Assessment 1 - Report

The New Frontier of Management Organisation and Control Strategies

Maximum 1800 words.

Organising and controlling are at the centre of management practice, but how these practices are undertaken within organisations varies significantly (for example Scientific, Bureaucratic, Human Relations approaches). The rise of the ‘gig economy’ is raising new questions about how contemporary organisations organise and control services and workers. The ‘gig economy’ has been loosely described as the ‘platform’, ‘sharing’, ‘crowdbased’, ‘on-demand’ or ‘gig’ economy. Work within the gig economy is typified by four basic characteristics: there are irregular work schedules based on customer demand; workers provide some or all capital (e.g. bike, car or mobile); work is paid at a piece rate; and it is arranged and/or facilitated via platforms.

In this assessment you will undertake research and write a report on the gig economy organisation Uber

Your report must do the following:

1. Detailing how Uber organises the services it provides and controls the people who undertake work via Uber.

2. You must critically analyse if or how Ubers strategies vary from previous organising and controlling practice.

3. Finally you must consider the ethical and social implications of Uber’s practices and suggest recommendations on how its current practices may be improved to ensure the organisation operates in a socially responsible manner.

For a how to guide on report writing please refer to report writing guide under the assessment tab on LMS

In your report you must use relevant management and organisational theory and other academic material to develop your analysis. Your report should contain at least 10 high quality, and relevant academic references (i.e. peer reviewed journals, books and textbooks). Here are some relevant articles to help you on your way:

Thompson P and van den Broek D. (2010) Managerial control and workplace regimes: an introduction. Work, Employment & Society 24: 1-12.

Stewart A and Stanford J. (2017) Regulating work in the gig economy: What are the options? The Economic and Labour Relations Review 28: 420-437.

Healy J, Nicholson D and Pekarek A. (2017) Should we take the gig economy seriously? Labour & Industry 27: 232-248.

De Stefano V. (2016) The Rise of the "Just-In-Time Workforce": On-Demand Work, Crowdwork, and Labor Protection in the "Gig-Economy". Comparative Labor Law and Policy Journal 37: 471-504.