Chapter 10
T or F: In the event of an incident, Airbnb offers a $1 million guarantee for hosts, secure payment guarantees, and 24/7 support phone service backed up by a staff of six hundred in the firm's customer service and trust and safety departments.
True
T or F: Many of the listings on Airbnb are actually listed in violation of municipal law.
True
T or F: Airbnb has more properties available for rent than any single hotel chain has in total rooms.
True
T or F: Airbnb's CEO lived out of Airbnb rentals full-time to gather more field intelligence.
True
T or F: Airbnb's offerings are an example of a firm building a business from a "long tail" of offerings.
True
T or F: Concern about potential lawsuits over sharing economy firms' use of independent contractors (and not full-time employees) was claimed as a reason why cleaning firm Homejoy struggled to raise capital and eventually shut down.
True
T or F: Customer ratings help lower search costs.
True
T or F: Uber continues to invest in new technologies, exploring voice recognition and biometrics to further strengthen driver verification, and implementing a panic button that sends data directly to police.
True
T or F: Uber has a competitive advantage over Lyft because Uber was an earlier player in the market.
True
T or F: Uber's mission statement is "Transportation as reliable as running water, everywhere for everyone"
True
T or F: Uber's stable of big-believing investors includes Google, which has incorporated Uber into Google Maps.
True
How was Google managed to integrate with services as diverse as OpenTable, United Airlines, TripAdvisor, and Hyatt Hotels? A. Use of APIs B. Equity investment C. they share the same venture firms D. exchange of board seats E. all of the responses
A. use of APIs
Which of these is not a means of identity verification for Airbnb? A. Facebook profile B. Fingerprint capture on their app C. LinkedIn profile D. Driver's License E. Passport
B. Fingerprint capture on their app
Instead of buying products outright, new business models are enabling individuals takes possession of an item for a period of time, then return it for use by others. This category of businesses is often referred to as: A. consumer exchanges B. collaborative consumption C. social media D. cross-side exchanges E. network effects
B. collaborative consumption
Airbnb's is valued at more than $______________. A. 3.10 billion B. 310 billion C. 31 billion D. 310 million E. 3.1 million
C. 31 billion
Which term below means the way in which one would sell someone on his or her idea in a short amount of time? A. liquidity B. social proof C. elevator pitch D. collaborative consumption E. none of the above
C. elevator pitch
An Uber-commissioned study claims the firm's impact on the US economy tops $______________ a year. A. 28 million B. 8 million C. 280 million D. 2.8 billion E. none of the above
D. 2.8 billion
In 2017, Uber's revenues were approximately $______________. A. 7.5 million B. 7 million C. 75 billion D. 7.5 billion E. 7 billion
D. 7.5 billion
Which of the following factors did "not" contribute to the rise of the sharing economy? A. stagnant wages B. provider ratings and social media C. a prolonged, worldwide recession D. successful protests by cab companies and hotel chains E. a pool of suppliers willing to provide services or rent products they own
D. successful protests by cab companies and hotel chains
Data plays a critical role in Airbnb's success. The firm handles over ________ petabytes of data each day. A. 5 B. 125 C. 55 D. 105 E. 15
E. 15
Which of the following was an issue for Uber? A. protests by the taxi industry B. strikes by drivers C. aggressive political push-back D. dishonesty seen as an Uber cultural trait E. all of the above
E. all of the above
Which of the following is *not* a way in which Uber leverages "Big Data"? A. to set dynamic pricing B. identifying when and how to alert drivers of projected demand C. to inform expansion to new cities and locations D. determining how many drivers the firm needs E. none of the above - Uber leverages "big data" in all of these ways
E. none of the above - Uber leverages "big data" in all of these ways
Which of the following factors does "not" contribute to the potential to hinder the advancement of the sharing economy. A. tax concerns B. labor union concerns C. anger from firms owning "medallion" rights D. increased insurance costs for citizen-suppliers participating in the sharing economy E. none of the above - all of the factors above have the potential to hinder growth of the sharing economy
E. none of the above - all of the factors above have the potential to hinder growth of the sharing economy
T or F: Most sharing economy firms consider workers to be full-time employees and not independent contractors, allowing them to radically lower costs when compared to agencies that employ freelancers.
False
T or F: Network effects have helped Uber dominate in the United States, but the firm has struggled to expand internationally, where faster-moving Lyft was strongest, or where legal hurdles have kept the firm from offering services in other nations.
False
T or F: Rent the Runway largely eliminated inventory costs by acting as middlemen that match renters with consumers interested in renting goods they already own .
False
T or F: Sharing public profile information has helped crowdsourcing firms remove bias associated with factors such as race, gender, and disability.
False
T or F: Social media has decreased the influences of word of mouth sharing.
False
T or F: The citizen-suppliers at work in the so-called sharing economy are creating alternatives to taxis (Uber), car ownership (RelayRides), and hotel stays (Airbnb) among others. While many industries have been disrupted, U.S. financial services are one area immune to such disruption, largely due to protection from existing regulations.
False
T or F: ZipCar is bigger than any conventional rental car service.
False
T or F: social profiles don't offer much security since they are very easy to fake.
False
T or F: When San Francisco's transportation agency sent the firm, then known as UberCab, a cease-and-desist letter, stating it was running an unlicensed taxi service, the firm dropped "Cab" from its name, but vehemently argued that it was simply a software firm that connected drivers and riders.
True
