here’s the inside story on its big bet on food; Biz Carson

3) https://www.quora.com/How-popular-is-UberEats-in-London; How popular is UberEats in London?

4) http://www.businessinsider.com/ubereats-is-convenient-but-overpriced-2015-6 What it’s like to order a $15 burrito through Uber’s food delivery service;Alex Heath

5) http://qz.com/664552/uber-is-killing-off-its-instant-food-delivery-option-in-new-york-city/ Uber is killing off its instant food delivery option in New York City; Alison Griswold