Mobike: A Smart Bike-Sharing Service Platform

Guijie Qi, Jiali Chen, John Zhang

In 2017, bike sharing was one of the hottest technology trends in China. Since its inception two years earlier, Mobike had quickly become one of China's leading bike on-demand companies because of its bicycles' superior quality, and the company's intelligence capability, open innovation, alliance strategies, and big data applications. Mobike expanded aggressively to take advantage of opportunities in this emerging market and the need for efficient, green, and sustainable solutions to short-distance urban transportation. However, Mobike's aggressive expansion faced tough challenges, including shared bicycle operations and management, competition from rivals, and government regulations. By late 2017, several bike-sharing services had gone bankrupt. How could Mobike avoid the same fate, generate profit, and continue to prosper?

The authors Guijie Qi and Jiali Chen are affiliated with Shandong University. John Zhang is affiliated with Arizona State University.

 Learning objective

This case is designed for a graduate-level course in information technology, operations management, marketing, or strategy, or as a useful addition to a data analytics course where students are introduced to the use of big data to drive decision making and create business value. After completion of the case, students will be able to evaluate the concepts, core technologies, models, competitors, and the on-demand bike-sharing service in China; conduct a competitive analysis of China's bike-sharing industry; discuss the business strategies and innovative solutions to create value; and discuss Mobike's business model and its path to profitability.

Details

Pub Date: Jan 12, 2018

Discipline: International Business

Subjects: Economic conditions, Strategy

Source: Ivey Publishing

Product #: W18012-PDF-ENG

Teaching note: Available

Industry: Bicycles, Media & telecommunications

Geography: China

Length: 15 page(s)