Synopsis

of MBA thesis entitled

Potential for sharing economy in transportation sector in India

proposed to be submitted in
Partial Fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of
Masters in Business Administration

by
R Ananda
Supervisor : Prof Suneja

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1 Introduction
1.1 Motivation
The sharing economy has been on an exponential growth curve over the last couple of years and has
been the subject of considerable interest to the stakeholders and policy-makers across the globe.
Technology is pivotal to the growing concept of sharing economy, to enable scale and enhance economic
impact. A number of sharing platforms have emerged which enable individuals to share goods and services
like cars, houses, household products and services. The proliferation of mobile devices has heralded a
digital revolution to serve as a catalyst of growth.
Sharing businesses either work by -
Renting goods to other consumers for a short term basis by an asset owner
Or Peer-to-peer platforms connecting providers and users for exchange, purchase or renting of
goods and services
According to a report by McKinsey, the global sharing economy industry is expected to grow at a CAGR of
139.4% to reach US$115 billion by 2016 from US$3.5 billion in 2012. However, the concept of the sharing
economy is still at a nascent stage in India. While sharing personal products (such as ones own home or
car) which the owner is using currently is still negligible when compared to the West, the adoption of
sharing platforms has been encouraging. This has been driven by the emergence of aggregators in
industries like Uber and AirBnB.
For the sharing economy to make further in-roads in India, the sharing platforms will have to address a
few key imperatives. This includes fostering trust between the individuals involved in a transaction. A
technology platform that provides a transparent pricing, verified listings and background checks, and
assured delivery of services will reinforce consumer faith in these platforms.

1.2 Objective and Scope

The objective of the project is to understand the landscape of the sharing economy in India, the associated
benefits and challenges to move from an asset ownership model to a sharing model and also understand
it from the perspective of the new age customer in adopting this concept.
The scope of the project would be limited to transportation and logistics industry in India as it is one of
the early adopters of the sharing economy with successful firms like Uber, Rivigo and Amazon. Also, the
project would try to look at the potential for extension of the sharing economy model to more specialized
services like hyperlocal, use by unorganized sector like SMEs among others.
2 Approach and Methodology
The study would use both secondary as well as primary research to understand the potential of sharing
economy in India for the transportation industry.

2.1 Secondary Research

To understand the previous work done in this area, secondary research would be done to understand
the current state of the sharing economy model in India based on research and white papers.
For the secondary research, the following two types of research papers would be primarily reviewed-
a) Literature about the current issues and bottlenecks in the asset ownership model in the
transportation sector and how emergence of sharing model could improve it
b) Supply chains under the current model which could be disrupted through the sharing
economy
Based on secondary research, a primary survey to understand the current bottlenecks and its future potential
would be conducted to gauge its acceptance among the target audience.

2.2 Primary Research

To look at the acceptability of a sharing model , target audience would be selected for primary research and
deep dive analysis. Data collection method would include questionnaire analysis and in-depth interview with
consumers who have been using this . Document reviews of relevant material such as evaluation studies,
annual reports, and news articles about the sharing economy would be undertaken to supplement the primary
data.
2.2.1 Questionnaire Design
The target audience for the survey would be millennials who are tech savvy, tend to order online and have
used sharing models like Uber or AirBnB in the past at least once. The aim of the survey would be to gain
insights into the current bottlenecks and challenges in its adoption and its potential in the near future.
Also, the design of questionnaire would be based on the insights gained from the literature review of different
sectoral reports, white papers as well as concept notes related to this to be administered to the target
audience.
Also, comprehensive interactions with various other stakeholders could be held to gain deeper insights
3 Bibliography
PwC UK Analysis on the Sharing Economy -2015
The Sharing Economy Isnt about sharing at all, Harvard Business Review,28/1/2015
What's Mine Is Yours: How Collaborative Consumption is Changing the Way We
Live,Botsman,Rachel,Rogers-2011
"Crowdsourcing, Sharing Economies, and Development", Journal of Developing Societies, Araz
Taeihagh

4 Chapter Plan
Background
Needs and Objectives for the study
Approach and Methodology
Impact and Benefit of sharing economy in transportation sector
Best Practices from other industries
Challenges and regulatory hurdles to sharing economy in India
Way Ahead