Individual Work – Catalin

The article “Foodora and Deliveroo: The App as a Boss? Control and autonomy in app-based management – the case of food delivery riders” by Mirela Ivanova, Joanna Bronowicka, Eva Kocher, and Anne Degner explores the boundaries of autonomy and control with regards to food delivery apps and their employment contracts with their delivery drivers. The article shows that though the self-employment model of Deliveroo and the employment model of Foodora differ, the methods of autonomy and control are quite similar. 

To center their study about autonomy and control in food delivery apps within the greater context of control in the workplace, the authors first differentiate between managerial control and control by the market. Managerial control is the control by a management level over a worker level specifically to maximize efficiency and profit. Control by the market relies on the ideas of supply and demand to influence the workplace. The majority of companies use some combination of the two. The authors then examine how the nature of the app workplace influences workers with regards to data collection and encouragement to work longer hours for example. 

In explaining their findings the authors highlight the differences between Foodora and Deliveroo with respect to their payment models. Foodora actually employs their drivers, but this gives them less flexibility with regards to their shifts. Deliveroo gives their drivers independent contractor positions, so they’re paid per delivery, although this is a flat rate and isn’t determined by speed or distance.

They also examine the different types of autonomy the drivers have. Delivery drivers can choose their shifts and which neighborhood (zone in the app) they will cover. Additionally, they can choose how to complete their order with regards to route and speed. 

Next the authors look at five different features of the apps which allow the companies to keep some form of control of their operation. Firstly, the app can track the rider’s activity through GPS data, which can lead to rewards or penalties for drivers. Second, the GPS tracking can guide driver’s activities through push notifications. To disobey these could lead to legal consequences for those drivers who have employee positions. Third, the apps use monetary incentives to get drivers to work harder and faster. They also use methods of self-qualification to encourage drivers to improve their performance, such as promoting apps like Strava, which tracks cycling and running. Fourth, the performance data collected by the apps allows them to impose disciplinary measures for unsatisfactory performance or attendance, generally carried out in shift-booking methods. Riders are sorted into groups based on their statistics, and these groups will ultimately determine which shifts riders can sign up for. This pre-selection of shifts practically takes apart the promise of autonomy for many of the riders in the lower groups. Fifth, the app keeps a form of control over drivers by keeping certain information from them. Most importantly, Deliveroo drivers can’t know the address of the order until they have picked up the food, which gives them a lack of control over where they want to work. 

The authors then also analyze why the apps even give their drivers autonomy, when in reality a lot of it is taken away throughout the work experience. Their three explanations of the reasoning behind this are the following: firstly, the promise of autonomy attracts and retains workers. Additionally, they hypothesize that giving drivers the choice about which routes to follow and how quick to run them might actually lead to better performance from the drivers. The logistical planning is a form of challenge, which would be exactly what the company wants to increase motivation. Lastly, giving the drivers autonomy with regards to the route exploits their knowledge of their home city and neighborhood and how to best navigate those. 

The article is ultimately very helpful to our research on workers’ experiences with food delivery apps. It gives a very detailed summary of the experience of working for a food delivery app and what features of the app are used to keep a traditional amount of control over workers. The analysis of this type of managerial control was especially helpful, as it not only went into depth with regards to what features of the app are used to keep control, but also how this fits into a greater framework of traditional versus modern employment.

While the article is extremely interesting, its reach also isn’t that broad. While it certainly explores most, if not all, facets of life as a delivery driver for Foodora or Deliveroo in Berlin, it doesn’t go very far in comparing this experience to other apps or countries for that matter. While Foodora and Deliveroo are certainly different in their employment model – with Foodora actually employing drivers while Deliveroo merely uses independent contractors – this difference doesn’t represent the full diversity of food delivery experiences around the world. While expanding the scope to reach other apps and other countries might be too lofty of a goal for one article, it might be interesting to note this with regards to further research on the topic. 

Source:

Ivanova, Mirela, Joanna Bronowicka, Eva Kocher, and Anne Degner. “Foodora and Deliveroo: The App as a Boss? Control and Autonomy in App-Based Management – the Case of Food Delivery Riders.” Working Paper Forschungsförderung: Hans-Böckler-Stiftung, Düsseldorf 107 (December 2018): 3–52. https://d-nb.info/1179200845/34.