Engineering Company Culture Change: Regaining Public Trust After Scandal

Abstract

The technological start-up company Uber, founded in 2009 and today elevating to an international level as a true powerhouse, struggles with discrimination problems. The rate of women and racial minorities in leadership positions lag heavily behind in comparison to those of the white male. Moreover, within the year of 2017, two hundred and fifteen cases regarding sexual harassment were reported alone, and more of discrimination claims. As Uber faced scandal after scandal, the work of their public relations staff grew and thus outreach into its periphery communities began. However, with the scandals so public, the company found itself in a controversy over what was authentic and what was a scapegoat. Uber had reached out to two organizations, Black Girls Code and Girls Who Code, in order to support the movements to educate young women in the world of technology and more specifically, coding. Furthermore, when Uber reached out, it seemed as though the company had been taking noble strides towards change. However, Uber could not have predicted how Black Girls Code would perceive the pledge of money. Black Girls Code had to decide whether or not to accept the pledge of money, and Uber had to rethink the tactics of their public relations in order to aid their reputation and regain the public’s trust.