1,364
Views
0
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Research Article

Unstable platforms: Uber’s business model and the challenge of organisational legitimacy

& ORCID Icon
Received 23 Aug 2022, Accepted 17 Jan 2024, Published online: 03 Mar 2024

References

  • Aldrich, H. E., & Fiol, C. M. (1994). Fools rush in? The institutional context of industry creation. The Academy of Management Review, 19(4), 645–670. https://doi.org/10.2307/258740
  • Amit, R., & Zott, C. (2001). Value creation in E-business. Strategic Management Journal, 22(6-7), 493–520. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.187
  • Andersson, T., Gleadle, P., Haslam, C., & Tsitsianis, N. (2010). Bio-pharma: A financialized business model. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 21(7), 631–641. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpa.2010.06.006
  • Ashforth, B. E., & BW, G. (1990). The double-edge of organizational legitimation. Organization Science, 1(2), 177–194. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.1.2.177
  • Azhar, A. (2016, January 28). Beware of the ‘blitzscalers’. Financial Times.
  • Balakrishnan, A. (2017). Uber CEO on losing London license: “There is a high cost to a bad reputation” [online]. CNBC. Retrieved April 17, 2021, from https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/22/uber-ceo-email-weighs-in-on-fight-with-london-regulators.html.
  • Barry, D., & Elmes, M. (1997). Strategy retold: Toward a narrative view of strategic discourse. The Academy of Management Review, 22(2), 429–452. https://doi.org/10.2307/259329
  • Begkos, C., & Antonopoulou, K. (2020). Measuring the unknown: Evaluative practices and performance indicators for digital platforms. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 33(3), 588–619. https://doi.org/10.1108/AAAJ-04-2019-3977
  • Bergvall-Kåreborn, B., & Howcroft, D. (2013). The Apple business model: Crowdsourcing mobile applications. Accounting Forum, 37(4), 280–289. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.accfor.2013.06.001
  • Bitektine, A. (2011). Toward a theory of social judgments of organizations: The case of legitimacy, reputation, and status. The Academy of Management Review, 36(1), 151–179. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2009.0382
  • Bond, S., Bullock, N., & Bradshaw, T. (2019, April 25). Uber seeks $91.5bn valuation in this year’s largest IPO. Financial Times.
  • Botsman, R. (2015). The changing rules of trust in the digital age. Harvard Business Review. October edition.
  • Bradshaw, T. (2014, May 9). Lunch with the FT: Travis Kalanick. Financial Times.
  • Bradshaw, T., Bullock, N., & Bond, S. (2019, April 12). Uber Aims to Maintain Heavy Spending to Keep Rivals at Bay’. Financial Times.
  • Bradshaw, T., & Mooney, A. (2021, March 31). Disaster strikes as Deliveroo becomes ‘worst IPO in London’s history. Financial Times.
  • Brown, E., & Farrell, M. (2021). The cult of we: WeWork and the great start-up delusion. Harper Collins.
  • Bullock, N., Bond, S., & Georgiadis, P. (2019, May 13). Uber extends slide on second day of trading Financial Times.
  • Calo, R., & Rosenblat, A. (2017). The taking economy: Uber, information, and power. Columbia Law Review, 117(6), 1623–1690.
  • Cederström, C., & Fleming, P. (2016). On bandit organizations and their (il)legitimacy: Concept development and illustration. Organization Studies, 37(11), 1575–1594. https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840616655484
  • Chapman, C., Chua, W. F., & Fiedler, T. (2021). Seduction as control: Gamification at Foursquare. Management Accounting Research, 53, 100765.
  • Cherry, M. A. (2016). Beyond misclassification: the digital transformation of work. Comparative Labor Law and Policy Journal, http://ssrn.com/abstract = 2734288.
  • Chesbrough, H., & Rosenbloom, R. S. (2002). The role of the business model in capturing value from innovation: evidence from Xerox Corporation’s technology spin-off companies. Industrial and Corporate Change, 11(3), 529–555. https://doi.org/10.1093/icc/11.3.529
  • Chua, W. F. (1986). Theoretical constructions of and by the real. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 11(6), 583–598. https://doi.org/10.1016/0361-3682(86)90037-1
  • Crunchbase. (2021a). Crunchbase database. https://www.crunchbase.com/.
  • Crunchbase. (2021b). The State Of Global Venture Funding During COVID-19 [online]. http://about.crunchbase.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Crunchbase_State_of_Funding_Covid_FINAL.pdf.
  • Cusumano, M., Yoffie, D. B., & Gawer, A. (2020). The future of platforms. MIT Sloan Management Review, 61(3), 46–54.
  • Davidson, N. M., & Infranca, J. J. (2015). The sharing economy as an urban phenomenon. Yale Law and Policy Review, 34, 215–280.
  • Davies, H., Goodley, S., Lawrence, F., Lewis, P., O’Carroll, L., & Cutler, S. (2022, July 11). Uber broke laws, duped police and secretly lobbied governments, leak reveals. The Guardian.
  • Davis, A., Noack, R., & MacMillan, D. (2022, July 11). Uber leveraged violent attacks against its drivers to pressure politicians. Washington Pos.
  • Deegan, C. (2002). Introduction: The legitimising effect of social and environmental disclosures – a theoretical foundation. Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, 15(3), 282–311. https://doi.org/10.1108/09513570210435852
  • Deegan, C., Rankin, M., & Tobin, J. (2002). An examination of the corporate social and environmental disclosures of BHP from 1983-1997: A test of legitimacy theory. Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, 15(3), 312–343. https://doi.org/10.1108/09513570210435861
  • Deegan, C. M. (2019). Legitimacy theory: Despite its enduring popularity and contribution, time is right for a necessary makeover. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 32(8), 2307–2329.
  • Delmar, F., & Shane, S. (2004). Legitimating first: organizing activities and the survival of new ventures. Journal of Business Venturing, Evolutionary approaches to entrepreneurship: Honoring Howard Aldrich, 19, 385–410.
  • DiMaggio, P. J., & Powell, W. W. (1983). The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields. American Sociological Review, 48(April), 147–160. https://doi.org/10.2307/2095101
  • Doganova, L., & Eyquem-Renault, M. (2009). What do business models do? Innovation devices in technology entrepreneurship. Research Policy, 38(10), 1559–1570. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2009.08.002
  • Elsbach, K. D., & Sutton, R. I. (1992). Acquiring organizational legitimacy through illegitimate actions: A marriage of institutional and impression management theories. Academy of Management Journal, 35(4), 699–738. https://doi.org/10.2307/256313
  • Erdogan, B., Kant, R., Miller, A., & Sprague, K. (2016). Grow fast or die slow: Why unicorns are staying private. McKinsey and Company. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/high-tech/our-insights/grow-fast-or-die-slow-why-unicorns-are-staying-private.
  • Ernst and Young. (2016). Back to reality: EY global venture capital trends 2015. https://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/ey-global-venture-capital-trends-2015/%24FILE/ey-global-venture-capital-trends-2015.pdf.
  • Feng, H., Froud, J., Johal, S., Haslam, C., & Williams, K. (2001). A new business model? The capital market and the new economy. Economy and Society, 30(4), 467–503. https://doi.org/10.1080/03085140120089063
  • Fisher, G. (2020). The complexities of new venture legitimacy. Organization Theory, 1(2), 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1177/2631787720913881
  • Fisher, G., Kotha, S., & Lahiri, A. (2016). Changing with the times: An integrated view of identity, legitimacy, and new venture life cycles. Academy of Management Review, 41(3), 383–409. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2013.0496
  • Fleming, P., Rhodes, C., & Yu, K.-H. (2019). On why Uber has not taken over the world. Economy and Society, 48(4), 488–509. https://doi.org/10.1080/03085147.2019.1685744
  • Foster, W. M., Coraiola, D. M., Suddaby, R., Kroezen, J., & Chandler, D. (2017). The strategic use of historical narratives: a theoretical framework. Business History, 59, 1176–1200.
  • Froud, J., Johal, S., Leaver, A., Phillips, R., & Williams, K. (2009). Stressed by choice: A business model analysis of the BBC. British Journal of Management, 20(2), 252–264. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8551.2008.00564.x
  • Froud, J., Johal, S., Leaver, A., & Williams, K. (2006). Financialization and strategy: Narrative and numbers. Routledge.
  • Froud, J., Johal, S., Leaver, A., & Williams, K. (2014). Financialization across the Pacific: Manufacturing cost ratios, supply chains and power. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, Special Issue on Critical Perspectives on Financialization, 25, 46–57.
  • Garud, R., Schildt, H. A., & Lant, T. K. (2014). Entrepreneurial storytelling, future expectations, and the paradox of legitimacy. Organization Science, 25(5), 1479–1492. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2014.0915
  • Georgiou, O., & Jack, L. (2011). In pursuit of legitimacy: A history behind fair value accounting. The British Accounting Review, 43(4), 311–323. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bar.2011.08.001
  • Gleadle, P., & Haslam, C. (2010). An exploratory study of an early stage R&D-intensive firm under financialization. Accounting Forum, 34(1), 54–65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.accfor.2009.10.002
  • Glynn, M. A., & Marquis, C. (2004). When good names go bad: Symbolic illegitimacy in organizations. In C. Johnson (Ed.), Legitimacy processes in organizations, research in the sociology of organizations (pp. 147–170). Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
  • Habermas, J. (1973). Legitimation crisis. John Wiley and Sons.
  • Hall, J. V., & Krueger, A. B. (2018). An analysis of the labor market for Uber’s driver-partners in the United States. ILR Review, 71(3), 705–732. https://doi.org/10.1177/0019793917717222
  • Haslam, C., Butlin, J., Andersson, T., Malamatenios, J., & Lehman, G. (2014). Accounting for carbon and reframing disclosure: A business model approach. Accounting Forum, 38(3), 200–211. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.accfor.2014.04.002
  • Hyman, R. (1987). Strategy or structure? Capital, labour and control. Work, Employment and Society, 1(1), 25–55. https://doi.org/10.1177/0950017087001001004
  • Isaac, M. (2019). Super pumped: the battle for Uber. W.W. Norton & Company Inc.
  • Islam, M. A., Cooper, B. J., Haque, S., & John Jones, M. (2022). Moral versus pragmatic legitimacy and corporate anti-bribery disclosure: Evidence from Australia. Accounting Forum, 46(1), 30–56. https://doi.org/10.1080/01559982.2021.1925037
  • Kavadias, S., Ladas, K., & Loch, C. (2016). The transformative business model. Harvard Business Review, 94(10), 90–98.
  • Kenney, M., Rouvinen, P., Seppalal, T., & Zysman, J. (2019). Platforms and industrial change. Industry and Innovation, 26(8), 871–879. https://doi.org/10.1080/13662716.2019.1602514
  • Kenney, M., & Zysman, J. (2016). The rise of the platform economy. Issues in Science and Technology. https://issues.org/the-rise-of-the-platform-economy/
  • Kornberger, M., Pflueger, D., & Mouritsen, J. (2017). Evaluative infrastructures: Accounting for platform organization. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 60, 79–95. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aos.2017.05.002
  • Kuruppu, S. C., Milne, M. J., & Tilt, C. A. (2019). Gaining, maintaining and repairing organisational legitimacy: When to report and when not to report. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 32(7), 2062–2087. https://doi.org/10.1108/AAAJ-03-2013-1282
  • Langley, P., & Leyshon, A. (2017). Platform capitalism: The intermediation and capitalisation of digital economic circulation. Finance and Society, 3(1), 11–31. https://doi.org/10.2218/finsoc.v3i1.1936
  • Lee, B., Collier, P. M., & Cullen, J. (2007). Reflections on the use of case studies in the accounting, management and organizational disciplines. Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management: An International Journal, 2(3), 169–178. https://doi.org/10.1108/17465640710835337
  • Lee, M. K., Kusbit, D., Metsky, E., & Dabbish, L. (2015). Working with machines: The impact of algorithmic and data-driven management on human workers. Proceedings of the 33rd Annual ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Seoul. https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~mklee/materials/Publication/2015-CHI_algorithmic_management.pdf.
  • Lehman, G., & Haslam, C. (2013). Accounting for the Apple Inc business model: Corporate value capture and dysfunctional economic and social consequences. In Accounting Forum (pp. 245–248). Elsevier.
  • Leoni, G., & Parker, L. D. (2019). Governance and control of sharing economy platforms: Hosting on Airbnb. The British Accounting Review, 51(6), 100814, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bar.2018.12.001
  • Libert, B., Beck, M., & Wind, J. (2016). The network imperative: How to survive and grow in the age of digital business models. Harvard Business Review Press.
  • Lounsbury, M., & Glynn, M. A. (2001). Cultural entrepreneurship: Stories, legitimacy, and the acquisition of resources. Strategic Management Journal, 22(6-7), 545–564. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.188
  • Magretta, J. (2002). Why business models matter. Harvard Business Review, 80(5), 86–92.
  • Mahadeo, J. D., Oogarah-Hanuman, V., & Soobaroyen, T. (2011). Changes in social and environmental reporting practices in an emerging economy (2004–2007): Exploring the relevance of stakeholder and legitimacy theories. Accounting Forum, 35(3), 158–175. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.accfor.2011.06.005
  • Mazzucato, M. (2018). The value of everything: Making and taking in the global economy. Allen Lane.
  • Mcdaid, E., Boedker, C., & Free, C. (2019). Close encounters and the illusion of accountability in the sharing economy. Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, 32, 1437–1466.
  • McNeill, D. (2016). Governing a city of unicorns: Technology capital and the urban politics of San Francisco. Urban Geography, 37(4), 494–513. https://doi.org/10.1080/02723638.2016.1139868
  • Mishra, M., & Raman, R. V. (2018, March 28). Uber agrees to pay $10m settlement in gender and race discrimination lawsuit. The Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/uber-settlement-gender-race-discrimination-lawsuit-california-a8277131.html.
  • Montgomerie, J., & Roscoe, S. (2013). Owning the consumer—Getting to the core of the Apple business model. In Accounting Forum (pp. 290–299). Elsevier.
  • Munn, L. (2019). Cash burning machine: Uber’s logic of planetary expansion. tripleC, 17, 2, 1-17. https://doi.org/10.31269/triplec.v17i2.1097
  • Naughton, J. (2021, February 27). Uber’s UK supreme court defeat should mean big changes to the gig economy. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/feb/27/ubers-uk-supreme-court-defeat-should-mean-big-changes-to-the-gig-economy.
  • Newcomer, E. (2017, November 21). Uber paid hackers to delete stolen data on 57 million people. Bloomberg.
  • O’Dwyer, B., Owen, D., & Unerman, J. (2011). Seeking legitimacy for new assurance forms: The case of assurance on sustainability reporting. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 36(1), 31–52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aos.2011.01.002
  • Osterwalder, A., Pigneur, Y., & Tucci, C. L. (2005). Clarifying business models: Origins, present, and future of the concept. Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 16(1), 1–25.
  • Palazzo, G., & Scherer, A. G. (2006). Corporate legitimacy as deliberation: A communicative framework. Journal of Business Ethics, 66(1), 71–88. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-006-9044-2
  • Parsons, T. (1960). Structure and process in modern societies. Free Press.
  • Paul, K. (2020). Prop 22: Why Uber's victory in California could harm gig workers nationwide. The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/nov/11/california-proposition-22-uber-lyft-doordash-laborlaws#.
  • Peck, J., & Phillips, R. (2021). The platform conjuncture. Sociologica, 14(3), 73–99.
  • Perkmann, M., & Spicer, A. (2010). What are business models? Developing a theory of performative representations. In N. Philips, G. Sewell, & D. Griffiths (Eds.), Technology and organization: Essays in honour of Joan Woodward, research in the sociology of organizations (pp. 265–275). Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
  • Peticca-Harris, A., deGama, N., & Ravishankar, M. N. (2018). Postcapitalist precarious work and those in the ‘drivers’ seat: Exploring the motivations and lived experiences of Uber drivers in Canada. Organization, 7(1), 36–59. https://doi.org/10.1177/1350508418757332
  • Pfeffer, J. (1981). Power in organizations. Pitman.
  • Pollman, E., & Barry, J. (2017). Regulatory entrepreneurship. California Law Review, 90, 383–448.
  • Radu, R., & Borg-Psaila, S. (2017). Uberisation demystified: Examining legal and regulatory responses worldwide. In 5th conference of the Regulating for Decent Work Network. International Labour Office.
  • Rahman, K. S., & Thelen, K. (2019). The rise of the platform business model and the transformation of twenty-first-century capitalism. Politics and Society, 47, 177–204.
  • Rao, H. (1994). The social construction of reputation: Certification contests, legitimation, and the survival of organizations in the American automobile industry: 1895–1912. Strategic Management Journal, 15(1), 29–44. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.4250150904
  • Rentschler, R., Lee, B., & Subramaniam, N. (2021). Calculative practices and socio-political tensions: A historical analysis of entertainment, arts and accounting in a government agency. Accounting History, 26(1), 80–101. https://doi.org/10.1177/1032373220934894
  • Ritter, J. (2015, July 25). To fly, to fall, to fly again. The Economist.
  • Robson, K., & Bottausci, C. (2018). The sociology of translation and accounting inscriptions: Reflections on Latour and Accounting Research. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 54, 60–75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpa.2017.11.003
  • Scholz, T. (2017). Uberworked and underpaid. Polity Press.
  • Schor, J. (2020). After the gig. University of California Press.
  • Shepherd, D. A., & Zacharakis, A. (2003). A new venture’s cognitive legitimacy: An assessment by customers. Journal of Small Business Management, 41, 148–167.
  • Soobaroyen, T., & Ntim, C. G. (2013). Social and environmental accounting as symbolic and substantive means of legitimation: The case of HIV/AIDS reporting in South Africa. Accounting Forum, 37(2), 92–109. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.accfor.2013.04.002
  • Srnicek, N. (2017). Platform capitalism. John Wiley & Sons.
  • Stake, R. E. (1995). The art of case study research. Sage Publications.
  • Suchman, L. (2005). Affiliative objects. Organization, 12, 379–399.
  • Suchman, M. C. (1995). Managing legitimacy: Strategic and institutional approaches. The Academy of Management Review, 20(3), 571–610. https://doi.org/10.2307/258788
  • Suddaby, R., Bitektine, A., & Haack, P. (2017). Legitimacy. Academy of Management Annals, 11(1), 451–478. https://doi.org/10.5465/annals.2015.0101
  • Thelen, K. (2018). Regulating Uber: The politics of the platform economy in Europe and the United States. American Political Science Association, 16(4), 938–953.
  • Thrift, N. (2001). It's the romance, not the finance, that makes the business worth pursuing': Disclosing a new market culture. Economy and Society, 30(4), 412–432. https://doi.org/10.1080/03085140120089045
  • Timmers, P. (1998). Business models for electronic markets. Journal on Electronic Market, 8(2), 3–8. https://doi.org/10.1080/10196789800000016
  • Uber. (2019). Form S-1 registration statement. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1543151/000119312519103850/d647752ds1.htm.
  • Uber. (2021). Uber community guidelines. https://www.uber.com/legal/en/document/?country = united-states&lang = en&name = general-community-guidelines.
  • Uber BV and others (Appellants) v Aslam and others (Respondents). (2019). Supreme Court ruling [online] https://www.supremecourt.uk/cases/docs/uksc-2019-0029-judgment.pdf.
  • Unerman, J., & Bennett, M. (2004). Increased stakeholder dialogue and the internet: Towards greater corporate accountability or reinforcing capitalist hegemony? Accounting, Organizations and Society, 29(7), 685–707. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aos.2003.10.009
  • Van Dijk, V. (2020). Seeing the forest for the trees: Visualizing platformization and its governance. New Media & Society, 23(9), 2801–2819. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444820940293
  • Vasagar, J. (2014, October 10). Uber to slash Berlin ride-sharing fares to beat city's ban. Financial Times.
  • Venkataramakrishnan, S., & Croft, J. (2021, February 19). Uber loses landmark UK battle as Supreme Court rules drivers are workers. Financial Times.
  • Waheed, S., Herrera, L., & Ritoper, S. (2015). Ridesharing or ridestealing? Changes in taxi ridership and revenue in Los Angeles 2009-2014. UCLA Labor Centre. https://www.labor.ucla.edu/taxi-brief/.
  • Waters, R., & Hook, L. (2017, November 28). SoftBank share purchase discounts Uber by 30%. Financial Times.
  • Weber, M. (1964). Economy and society: An interpretive sociology. Bedminister Press.
  • Wong, J. K. (2017, March 4). Greyball: How Uber used secret software to dodge the law. The Guardian.
  • Yin, R. (2014). Case study research design and methods. Sage.
  • Zald, M. N. (1978). On the social control of industries. Social Forces, 57(1), 79–101. https://doi.org/10.2307/2577627
  • Zimmerman, M. A., & Zeitz, G. J. (2002). Beyond survival: Achieving new venture growth by building legitimacy. The Academy of Management Review, 27(3), 414–431. https://doi.org/10.2307/4134387