116
A. R. do Rosário Contani and K. De Déa Roglio
social network LinkedIn was eliminated from this investigation for having a unique
global profile of companies, making it difficult to analyze the specific communications for Brazil. Similarly, the 99 company’s blog was removed due to having
exclusively management content. The contents originally in non-textual versions
such as audio and videos had their utterances transcribed for analysis. Moreover,
to facilitate mentioning in this report, all documents were organized and numbered
following the format I#0 in which I represents the initial letter of the company’s name
and 0 refers to a sequential number. A total of 393 communications were obtained—
301 from Uber, 66 from 99, and 26 from Cabify—which were grouped according to
their content in Table 1.
After collection, content analysis was performed given its characteristic of being
able to predict or infer about a phenomenon that is not directly observable (Krippendorff 2004). Thus, documents and textual media were examined with the aim of
looking for patterns, consistencies, and correspondence that together were part of the
construction of meaning (Stake 1995). Coding techniques were used and conducted
according to the conditions that emerged from the data (Saldaña 2016). Thus, the
decision-making aspect underlying the communications was analyzed in order to
establish the meaning and interpretation of these elements.
4 Results and Discussion: Sense Giving Materialized
in the Strategic Communication
When it started operating in Brazil, initiated by Uber in mid-2014 (Uber 2018), the
ride-hailing made through technological devices did not have specific regulations
considering the specificities of the urban mobility sector. The earliest communications, dated from 2015 to early-2016, demonstrate the attempt to affirm the lawfulness
of the service provided, insofar as there was no regulation. This fact is reinforced by
the high frequency with which the word legality is used in communicative practices,
in order to associate the sense of legitimacy to organizational practice. Only Cabify
presented a different position, affirming, at a posterior time, its option to expand the
operation in cities only when a regulation was formulated and fulfilled.
Notwithstanding, the following moment reveals the strategic decision of not
denying regulation. On the contrary, organizations format the discourse that it is
necessary to regulate. The stated motivations follow the plausibility (c.f. Weick
1995) of beneficial arguments, such as less pollution and more quality of service,
and avoid discussing the controversial issues of tension or competition with taxi
services. The direction towards regulation is perceived as a way to ensure the safe
operation of mobile applications and the positioning becomes clear: “we support
regulation” (documents C#7, C#25). Terms such as “embrace” (document U#213)
are also used, as is the notion of “positive regulation” (document U#213). The obligation of certain requirements contributes to the consolidation of the sector and, even
with the emergence of new competitors, the earliest established companies have a
A. R. do Rosário Contani and K. De Déa Roglio
social network LinkedIn was eliminated from this investigation for having a unique
global profile of companies, making it difficult to analyze the specific communications for Brazil. Similarly, the 99 company’s blog was removed due to having
exclusively management content. The contents originally in non-textual versions
such as audio and videos had their utterances transcribed for analysis. Moreover,
to facilitate mentioning in this report, all documents were organized and numbered
following the format I#0 in which I represents the initial letter of the company’s name
and 0 refers to a sequential number. A total of 393 communications were obtained—
301 from Uber, 66 from 99, and 26 from Cabify—which were grouped according to
their content in Table 1.
After collection, content analysis was performed given its characteristic of being
able to predict or infer about a phenomenon that is not directly observable (Krippendorff 2004). Thus, documents and textual media were examined with the aim of
looking for patterns, consistencies, and correspondence that together were part of the
construction of meaning (Stake 1995). Coding techniques were used and conducted
according to the conditions that emerged from the data (Saldaña 2016). Thus, the
decision-making aspect underlying the communications was analyzed in order to
establish the meaning and interpretation of these elements.
4 Results and Discussion: Sense Giving Materialized
in the Strategic Communication
When it started operating in Brazil, initiated by Uber in mid-2014 (Uber 2018), the
ride-hailing made through technological devices did not have specific regulations
considering the specificities of the urban mobility sector. The earliest communications, dated from 2015 to early-2016, demonstrate the attempt to affirm the lawfulness
of the service provided, insofar as there was no regulation. This fact is reinforced by
the high frequency with which the word legality is used in communicative practices,
in order to associate the sense of legitimacy to organizational practice. Only Cabify
presented a different position, affirming, at a posterior time, its option to expand the
operation in cities only when a regulation was formulated and fulfilled.
Notwithstanding, the following moment reveals the strategic decision of not
denying regulation. On the contrary, organizations format the discourse that it is
necessary to regulate. The stated motivations follow the plausibility (c.f. Weick
1995) of beneficial arguments, such as less pollution and more quality of service,
and avoid discussing the controversial issues of tension or competition with taxi
services. The direction towards regulation is perceived as a way to ensure the safe
operation of mobile applications and the positioning becomes clear: “we support
regulation” (documents C#7, C#25). Terms such as “embrace” (document U#213)
are also used, as is the notion of “positive regulation” (document U#213). The obligation of certain requirements contributes to the consolidation of the sector and, even
with the emergence of new competitors, the earliest established companies have a