Uber Must Revisit Top Positions to Adjust Cultural Woes, Experts Say

Uber must drop superiors who accept bad conduct and recruit individuals who don’t, expert say, as the company prepares to make important changes to its traditions and management.

Former Attorney General, Eric Holder’s suggestions were received by Uber’s board, as he inquired about its bad culture of exasperation and intimidation. These will be revealed to employees and announced publicly on Tuesday.

Experts interviewed declared CEO Travis Kalanick should resign or atleast change his conduct for the company to go further. Uber’s board is having talks on a leave of absence for Kalanick, who has already accepted he needs to mature and get management help. No conclusions have been reached yet, according to an anonymous source.

Cindy Schipani, a business law professor at the University of Michigan who has participated in enquiries of cooperate conduct says a CEO’s conduct sets an example for the other employees to follow. She believes Kalanick should step down on his own and prevent the board from having to sack him. “That’s where the culture comes from. It has to change at the top and he has to recognize what he does, his actions, speak louder than anything put on paper,” she says.

Jennifer Chatman, a business professor at the University of California Berkeley who also participates in corporate investigations, says if a leave is given, it would be a shock if Kalanick came back to occupy a top position.

“He lacks the ability to set an appropriate tone for this organization,” she said. “He lacks the kind of presence that’s needed for a larger organization.”

Chatman hints that Kalanick will be given a leave and will come back as a strategist under a new CEO.

It is quite frequent, she says, for company founders to lack the necessary abilities to lead an organization as it grows bigger. “This may be the moment for Uber where it needs to go to the next stage,” she says.