Top Three Takeaways from the Journey of Sharing Economy

Top Three Takeaways from the Journey of Sharing Economy

As I write this blog, I finally realize that this intensive journey is coming to an end. I’ve learned a lot meanwhile had so much fun. It opens up a new world and inspires me in my career thinking. The course integrated with self-study, group work, field work, office visit, etc. I find that this mode of study is effective than the normal classroom lecturing style. By interacting with MBA students, I also learned a lot about how they think and how they work and feel that there’s a long way for me. Besides, I have three major takeaways.

1.     The Power of Excess Capacity

Excess capacity, as the book Peers Inc states, is the latent value. Once making use of it, it would blossom and generate great ROI for both producers and users. The launch of Airbnb, Uber, Zipcar and other sharing platforms are genious. Taking Airbnb as an example - by making more efficient use of the excess capacity of rooms, Airbnb uncovered new way of gaining extra value which is useful to consumers at the same time. The sharp marketing insight is crucial to discover the under-utilized inventory; the proper marketing operation is essential to utilize the excess capacity into value.

2.     Customer Experience

Customer experience is highly valued in all peer-to-peer platforms. From company research and course material reading, I found that companies do try their best to enhance user experience. Airbnb has built a hospitality department and created nine hosting standards for hosts to follow in order to improve guest satisfaction. Uber has a special reward program to its drivers – taking care of its drivers, and let drivers to take care of customers. However, customer experience is complicated. By experiencing from the user side, I spotted many flaws in those platforms. The biggest one is the company customer service which needs to be improved.

3.     Strategic Vision

The office visits to Airbnb, Uber and Feastly and meeting with companies’ executives are thought provoking. Staying with strangers can be unsafe and risk. By bringing out a public reciprocal review system between host and guest, Airbnb turns its worst disadvantage to best opportunities. Uber uncovers other opportunities by dealing with helping a son to call a uber for his mother. The strategic vision is what I need to learn from those companies.