scholarly journals Being a Deliveroo Rider: Practices of Platform Labor in Nijmegen and Berlin

2021 ◽  
pp. 089124162199467
Author(s):  
Peter Timko ◽  
Rianne van Melik
Keyword(s):  
Business Models ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Food Delivery ◽  
Uneven Distribution ◽  
Independent Contractors ◽  
Urban Economies ◽  
On Demand ◽  
Delivery Platform ◽  
Management Techniques

On-demand delivery platforms have become a common feature of urban economies across the globe. Noted for their hyper-outsourced, “lean” business models and reliance on independent contractors, these companies evade traditional employer obligations while still controlling workers through complex algorithmic management techniques. Using food delivery platform Deliveroo as a case-study, this paper investigates the diverse array of practices that on-demand workers carry out in order to enact this new platform labor arrangement in different spatial contexts. One of us conducted an auto-ethnographic project, working as a Deliveroo Rider in Nijmegen and Berlin for a period of nine months. Additionally, we interviewed 13 fellow platform workers. The findings reveal the motley, contingent, and conditional ways in which on-demand labor comes together on the ground. The paper concludes with discussing the uneven distribution of these practices across locations and social groups, and the sometimes contradictory impacts they have on the structure of platform labor.

scholarly journals Evaluating Business Models Enabling Organic Additive Manufacturing for Maintenance and Sustainment

2019 ◽  
pp. 380-417 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashley Totin ◽  
Brett Connor
Keyword(s):  
Additive Manufacturing ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Organic Additive ◽  
Spare Parts ◽  
On Demand ◽  
The Government

This research examines the spare parts data business models allowing the government to produce parts on demand (i.e., only when required versus long-term warehousing) and at the point-of-need using additive manufacturing. The research includes a survey of acquisition and engineering professionals within government and industry, and an analysis using an aviation case study.

scholarly journals GeoSocialVis: Visualizing Geosocial Academic Co-Authorship Networks by Balancing Topology- and Geography- Based Layouts

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Saffo ◽  
Michail Schwab ◽  
Michelle Borkin ◽  
Cody Dunne
Keyword(s):  
Information Visualization ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Social Aspect ◽  
Visualization Tool ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
On Demand ◽  
Publication Data ◽  
The Social ◽  
Data Source

In many domains, it is important to understand both the topology and geography of a network. E.g., for researchers it is important to understand the topics in a field, where this research is taking place, and which researchers collaborate. Geography plays a key role in collaboration as it is more feasible with physical proximity. Researchers are also likely to continue existing collaborations. The interplay between topology and geography is of particular interest. Within Institution collaborations are different in nature from far-distance collaborations, as long-distance collaborations often occur less out of convenience but for more complementary expertise. These long distance collaborations can connect otherwise separate social groups. However, existing approaches either focus on the geospatial location of researchers, or on the social aspect of collaborations alone. We present GeoSocialVis, an interactive visualization tool for scientometrics analyses with a focus on displaying the geosocial co-authorship network. GeoSocialVis uses a novel force layout that strikes a user-defined balance between showing network topology and the geographic locations of the authors. Users can explore relevant publications, researchers, groups, and institutions by adjusting the balance between topology and geography, searching by keywords, and with details-on-demand. We demonstrate the utility of GeoSocialVis with a case study with IEEE Information Visualization 2008–2018 publication data. Source code and an interactive demo are available online at dsaffo.github.io/GeoSocialVis

UrbanClap: India’s Largest Home Service Provider

2021 ◽  
pp. 097282012110189
Author(s):  
Nancy Jyani ◽  
Harbhajan Bansal
Keyword(s):  
Service Provider ◽  
Mobile Application ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Service Industry ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Food Delivery ◽  
On Demand ◽  
Home Service ◽  
The Right ◽  
Individual Service

Along with time and cost, convenience is a pertinent factor that influences consumers to purchase services. Many business models evolved in emerging markets are providing on-demand services such as taxis and online food delivery. Since most of them provide services in a particular region, they are commonly known as ‘hyperlocal service provider’. UrbanClap was also based on such a model and worked as an aggregator. It pooled together local service providers such as plumbers, electricians and beauty experts, and then offered at-home services through its mobile application and website. Few of the challenges faced by UrbanClap were operational expansion across India, the satisfaction of its service providers and customers, and filling up the profit–revenue gap. Therefore, despite huge acceptance and revenue growing fourfold in 2018 compared to 2017, the company was falling short of profits. The case highlights the problems inherent to hyperlocal and aggregator models such as satisfaction of service providers and customers at the same time; and competition with individual service providers without disturbing the local culture prevailing in the service industry. The case also emphasizes how technology can predict home services by matching customers with the right sellers according to their customized needs.

“Is your gig any good?” Analysing job quality in the Australian platform-based food-delivery sector

2019 ◽  
Vol 61 (4) ◽  
pp. 502-527 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caleb Goods ◽  
Alex Veen ◽  
Tom Barratt
Keyword(s):  
Food Delivery ◽  
Economic Security ◽  
Job Quality ◽  
Independent Contractors ◽  
Piece Rate ◽  
Gig Economy ◽  
Positive Elements ◽  
Multi Level ◽  
Level Analysis

This qualitative industry case study evaluates job quality in the Australian platform-based food-delivery sector, one part of the growing gig economy where workers, as independent contractors, engage in digitally-enabled and controlled work that is remunerated on a piece rate basis. Using a multi-dimensional framework, we draw on worker accounts of economic security, autonomy and enjoyment to assess job quality. This study posits that to achieve a more refined picture of job quality, both objective and workers’ subjective understandings of work need to be understood in the context of their respective ‘fit’ in terms of individual circumstances, labour market alternatives and the broader socio-political context. This multi-level analysis problematises individual accounts that risk overemphasising the positive elements of platform-based work. Moreover, rather than sitting neatly in a Post- or Neo-Fordist extension of job quality, the findings reveal that the gig economy is a new juncture in capitalist production, the consequences of which need to be taken seriously by regulators, scholars, workers and other relevant stakeholders.

Faster Deliveries and Smarter Order Assignments for an On-Demand Meal Delivery Platform

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenzheng Mao ◽  
Liu Ming ◽  
Ying Rong ◽  
Christopher S. Tang ◽  
Huan Zheng
Keyword(s):  
On Demand ◽  
Delivery Platform ◽  
Meal Delivery

Humans as a Service

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremias Prassl
Keyword(s):  
Business Models ◽  
Disruptive Innovation ◽  
Level Playing Field ◽  
Employment Relationships ◽  
Playing Field ◽  
On Demand ◽  
Gig Economy ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Digital Work ◽  
Stable Employment

The rise of the gig economy is disrupting business models across the globe. Platforms’ digital work intermediation has had a profound impact on traditional conceptions of the employment relationship. The completion of ‘tasks’, ‘gigs’, or ‘rides’ in the (digital) crowd fundamentally challenges our understanding of work in modern labour markets: gone are the stable employment relationships between firms and workers, replaced by a world in which everybody can be ‘their own boss’ and enjoy the rewards—and face the risks—of independent businesses. Is this the future of work? What are the benefits and challenges of crowdsourced work? How can we protect consumers and workers without stifling innovation? Humans as a Service provides a detailed account of the growth and operation of gig-economy platforms, and develops a blueprint for solutions to the problems facing on-demand workers, platforms, and their customers. Following a brief introduction to the growth and operation of on-demand platforms across the world, the book scrutinizes competing narratives about ‘gig’ work. Drawing on a wide range of case studies, it explores how claims of ‘disruptive innovation’ and ‘micro-entrepreneurship’ often obscure the realities of precarious work under strict algorithmic surveillance, and the return to a business model that has existed for centuries. Humans as a Service shows how employment law can address many of these problems: gigs, tasks, and rides are work—and should be regulated as such. A concluding chapter demonstrates the broader benefits of a level playing field for consumers, taxpayers, and innovative entrepreneurs.

scholarly journals Illusory freedom of physical platform workers: Insights from Uber Eats in Japan

2021 ◽  
pp. 103530462199246
Author(s):  
Hamza Umer
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Collective Bargaining ◽  
Food Delivery ◽  
Jel Codes ◽  
Delivery Platform ◽  
Pros And Cons

Platform work is often advocated as offering freedom of work to labour. Contesting this claim, this article undertakes a comparative analysis of the pros and cons of food delivery platform work prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic, and argues that the freedom of food delivery platform workers is essentially an ‘illusory freedom’. In reality, platform work has only changed mechanisms through which companies can exercise control over labour and evade their employer obligations. As a case, the article examines the illusory freedom of food delivery platform workers associated to Uber Eats in Japan. The collective bargaining efforts of food delivery workers against the excessive control of Uber Eats and the extent of success of these efforts are also examined. The article concludes by discussing the possible factors that have undermined the effectiveness of the collective bargaining efforts of the labour union. JEL Codes: J52; J81

scholarly journals Product-Service Systems and Sustainability: Analysing the Environmental Impacts of Rental Clothing

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 2118
Author(s):  
Emma Johnson ◽  
Andrius Plepys
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Service Systems ◽  
Environmental Benefits ◽  
Fast Fashion ◽  
Product Service ◽  
Potential Impact ◽  
Environmental Savings ◽  
Product Service Systems

Business models like product-service systems (PSSs) often recognise different sustainability goals and are seen as solutions for the impacts of consumption and fast fashion, but there is a lack of evidence supporting the environmental claims of such business models for clothing. The research aimed to understand if rental clothing business models such as PSSs have the environmental benefits often purported by quantifying the environmental impacts of rental formal dresses in a life-cycle assessment (LCA) in a case study in Stockholm, Sweden. The effects of varying consumer behaviour on the potential impact of a PSS vs. linear business model are explored through three functional units and 14 consumption scenarios. How users decide to engage with clothing PSSs dictates the environmental savings potential that a PSS can have, as shown in how many times consumers wear garments, how they use rental to substitute their purchasing or use needs, as well as how consumers travel to rental store locations.

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