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  • October 2018 (Revised August 2020)
  • Case
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Innovation at Uber: The Launch of Express POOL

By: Chiara Farronato, Alan MacCormack and Sarah Mehta
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:24
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Abstract

Set in March 2018, the case follows ride-sharing company Uber as it develops and launches a new product called Express POOL. This product offers a reduced price to riders willing to carpool, walk a short distance to/from their pick-up and drop-off points, and wait a few minutes before being matched to a driver. Two weeks after the launch of Express POOL in six U.S. cities, Uber’s product managers discover that if riders are made to wait five minutes to be matched to a driver—rather than the standard two minutes—rider cancellation rates increase, but Uber’s costs per ride are reduced. Together with data scientists, engineers, and product operations specialists, the product managers must decide whether to keep rider wait times at two minutes or increase wait times to five minutes in the six newly launched cities. The decision is complicated by the fact that Uber’s data science team normally places a five-week moratorium on changes to any new product, to allow robust data to be collected on its performance. This case is paired with a supplementary dataset from Uber (HBS No. 619-702). In advance of the class discussion, students can analyze the data and draw their own conclusions about the trade-offs of maintaining the standard wait times or increasing them.

Keywords

Innovation and Management; Innovation Leadership; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Information Technology; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Applications and Software; Digital Platforms; Decision Making; Technology Industry; California; San Francisco

Citation

Farronato, Chiara, Alan MacCormack, and Sarah Mehta. "Innovation at Uber: The Launch of Express POOL." Harvard Business School Case 619-003, October 2018. (Revised August 2020.)
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About The Authors

Chiara Farronato

Technology and Operations Management
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Alan D. MacCormack

Technology and Operations Management
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Related Work

    • October 2018 (Revised August 2020)
    • Faculty Research

    Innovation at Uber: The Launch of Express POOL

    By: Chiara Farronato, Alan MacCormack and Sarah Mehta
    • November 2019 (Revised February 2022)
    • Faculty Research

    Innovation at Uber: The Launch of Express POOL

    By: Chiara Farronato and Sarah Mehta
    • November 2019
    • Faculty Research

    Innovation at Uber: The Launch of Express POOL

    By: Chiara Farronato, Alan MacCormack and Sarah Mehta
    • October 2018 (Revised August 2020)
    • Faculty Research

    Innovation at Uber: The Launch of Express POOL

    By: Chiara Farronato, Alan MacCormack and Sarah Mehta
    • January 2022
    • Faculty Research

    Innovation at Uber: The Launch of Express POOL Assignment: Comparing Commuting and Non-Commuting Hours

    By: Chiara Farronato and Caleb Kwon
Related Work
  • Innovation at Uber: The Launch of Express POOL By: Chiara Farronato, Alan MacCormack and Sarah Mehta
  • Innovation at Uber: The Launch of Express POOL By: Chiara Farronato and Sarah Mehta
  • Innovation at Uber: The Launch of Express POOL By: Chiara Farronato, Alan MacCormack and Sarah Mehta
  • Innovation at Uber: The Launch of Express POOL By: Chiara Farronato, Alan MacCormack and Sarah Mehta
  • Innovation at Uber: The Launch of Express POOL Assignment: Comparing Commuting and Non-Commuting Hours By: Chiara Farronato and Caleb Kwon
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