Essay Sample on Impact of the Growth in Mega-Cities on MyTaxi Business

Introduction

With close to half of its population living in the cities thanks to the millennial generation, one could say that the world is already urbanized. Ideally, more than four billion people; that is nearly every second person on earth, tend to live in an urban environment, and by estimation of the years to come, over 65 percent of the world's population will live in cities. The world's globalization became a reality during the industrial revolution in the late 18th century, and with it, different inventions such as the steam engine, telephone networks, affordable air transport and now the emergence of the internet have conveyed business people and ideas in a rapid and at an unprecedented volume. Initially, cities were not always considered ideal for businesses and people opted for more suburbia environments where the attraction of space and privacy drew both people and businesses. However, within the last few decades, the majority of businesses and workforce have begun returning to city environments. Indeed, the focal point of business activities in the recent past has invariably been the city; a place with abundant labor force and of deals, take-offs and landings.

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Positive Impact

Essentially, more than just young adults are increasingly drawn to modern life offered by the rapidly growing mega-cities which is a clear indicator of the positive impact businesses can accrue in terms of a diverse workforce. For instance, the growth in megacities has resulted into a pool of a changing workforce that both the private and public sectors can draw from. According to Daniels (2004), many businesses have preferred relocating in urban centers or bring their businesses back downtown; if they are already within the city environment, because of the availability of a workforce that leads to an increase in employee recruitment as well as retention. In 2015 millennials overtook generation X as the world's largest generation in the workforce; however, unlike their predecessors, these groups of individuals prefer living in more rapid, vibrant and accessible locales which are majorly in urban centers. Therefore, since these companies are in dire need of the talent pool offered by these individuals, they tend to relocate to more central and urban areas. Similarly, with centralized workforce time efficiency becomes a factor as employees' commute times are significantly reduced when people live closer to their place of work. This is beneficial especially for businesses since time is a limited factor and with reduced commute time, employees become more productive.

In addition, the growth of megacities comes with improved healthcare which is essential for a productive workforce. According to the National Research Council (1998), the growth of megacities comes with an improved healthcare system in terms of growing healthcare institutions as well as important education on health tips. With a centralized work environment, employees have more time to engage in activities that help improve the body and mind, thereby, giving rise to a physically and mentally healthy population that is more productive. Moreover, the growth of megacities leads to a diverse workforce which inspires innovation. The growth in cities generally attracts individuals with different cultural and educational background who converge in a single place to look for employment. These groups of individuals are often made up of demographically and professionally diverse talents that if put together can be a catalyst for the creation of new ideas. Munich (2005) states that access to public spaces which comes as a result of growing cities often fosters interactions among different individuals, thereby providing a vital platform for driving innovations and creativity.

Negative Impact

The growth of megacities has in some cases resulted in both economic and social challenges that affect businesses as well as the city occupants. Daniels (2004) indicates that the success of megacities rests solely on the ability to create and maintain efficient land and property markets without which significant problems arise. For instance, the growth in megacities often results in social congestion which often leads to poor standards of living. Even though the growth in megacities is viewed to have the potential of improving living standards, the benefits are usually not shared equally. As a result, the majority of city dwellers languish in poverty thereby hindering the growth of markets for businesses. Similarly, the growth of megacities often leads to traffic congestion that hinders not only the efficient flow of people but also the growth of businesses especially those businesses that depend on constant movement. Most city dwellers take an average of one hour to two houses trapped in traffic (Kin, Verlinde and Macharis 2017, p. 35). This greatly reduces the time available for businesses to successfully improve as employees spend most of their valuable time trapped in traffic. Moreover, with increased traffic, traffic fatalities increases which can be a great challenge for individuals who rely on public transport to and from their workplaces. According to Moavenzadeh and Markow (2010), the majority of traffic fatalities are caused by traffic congestion which is often brought about by growing megacities. Most people especially young adults tend to migrate into big cities in search for employment and a better life, and as a result, population growth increases thereby causing both human and traffic congestion. Furthermore, with an increase in population, there is always a rampant increase in crime rate as the level of unemployment also increases. An increase in the rates of crime can have a tremendous effect as most businesses suffer from the loss of customers as well as direct burglary.

Recommendations

In all fairness, cities are at different stages in their development, and many businesses have struggled with enormous growth rates and constant immigration. For MyTaxi to be able to excel in rapidly growing city environments, it must out in place certain measures in dealing with both negative and positive impact of this growth. For instance, to be able to deal with the growth of the workforce to a more centralized environment, the company needs to have a clear vision of how to deal with this population that makes their market. Individuals and businesses moving towards a central place imply that the use of taxies or any other form of transport system will be minimized as these individuals would now opt for a cheaper and a faster way to access their workplaces. To deal with this, the company needs to diversify its transport service to include motorcycles which are cheaper and efficient for short distances. Particularly, the company needs to invest heavily in human resources to effectively plan for the persistent growth to secure their declining markets. Similarly, since the growth of megacities means most people live close to their jobs, MyTaxi as a service company needs to engage in other ventures to benefit from the growing market. Time also becomes a factor with the growth of megacities as businesses, and business employees tend to reduce the time spent on commuting to be able to compete fairly in ever-competing markets (Morichi, 2005); therefore, the company needs to employ a workforce that respects the urgency its clients need. Consequently with the diverse workforce as a result of geographical and professional interactions, the company can benefit by employing a wide range of individuals with creative thinking, therefore improving innovations and ideas for development within the company.

One negative effect of growing cities is the traffic congestion which hinders the efficiency of taxi businesses. This means the cars tend to take longer in a single trip compared to lesser congested cities. To curb this, the company needs to invest highly in innovation technology to come up with important solutions to traffic congestion such as Real-time traffic feedback. According to Pojani and Stead (2015), this program is largely contributed to all the real-time traffic feedback and reports the traffic feedback not just within the vicinity of the car that sends it but also the traffic around the downtown area. Similarly, the company can adopt vehicle-to-vehicle technology. This technology is crucial in maneuvering traffic congestion in that the technology allows the vehicle to communicate with other vehicles thereby can detect what is going on around.

The growth of large cities into megacities can be crucial for businesses because they offer a bigger market in terms of economies of scale; however, this growth often leads to overpopulations hence resulting in criminal activities due to unemployment. Security is important for any business and MyTaxi is not an option. Being a transport company, the company must install a proper security system that can locate all their vehicles on transit and within its premises. According to the National Research Council (1998), the crime rate large cities has a negative impact on growing businesses as they scare off potential customers as well as physically harming the business. For a company like MyTaxi, security is important for customers especially during transit. For this reason, the company needs to vet all its employees' background before employing them as drivers. The company also need to create a system that vets customers as well to know who they by identification to avoid usual car hijackers.

With the growth in cities, there is an equal growth in competitors in the business as a result of a larger market. This can be a problem especially if there is an influx of same businesses in a particular region. In this case, the company needs to invest in an innovative venture through its diverse workforce to be able to stand out. This can be done by carefully studying the weaknesses of competitors and improving accordingly to attract more customers. Similarly, the company should identify certain incentives that can attract more customers who may have opted to use another company.

Conclusion

The focal point of business activities in the recent past has invariably been the city where there is abundant labor force, the important market as well as competition. As evidence suggests, there are both positive and negative factors that arise as a result of the emergence and growth of megacities, therefore, for a company such as MyTaxi to be able to thrive in these unique environments, it must re-strategize in terms of recruiting a diverse workforce, investing in technology and improving its security. This will enable the company to keep with competition that results from the growth.

References

Daniels, P.W., 2004. Urban challenges: the formal and informal economies in mega-cities. Cities, 21(6), pp.501-511.

Kin, B., Verlinde, S. and Macharis, C., 2017. Sustainable urban freight transport in megacities in emerging markets. Sustainable cities and society, 32, pp.31-41.

Moavenzadeh, F. and Markow, M.J., 2010. Moving millions: transport strategies for sustainable development in megacities(Vol. 14). Springer Science & Business Media.

Morichi, S., 2005. Long-term strategy for transport system in Asian megacities. Journal of the Eastern Asia Society for transportation studies, 6, pp.1-22.

Munich, R.E., 2005. Megacities-Megarisks: Trends and challenges for insurance and risk management. Munich Re.

National Research Council, 1998. Meeting the Challenges of Megacities in the Developing World: A Collection of Working Papers. National Academies Press.

Pojani, D. and Stead, D., 2015. Sustainable urban transport in the developing world: beyond megacities. Sustainability, 7(6), pp.7784-7805.