Taiwan Taxi Case Analysis
Whether one is in New York City, Singapore, Taiwan, or nearly any other large area, there is always a need for the taxi cab industry. One can make a fortune through what seem like simple operations involving picking up a person in a vehicle, transporting them to their requested destination, doing so and collecting the money. Managing a business in this industry is not easy, however, and careful coordination combined with proper technology and planning is necessary to stay ahead of one’s competitors. In Singapore, Comfort Taxi handled this challenge wonderfully, whereas Taiwan’s Taiwan Taxi company did not. Through detailed analysis, the reasons for this occurrence become clear.
The most evident reason that the results of Taiwan Taxi’s implementation of the iCall system were not similar to those of Comfort Taxi is that the information system was not adapted for the needs and wants of Taiwan Taxi's drivers. It was also very problematic that Taiwan Taxi did not emphasize the significant value one would feel by becoming a driver for their company. This could have easily been done this by offering incentives to newly employed drivers. Taiwan Taxi could have also created value with external factors such as employing a marketing campaign, advertising the features of the new iCall system, as well as the added benefits of safety, security and efficiency. The needs and wants of the company’s drivers were not met because management did not recognize the cultural differences that existed between taxi drivers in Singapore and Taiwan. One would not have difficulty believing that several assumptions were made regarding iCall and its potential effects, the largest of which being that Taiwanese and Singaporean taxi companies operated in the same manner, had drivers with the same levels of technological proficiency, dealt with the same kind of customers, and ran the same types of routes. Many of the users of Taiwan Taxi's iCall system felt that it added no value to their service.
The most evident reason that the results of Taiwan Taxi’s implementation of the iCall system were not similar to those of Comfort Taxi is that the information system was not adapted for the needs and wants of Taiwan Taxi's drivers. It was also very problematic that Taiwan Taxi did not emphasize the significant value one would feel by becoming a driver for their company. This could have easily been done this by offering incentives to newly employed drivers. Taiwan Taxi could have also created value with external factors such as employing a marketing campaign, advertising the features of the new iCall system, as well as the added benefits of safety, security and efficiency. The needs and wants of the company’s drivers were not met because management did not recognize the cultural differences that existed between taxi drivers in Singapore and Taiwan. One would not have difficulty believing that several assumptions were made regarding iCall and its potential effects, the largest of which being that Taiwanese and Singaporean taxi companies operated in the same manner, had drivers with the same levels of technological proficiency, dealt with the same kind of customers, and ran the same types of routes. Many of the users of Taiwan Taxi's iCall system felt that it added no value to their service.
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