I think it's kind of funny that Uber is having to beg people to not delete them after being accused of bad diversity practices. I don't like that a simple tweet from a disgruntled engineer should have that much impact, but in this case I think it's just desserts. I think these corporations are going to have to learn to keep their noses out of politics and cultural policy making. The NFL, NCAA and NBA need to take notice. I think they're playing with fire when they start trying to hold Texas over the fire regarding future playoff hosting. You start down this road of trying to appease one group or the other and pretty soon there's an expectation that the company is going to weigh in on every cultural dispute. On the left, there are so many groups that claim a grievance, it's going to be hard to keep them all in balance. The left stays offended all the time. If I were a CEO, I'd try to keep my powder dry on all these discussions. Stick to keeping your own house in order Mr. Uber.
I have the opposite impression. This is exactly why companies need to care about politics and culture. Uber is a metropolitan based business. Metropolitan areas lean heavily left on the political spectrum. They rely on both drivers and customers in these markets. If they don't take a stance then they put themselves at risk of the #DeleteUber type of activity. Uber's sin in this regard is that they haven't cared enough about bad publicity. If the woman's accusations have validity, this is a company that will get fried by sexual harassment lawsuits.
I couldn't disagree more. If a company keeps its collective mouth shut and focuses on providing the best possible service or product then no one will care about where they stand. Always do the right things for the right reasons behind closed doors and customers will only focus on your product. When a company publicly supports one political viewpoint or another they immediately split consumers in half causing a large percentage to look for other options. All companies support one viewpoint or another, but successful ones will show that support behind the scenes. Publicly alienating any potential customer is just a bad move.
