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Case | HBS Case Collection | January 2016 (Revised November 2016)

Uber in China: Driving in the Gray Zone

by William C. Kirby, Joycelyn W. Eby, Shuang L. Frost and Adam K. Frost

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Abstract

CEO and Founder of Uber Technologies, Travis Kalanick, had made clear to investors and the public that expansion into China was one of his company's major priorities for 2016. Uber had already demonstrated remarkable capacity for rapid, global scaling, and for operating despite its unclear legal status in many markets. But the China market, while offering Uber unprecedented opportunity in terms of customer demand, presented Uber with a host of new challenges, including a murky regulatory framework and a strong, native incumbent, Didi-Kuaidi, that boasted the lion's share of the ride-hailing market. Could Uber overcome these obstacles and thrive in the China market?

Keywords: China; Uber; Start-up growth; regulation; transportation; Ride-sharing; Transportation; Business Startups; Growth and Development; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Transportation Industry; Technology Industry; China;

Language: English Format: Print 22 pages EducatorsPurchase

Citation:

Kirby, William C., Joycelyn W. Eby, Shuang L. Frost, and Adam K. Frost. "Uber in China: Driving in the Gray Zone." Harvard Business School Case 316-135, January 2016. (Revised November 2016.)

Related Work

  1. Teaching Note | HBS Case Collection | March 2016

    Uber in China: Driving in the Gray Zone

    William C. Kirby and Joycelyn W. Eby

    Teaching note for case 316-135, “Uber in China: Driving in the Gray Zone."

    Citation:

    Kirby, William C., and Joycelyn W. Eby. "Uber in China: Driving in the Gray Zone." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 316-158, March 2016.  View Details
    CiteView DetailsPurchase Related
  2. Supplement | HBS Case Collection | November 2016

    Uber in China: Driving in the Gray Zone (B)

    William C. Kirby, Yuanzhuo Wang, Shuang L. Frost and Adam K. Frost

    Starting in 2014, for two years Uber had fought an intense, costly battle for China’s ridesharing market with well-financed and well-connected domestic Chinese competitors. During this time, Uber also had to respond to an ever-shifting regulatory landscape that looked increasingly bleak in 2016. Then on August 1, 2016 Uber CEO Travis Kalanick shocked the global ridesharing industry by selling the company’s China operations to arch rival Didi Chuxing. Given the competition from domestic rivals and the uncertainties of government regulation, was the decision to exit China the right one for Uber? What does this latest reconfiguration of the market mean for China's burgeoning ridesharing industry? What lessons could other tech companies learn from Uber’s experiences in China?

    Keywords: China; Uber; Didi Chuxing; Start-up growth; regulation; transportation; Ride-sharing; Transportation; Business Startups; Growth and Development; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Transportation Industry; Technology Industry; China;

    Citation:

    Kirby, William C., Yuanzhuo Wang, Shuang L. Frost, and Adam K. Frost. "Uber in China: Driving in the Gray Zone (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 317-064, November 2016.  View Details
    CiteView DetailsPurchase Related
  3. Case | HBS Case Collection | January 2016 (Revised November 2016)

    Uber in China: Driving in the Gray Zone

    William C. Kirby, Joycelyn W. Eby, Shuang L. Frost and Adam K. Frost

    CEO and Founder of Uber Technologies, Travis Kalanick, had made clear to investors and the public that expansion into China was one of his company's major priorities for 2016. Uber had already demonstrated remarkable capacity for rapid, global scaling, and for operating despite its unclear legal status in many markets. But the China market, while offering Uber unprecedented opportunity in terms of customer demand, presented Uber with a host of new challenges, including a murky regulatory framework and a strong, native incumbent, Didi-Kuaidi, that boasted the lion's share of the ride-hailing market. Could Uber overcome these obstacles and thrive in the China market?

    Keywords: China; Uber; Start-up growth; regulation; transportation; Ride-sharing; Transportation; Business Startups; Growth and Development; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Transportation Industry; Technology Industry; China;

    Citation:

    Kirby, William C., Joycelyn W. Eby, Shuang L. Frost, and Adam K. Frost. "Uber in China: Driving in the Gray Zone." Harvard Business School Case 316-135, January 2016. (Revised November 2016.)  View Details
    CiteView DetailsEducatorsPurchase Related

About the Author

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William C. Kirby
T. M. Chang Professor of China Studies, Spangler Family Professor of Business Administration
General Management

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More from the Author

  • Case | HBS Case Collection | February 2018 (Revised April 2018)

    Yunnan Baiyao: Transforming a Chinese State-Owned Enterprise

    Michael Chu, William C. Kirby, Nancy Hua Dai and Yuanzhuo Wang

    This case tells the story of how Wang Minghui, Chairman of Yunnan Baiyao Group since 1999, transformed a single-product traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) state-owned enterprise (SOE) into a major diversified consumer health player in China's highly competitive fast-moving consumer goods market. The case also traces the development of the company from a private business to a SOE and then to a SOE under mixed state-private ownership.

    Keywords: state-owned enterprise (SOE); competition; traditional chinese medicine; Yunnan; Yunnan Baiyao; consumer health; enterprise transformation; Transformation; Health; Business History; State Ownership; Private Ownership; Business Strategy; Commercialization; Competition; Consumer Products Industry; Health Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; China;

    Citation:

    Chu, Michael, William C. Kirby, Nancy Hua Dai, and Yuanzhuo Wang. "Yunnan Baiyao: Transforming a Chinese State-Owned Enterprise." Harvard Business School Case 318-078, February 2018. (Revised April 2018.)  View Details
    CiteView DetailsEducators Related
  • Case | HBS Case Collection | January 2018 (Revised March 2018)

    Wenzhou Kangning Hospital: Changing Mental Healthcare in China

    William C. Kirby, Wei Zhang, Yuanzhuo Wang and Nancy Hua Dai

    The city of Wenzhou in the Province of Zhejiang, long known in China for entrepreneurship, now hosts the country’s largest privately owned mental health hospital group. This case traces the development of Wenzhou Kangning Hospital Co, Ltd. from founding to just before its initial public offering to illustrate the extraordinary entrepreneurship happening in China’s healthcare space. It highlights the challenges of China’s mental health sector and the means company founder Guan Weili employed to address some of them. How will the hospital grow in the future?

    Keywords: mental health; hospital; IPO; China; Zhejiang; Wenzhou; private healthcare; private hospital; Health Care and Treatment; Private Ownership; Corporate Governance; Growth and Development; Entrepreneurship; Health Industry; China;

    Citation:

    Kirby, William C., Wei Zhang, Yuanzhuo Wang, and Nancy Hua Dai. "Wenzhou Kangning Hospital: Changing Mental Healthcare in China." Harvard Business School Case 318-054, January 2018. (Revised March 2018.)  View Details
    CiteView DetailsEducatorsPurchase Related
  • Supplement | HBS Case Collection | January 2018 (Revised March 2018)

    Wenzhou Kangning Hospital: Changing Mental Healthcare in China (B)

    William C. Kirby, Wei Zhang, Yuanzhuo Wang and Nancy Hua Dai

    This case updates Wenzhou Kangning Hospital Co, Ltd.'s activities since its IPO in late 2015, focusing on its strategy and growth since the IPO and challenges for the future.

    Keywords: healthcare; mental health; entrepreneurship; China; growth strategy; Health Care and Treatment; Growth and Development Strategy; China;

    Citation:

    Kirby, William C., Wei Zhang, Yuanzhuo Wang, and Nancy Hua Dai. "Wenzhou Kangning Hospital: Changing Mental Healthcare in China (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 318-077, January 2018. (Revised March 2018.)  View Details
    CiteView DetailsPurchase Related
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