Uber hires Harvard Business School professor to address management crisis

Uber has finally got into damage control mode and has hired Harvard Business School professor Frances Frei as its new SVP of leadership and strategy. The move is aimed at addressing the deteriorating company culture that has been at the receiving end of a lot of flak in recent times.

Frei will ‘act as a partner’ to the company’s Chief Human Resources Officer Liane Hornsey and report directly to Kalanick. “As one of the world’s most respected authorities on organizational transformation…she is uniquely qualified for the role—and we know we all have a lot to learn from her,” said an Uber blog post about the appointment, which comes just before the cab-aggregator is expected to reveal the results of an independent investigation into sexual harassment at the company.

Her responsibilities include "company strategy and planning; organisational transformation and design; management and leadership; coaching, supporting and developing a world-class leadership team; and articulating and helping to architect and adapt our cultural philosophy."

Frei, who is the author of “Uncommon Service: How to Win by Putting Customers at the Core of Your Business,” has been consulting with Uber for several months already, and says she was enticed to come on full-time because of the major challenges the company faces.

Frei's appointment will hopefully change the “Hobbesian environment” that rewards cutthroat competition, the long list of sexual harassment cases and the way drivers are treated at Uber.