Skip to main navigation Skip to main content
The University of Southampton
The Confucius Institute

Your driver is DiDi and minutes away from your pick-up point: Understanding employee motivation in the gig economy of China Event

25 March 2022 webinar
Time:
13:00 - 13:40
Date:
25 March 2022
Venue:
on line

Event details

Confucius Institute Lunchtime Webinar - Talk 2

Abstract

In recognition of the importance and expansion of the gig economy, largely in developed and BRICs economies, along with the growing literature surrounding it, this research contributes towards an empirical and conceptual understanding of how employee motivation and retention are managed by the mobile app-based, multiple payment platform-enabled, car-pooling Chinese giant DiDi. Both the exponential usage and evidently a diversified range of services offered by Didi has not only transformed the Chinese perception of using cabs, over their personal vehicle, in the 1.4 billion demographics but also invites emerging research in learning the tools for employee retention of a company that has a high regional scale of operations across all provinces in China. While the company employs over a million people at various contractual levels, the objective of this paper is to evaluate how levels of employee motivation, in a gig economy setting, largely affects employee effort and performance of DiDi drivers working long hours in major Chinese cities. The other objective of this research is to qualitatively investigate the nature and effectiveness of Didi as a customer customiser using thematic analysis and a conceptual framework, while also adding contextual knowledge on how a relatively new transport company retain employees in a leading BRICS economy, that is embedded with many faces of the gig economy.

Download the poster here !

Speaker information

Dr Boidurjo Rick Mukhopadhyay,Solent University,Dr Boidurjo Rick Mukhopadhyay, DSc, graduated Summa Cum Laude with a BA (Hons) in Economics, following which he received a MA from the Institute of Development Studies (UK) and a PhD from the University of Sussex (UK). Rick is a Senior Academic and Business Advisor with a background in managing HEIs and triple helix relations in the UK, China, and Central Asia. His current research and consultancy expertise fall in the areas of Innovation & Entrepreneurship, Sustainability and Global Goals, Gig Economy/ Collaborative Consumption, and Future of Work. Rick also advises start-ups in EdTech, Renewable Energy, Gig Economy Business Platforms, and AI & Media. Since 2011, he has been speaking on SMEs and entrepreneurship, leadership & organisational culture, business ethics - at HEIs, executive courses, international summer schools, and business events.

Privacy Settings