Journal articles on the topic 'Food Delivery Riders'

Ordering food through smartphones brings millions of laborers into a new occupation -food delivery rider. To date, insufficient research has focused on this group of population in platform economy. This paper examines the management mechanism of Chinese food delivery industry based on Marxist labor process theory and its extensions. Three main findings are revealed. First, the food delivery platform strictly set online and off-line institutions to manage food delivery riders; second, riders are involved in an illusion of flexitime but indeed provide more labor forces; third, riders are not free as they are constantly monitored by platform’s algorithm driven by big data. Given this, the conclusion suggests that all platform enterprises should abide professional ethnics and undertake social responsibility and to liberate food delivery riders’ nature.

So far, food-delivery riders have been addressed in reference to broad socio-economic processes related to the diffusion of digital labour platforms. Adopting a dispositional approach, this paper frames the rider's occupation as a specific and open-ended occupation. We try to shed light on the dynamics of differentiation and positioning within this occupational space, thus recomposing its heterogeneity. The article is based on a mixed-methods research carried out in Milan in 2020, centred on an "observant participation" of seven months, during which the re-searcher worked as a rider.

Services such as Meituan and Uber Eats have revolutionized the way the customer can find and order from restaurants. Numerous independent restaurants are competing for orders placed by customers via online food ordering platforms. Ordering takeout food on smartphone apps has become more and more prevalent in recent years. There are some operational challenges that takeout food service providers have to deal with, e.g., customer demand fluctuates over time and region. In this sense, the service providers sometimes ignore the fact that some riders may be idle in several periods in regions, while, in contrast, there may be a shortage of riders in other situations. In order to address this problem, we introduce a two-stage model to optimize scheduling of riders for instant food deliveries. A service provider platform expectantly schedules the least quantity of riders to deliver within expected arrival time to satisfy customer demand in different regions and time periods. We introduce a two-stage model that adopts the method of mixed-integer programming (MIP), characterize relevant aspects of the scenario, and propose an optimization algorithm for scheduling riders. We also divide the delivery service region and time into smaller parts in terms of granularity. The large neighborhood search algorithm is validated through numerical experiments and is shown to meet the design objectives. Furthermore, this study reveals that the optimization of rider resource is beneficial to reduce overall cost of the delivery. Takeout food service platforms decide scheduling shifts (start time and duration) of the riders to achieve a service level target at minimum cost. Additional sensitivity analyses, such as the tightness of the order time windows associated with the orders and riders’ familiarity with delivery regions, are also discussed

In the emerging business of food delivery, rider traffic accidents raise financial cost and social traffic burden. Although there has been much effort on traffic accident forecasting using temporal-spatial prediction models, none of the existing work studies the problem of detecting the takeaway rider accidents based on food delivery trajectory data. In this article, we aim to detect whether a takeaway rider meets an accident on a certain time period based on trajectories of food delivery and riders’ contextual information. The food delivery data has a heterogeneous information structure and carries contextual information such as weather and delivery history, and trajectory data are collected as a spatial-temporal sequence. In this article, we propose a TakeAway Rider Accident detection fusion network TARA-Net to jointly model these heterogeneous and spatial-temporal sequence data. We utilize the residual network to extract basic contextual information features and take advantage of a transformer encoder to capture trajectory features. These embedding features are concatenated into a pyramidal feed-forward neural network. We jointly train the above three components to combine the benefits of spatial-temporal trajectory data and sparse basic contextual data for early detecting traffic accidents. Furthermore, although traffic accidents rarely happen in food delivery, we propose a sampling mechanism to alleviate the imbalance of samples when training the model. We evaluate the model on a transportation mode classification dataset Geolife and a real-world Ele.me dataset with over 3 million riders. The experimental results show that the proposed model is superior to the state-of-the-art.

In this paper, we study the delivery order pattern of take-out riders in Chinese society, adopt a time window function to give a reward and punishment measure for the complete quality of riders under various factors, and adopt hierarchical analysis to obtain and quantify the degree of influence of different factors on delivery, and get the commission scheme design so that the riders can get the maximum commission. Then, from the perspective of game theory, we establish a two-stage game model under the non-cooperative game, with the first stage of the game being the takeaway demand realizer and the second stage of the game being the takeaway demander and the contacting platform, and finally select a win-win solution with a balanced game. Finally, the pricing model proposed in the previous paper is optimized iteratively, considering the addition of long-distance as well as cross-regional distance quantification factors, and considering the case of dedicated personnel working exclusively. This paper proposes an equilibrium state for the four ends of the platform, merchants, consumers, and riders, and proposes a cross-regional and long-distance delivery scheme with certain feasibility, giving the platform and riders the possibility to expand the sales area and delivery area.

Online platforms are revolutionizing our daily lives in an attempt to make it easier by offering innovative services. They also have introduced radical new business models which provide a new type of flexible working, facilitating employment. While platforms are revolutionary vehicles, they also denied workers status, resulting in food delivery riders facing precarious working conditions. The current regulatory framework is underdeveloped and unable to guarantee basic social rights to platform workers, except for Spain. At the same time, delivery workers are fighting to get some form of recognition and protection. Consequently, courts have been increasingly requested to determine the riders’ legal status. However, courts are struggling in characterizing those employment relationships resulting in disparities. For instance, the Cour de Cassation in France has established that an employer-employee relationship existed while the UK High Court denied worker status to Deliveroo riders. This lack of harmonization and different rulings could result in the application of EU rules in some countries but not others. It might, therefore, be time for the EU to start recognizing and regulating these jobs to offer better worker protections.

With the prosperity of the platform economy, assorted new forms of businesses have emerged, which are seemingly different from traditional employees, have literally emerged. In addition, Chinese labor laws split workers into laborers and non-laborers, only when a worker is a laborer can he or she be governed by labor laws. Thus, whether such workers are laborers has caused a definitional maze in both judicial practice and academia. One of the most representative of new business patterns is the rider of the food delivery platform. This article takes the food delivery rider who best represents one of the new forms of employment as a theme for analysis, and adopts the method of case analysis and comparative research. This paper holds the view that online platform enterprises have the following essential characteristics: online platform enterprises tend to abandon their fixed assets; they take more control of riders with the blessing of algorithms; and they skirt the law to mask real legal relationships. These features all contribute to proving more difficult to determine whether a rider is a laborer. In response to the policy of building harmonious labor relations and to protect riders’ rights they deserve, this essay studies the ABC test established by the California State Supreme Court, by discussing the backdrop and merits of the ABC test, together with the reasons why it can be used for reference, to provide threads for China’s judicial practice.

This article studies the temporality of platform labor through the specific lens of Meituan, the leading food delivery platform in China featuring an algorithm-driven dispatch system. This paper widens the existing research on platform labor from the perspective of time and speed. The on-demand food delivery service cultivates consumers’ expectations of timely satisfaction, nonetheless, it builds upon the rush, strictness, and flexibility of digital labor’s temporality which is often called a “mission impossible at times”. With the rhetoric of ‘Flexible work hours,’ the platform acts as an intermediary in the contradictory costumer-rider temporal relationship and prioritizes the customer's position within the temporal orders, where ICTs such as real-time tracking systems play a key role in sense-making. As the article will show, Meituan’s ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival) algorithm distributes the common interests of efficiency with the "invisible hand of value," in the quaternary relation between riders, customers, suppliers, and platform. While workers' time experience and negotiating ability are diminished, the platform gains the ultimate capacity to exploit platform labor systematically. The coordination of all platform algorithms normalizes class divisions and unequal power structures, interpreting the asymmetrical power between capital and labor in the platform economy.

In his 1872 The housing question, Friedrich Engels addressed the housing problems faced by the proletarian migrant workers in major industrial centres. He asserted that they could only be solved by first resolving their harsh working conditions in the capitalist mode of mass production. Presently, with transnational migrant flows to urban centres and the mass acceptance of the digital platform economy, the housing question manifests itself, among other expressions, in the case of immigrants working in this digital contract-based market. While the platform economy provides immigrants with quick access into a host country’s labour market, the income insecurity and high risks associated with such work put them in a state of precariousness. Through the framework of Engels’ proposed action lines and analysis of observations and interviews with immigrant riders working for the food delivery platforms Glovo and Deliveroo, the paper highlights the negative impacts that this contemporary capitalist model of work, the municipal housing plan and the ongoing Covid-19 crisis have on the immigrant riders’ residential and working conditions in Barcelona, Spain, a city facing a severe rental housing shortage. Lastly, it suggests that, while the social market economy in Spain can be reformed to ameliorate the negative impacts of the platform economy on immigrant riders, bridging the gap between immigrant housing provision and employment inclusion would need to consider decent labour and housing as rights for residents, immigrants included, asserting the currency of Engels’ ideas.

With the continuous development of the social economy, the "take-out fast food" industry has come into being and gradually comes into the public's view. This paper mainly analyzes the social impact of "take-out fast food" from a sociological perspective, i.e., the positive and negative impacts, and puts forward some constructive opinions and measures on how to make "take-out fast food" more environmentally friendly and healthy, which can help; In this regard, it is necessary to further strengthen the market supervision, enhance food quality and safety, strengthen the standardization of fast food delivery and enhance the safety awareness of riders, as well as to continuously strengthen the ability to deal with problems after the sale and to strengthen people's concept of green consumption.

Leveraging sensor data of mobile devices and wearables, activity detection is a critical task in various intelligent systems. Most recent work train deep models to improve the accuracy of recognizing specific human activities, which, however, rely on specially collected and accurately labeled sensor data. It is labor-intensive and time-consuming to collect and label large-scale sensor data that cover various people, mobile devices, and environments. In production scenarios, on the one hand, the lack of accurately labeled sensor data poses significant challenges to the detection of key activities; on the other hand, massive continuously generated sensor data attached with inexact information is severely underutilized. For example, in an on-demand food delivery system, detecting the key activity that the rider gets off his/her motorcycle to hand food over to the customer is essential for predicting the exact delivery time. Nevertheless, the system has only the raw sensor data and the clicking "finish delivery" events, which are highly relevant to the key activity but very inexact, since different riders may click "finish delivery" at any time in the last-mile delivery. Without exact labels of key activities, in this work, we propose a system, named KATN, to detect the exact regions of key activities based on inexact supervised learning. We design a novel siamese key activity attention network (SAN) to learn both discriminative and detailed sequential features of the key activity under the supervision of inexact labels. By interpreting the behaviors of SAN, an exact time estimation method is devised. We also provide a personal adaptation mechanism to cope with diverse habits of users. Extensive experiments on both public datasets and data from a real-world food delivery system testify the significant advantages of our design. Furthermore, based on KATN, we propose a novel user-friendly annotation mechanism to facilitate the annotation of large-scale sensor data for a wide range of applications.

ABSTRAKThe Role of Operators in Delivery Service.(This paper is excerpted from the final project report entitled ‘The Role of Media Communication Especially the use of telephone in PT Fast Food Indonesia Tbk’)As we know, technology offers much ease to mankind, especially in communication. Without exception, these advantages make breakthrough in restaurant business. Delivery service which is as old as the business itself use telephones in delivering the goods to costumersThe aim of this present paper is to show the frame work of delivery service, the flow of communication and the importance of the professionals persons behind its success .Operators, the Back up and the Riders/Home Delivery have to work as a team. As they are the front line that directly deal with customers, they must demonstrate their professionalism, such as courtesy, on time delivery and making sure that customers are happy their ordering experience.Data for this report was collected from PT Fast Food Indonesia, tbk in BSD square by a student who was directly involved in working as an operator for 3 (three) months. Her experience as an operator had brought her to a better understanding of the whole system of delivery service. With the support from her supervisor and her colleagues in the restaurant, she managed to get through her exhausted working time. After her valuable and interesting experience, she decided to share it in a report. The report shows that not only the technology component should be provided but the man power should also be trained for exceptional performance.

In light of the individualisation, dispersal and pervasive monitoring that characterise work in the ‘gig economy’, the development of solidarity among gig workers could be expected to be unlikely. However, numerous recent episodes of gig workers’ mobilisation require reconsideration of these assumptions. This article contributes to the debate about potentials and obstacles for solidarity in the changing world of work by showing the processes through which workplace solidarity among gig workers developed in two cases of mobilisation of food delivery platform couriers in the UK and Italy. Through the framework of labour process theory, the article identifies the sources of antagonism in the app-mediated model of work organisation and the factors that facilitated and hindered the consolidation of active solidarity and the emergence of collective action among gig workers. The article emphasises the centrality of workers’ agential practices in overcoming constraints to solidarity and collective action, and the diversity of forms through which solidarity can be expressed in hostile work contexts.

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) related to occupational work or termed as WMSDs are the most common health issues that are experienced by many workers. Either due to the human errors or inconvenient and faulty workplaces, this illness has caused both employers and employees great economic losses. However, when observing the prevalence of MSDs among motorcyclists, again the focus was put among those that use motorcycles during their duties making it very much work-related. For example, police riders, postal delivery workers, and currently food delivery services. But how about those non-occupational motorcyclists or commuting workers or students that only use their motorcycle to commute to work, riding to class or weekend-motorcyclists going for prolonged motorcycle rides? Upon this matter, it became the motivation of this study to look into the possibilities of MSDs prevalence especially related to muscle fatigue among these groups of motorcyclists based on a survey and indoor prolonged motorcycle riding simulations that were conducted earlier. This includes how education and proper training could help them to reduce the risk of experiencing MSDs. Outcomes of this study suggested several other MSD issues that are possible to take place involving other body regions and establishing a prolonged riding guideline could educate them to be more aware of this issue. These possible MSDs were found to not being highlighted in work-related MSDs literature with respect to motorcyclists and very few detailed guidelines are available to educate motorcyclists for a much safer prolonged riding which provide gaps for further investigation and validation. Keywords: Guidelines, Low back pain (LBP), Motorcyclists, Muscle fatigue, Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) Prolonged riding.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on the working conditions of so-called platform workers that have faced the lack of labour and social protection deriving from their formal status of independent contractors. Seeking for protection, numerous claims have been filed by the riders and drivers of digital platforms that were asking for a recognition of the subordinate work. The aim of the present article is to give a critical and brief overview of the latest European jurisprudence regarding the legal status of platform workers. The article focuses on the methodology and criteria applied by the judges in order to examine the particularities of the new forms of work and new forms of surveillance as well. Special attention is paid to on-location work performance by low-skilled individuals conducting services for the digital platforms operating in food delivery and transportation sectors.

Gojek, an online transportation service provider, is a social-spirited company that is leading the revolution in the ojek transportation industry. Gojek partners with experienced ojek riders to be the main solution in shipping goods, ordering food delivery, shopping and traveling in a traffic jam. The purpose of this study is to explain the effect of: Driver Performance on Customer Satisfaction, Effect of Application Facilities on Customer Satisfaction and Effect of Driver Performance and Application Facilities on Loyalty through Customer Satisfaction. This research is a quantitative research. The research population is Gojek customers in Malang City. The number of samples used was determined by the Proportional Random Sampling technique. Data analysis using the path analysis method (Path Analysis). The results showed that there was a significant influence between the performance of the driver on customer satisfaction Gojek; There is a significant influence between facilities on customer satisfaction Gojek; There is a significant influence between driver performance and facilities simultaneously on customer satisfaction) Gojek; There is a significant influence between driver performance on customer loyalty Gojek; The existence of insignificant influence between facilities on customer loyalty Gojek; There is a significant influence between satisfaction on customer loyalty Gojek; and the existence of significant influence between the effect of driver performance, facilities, and satisfaction simultaneously on Gojek customer loyalty.

Intisari— Layanan jasa kurir sudah banyak tersedia di Kota Samarinda, salah satunya adalah Kurir Kuriran. CV. Kurir Kuriran Samarinda merupakan perusahaan jasa kurir online antar, jemput, dan beli barang maupun makanan, dalam Kurir Kuriran memiliki beberapa risiko yang pernah terjadi dalam proses operasional. Oleh karena itu, dilakukan penelitian untuk mengidentifikasi risiko-risiko yang ada dengan memberi bobot di tiap risiko yang menggunakan metode Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) dengan cara menentukan bobot berdasarkan nilai RPN yang didapatkan berdasarkan nilai severity, occurance, dan detection serta meminimalisir risiko-risiko tersebut dengan mitigasi risiko menggunakan metode Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) dengan aplikasi Expert Choice V11 untuk mengetahui alternatif-alternatif yang bisa digunakan untuk mengurangi risiko. Hasil yang didapatkan dari penilaian dan pemeringkatan risiko dengan metode FMEA yang menjadi peringkat pertama adalah sulitnya pencarian kurir saat cuaca hujan (355,2), kendala pengantaran pada saat hujan atau banjir (219), dan Rider (kurir) pernah keliru dalam melaporkan hasil pendapatan (250). Hasil dari penentuan strategi mitigasi adalah pada prioritas mitigasi faktor kriteria yang menjadi peringkat tertinggi adalah proses penerimaan dan pemberian orderan (admin server) dan proses pengambilan dan pengantaran barang (rider) (0,455). Strategi mitigasi dari proses penerimaan dan pemberian orderan yang terpilih yaitu memiliki kartu kuota pribadi lebih dari satu provider (0,751) untuk risiko jaringan mengalami gangguan. Strategi mitigasi yang terpilih dari proses pengambilan dan pengantaran barang yaitu memiliki kartu kuota pribadi lebih dari satu provider (0,731) untuk risiko kendala pada jaringan, mengganti kurir dengan lapor ke admin server (0,674) untuk risiko kendala pada motor misalnya motor mati atau ban bocor, mengganti kurir dengan lapor ke admin server (0,528) untuk risiko kurangnya uang talangan atau jumlah talangan tidak sesuai. Strategi mitigasi yang terpilih dari proses pengelolaan keuangan dan setoran yaitu memberikan sanksi ke kurir yang bersangkutan berupa banned (0,635) untuk risiko rider lupa dalam memberikan laporan hasil pendapatan, admin setoran dengan teliti menghitung kembali laporan (0,731) untuk risiko rider pernah keliru dalam melaporkan hasil pendapatan. Abstract— Courier services are widely available in Samarinda City, one of which is Kurir Kuriran. CV. Kurir Kuriran Samarinda is an online courier service company deliver, pick up, and buy goods and food, in Kurir Kuriran has several risks that have occurred in the operational process. Therefore, conducted research to identify the risks that exist by giving weight in each risk using Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) method by determining the weight based on RPN value obtained based on value of severity, occurance, and detection and minimize these risks by mitigating risks using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) methods with Expert Choice V11 Software to find out alternatifs that can be used to reduce risk. The results obtained from the assessment and rating of risk with FMEA method that became the first rank is the difficulty of searching a courier in rainy weather (355.2), constraints on delivery during rain or flood (219), and Riders (couriers) have been wrong in reporting income results (250). The result of determining the mitigation strategy is the priority of the mitigation factor, the highest ranking criteria are the process of receiving and giving orders (server admin) and the process of taking and delivering goods (riders) (0.455). The mitigation strategy of the process of receiving and giving orders is to have a personal quota internet card more than one provider (0.751) for the risk of unstable network. The mitigation strategy who chosen from the process of taking and delivering goods is have a personal quota internet card more than one provider (0.731) for the risk of problems on the network, replacing the courier by reporting to the admin server (0.674) for the risk of problems on the motorcycle, for example the motorcycle dies or the tire leaks, replace the courier by reporting to the admin server (0.528) to reduce the lack of bailout money or the amount of bailout is not appropriate. The mitigation strategy who chosen from the financial and deposit management process is to give a penalty to driver of being banned (0.635) for the risk of the driver forgetting to provide an income report, the deposit admin carefully recalculates the report (0.731) for the risk that the driver has ever mistakenly reported the results income.

On-demand delivery platforms have become a common feature of urban economies across the globe. Noted for their hyper-outsourced, “lean” business models and reliance on independent contractors, these companies evade traditional employer obligations while still controlling workers through complex algorithmic management techniques. Using food delivery platform Deliveroo as a case-study, this paper investigates the diverse array of practices that on-demand workers carry out in order to enact this new platform labor arrangement in different spatial contexts. One of us conducted an auto-ethnographic project, working as a Deliveroo Rider in Nijmegen and Berlin for a period of nine months. Additionally, we interviewed 13 fellow platform workers. The findings reveal the motley, contingent, and conditional ways in which on-demand labor comes together on the ground. The paper concludes with discussing the uneven distribution of these practices across locations and social groups, and the sometimes contradictory impacts they have on the structure of platform labor.

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the global expansion of online food delivery (OFD) services. Food delivery services are comparable to courier services in that the ordered food is delivered to customers by workers or rider delivery companies. As the number of OFD companies continues to rise, the selection of OFD companies, such as GrabFood, Foodpanda, Halo Delivery, and others, is extremely competitive. Customers must choose carefully which OFD companies offer the best services. The objectives of this research are to investigate the evaluation criteria for OFD companies, then evaluate the OFD companies based on the evaluation criteria and rank the best OFD companies that provide the best services to customers in Perlis based on certain criteria. As a result, this study proposes a solution to this problem by developing a technique from multi criteria decision making (MCDM) known as the Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process (FAHP) to determine the relative importance of criteria used in ranking OFD services. This study’s findings indicate that Foodpanda is the most preferred food delivery service, followed by Grabfood and Halo Delivery. The most crucial main criteria is the economy, with discounts and offers as the priority sub-criteria. The second most important criterion is service quality, and the last is technology.

Food delivery service in Malaysia is an emerging trend in urban settings prior to 2020 or the COVID-19 pandemic. During the implementation of Movement Control Order (MCO) by the Malaysia government to control the spread of COVID-19 virus, food delivery service was listed as an essential service that was allowed to operate while dine-in at food outlets were prohibited. This study aims to investigate the needs of food delivery services in an urban planning to facilitate during and after COVID-19 pandemic. Wangsa Maju Kuala Lumpur was selected as the case study. This study was conducted on 100 food delivery staffs from Grab Food and Food Panda delivery platform through purposive sampling. Data were collected by questionnaire survey and were analyzed by SPSS software. The findings demonstrated that there were three themes of challenges which are (i) no waiting and resting area, (ii) inadequate and unavailability of parking spaces, and (iii) delivery location issue. The findings served as a platform for future study as well as the development of policy and guidelines together with collaboration planning to improve urban management.

This article investigates the motivation of contingent workers in the gig economy of China, particularly focusing on the two Mobile Food Delivery Aggregators (MFDA) - Meituan and Ele.me that controls over 80% of the food delivery market in China. The convenience of one ‘super-app' on phone, offered by each of these companies, allows users to order a diversified range of products and services starting from food, clothing to travel booking and ride-hailing. Online food ordering, however, tops the chart of online orders and this creates millions of food delivery rider jobs/gigs in mainland China. This paper draws key insights from the employee motivation theories by Herzberg and Taylor which underpins the findings and thematic discussion of this qualitative paper. While it is important to recognise that the usage growth of these MFDAs and consequently new gig creation is exponentially growing, the implications of this research would inform these online platform-based companies how to better design motivational factors or incentives to boost their employee satisfaction, engagement and levels of commitments in the colossal Gig economy of mainland China.

Food delivery service is an uprising service that were used worldwide. It can be used in few platforms such as mobile apps or a website. It usually involves 3 types of users which are the customer, the rider, and the restaurant. It also brings a lot of benefit in an individual daily life. If people had no time to prepare their meal, or stuck in a back-to-back meeting session, food delivery service is an option to fix their meal break. However, food delivery service is only available in a busy and high-density household area in Malaysia. This project proposed a UiTM Tapah EAT mobile application for UiTM Tapah Students, a food delivery service that can be used in an Android smartphone as a mobile app and able to receive notification of order status in real-time. Since Tapah is a small town placed in Perak, it also holds a university that occupied with about 2,000 students at one time. These students have few limitations of buying meal outside of the university or they are too busy with their schedule. This project uses Android Studio, an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for Android app development to design the pages using XML and develop the functions of the mobile app using Java language. Besides, this project also used Firebase, a mobile and web application developments platform that helps in storing the data in real-time. Once the development process complete, this project was tested with functionality test that list all the functions available in the app to be evaluated accordingly. The results of the experiment show that all functions in the app successfully executed including the notification system between two end-users, the customer and the runner.

Learning outcomes The learning outcomes are as follows: to gain insight into the importance of location, in terms of spatial and temporal context and the capability of leadership to tune into and strategically adapt to context; to understand and explain the sharing economy and explain how the Uber business model fits into this new way of doing business; to evaluate how Uber South Africa has adapted its business model in the period of the COVID-19 crisis and discuss the nature of the business model innovations that is has made; and to understand business model for sustainability and how it differs from the general understanding of business models. Case overview/synopsis On 15 May 2020, Alon Lits, General Manager of Uber Africa was considering his dilemma of adapting their business model to the demands of COVID-19, without losing their core business model as a multi-sided technology platform business. Uber was asking their riders to stay home to ensure social distancing during the lockdown, rather than booking a ride with Uber. The question was how they could support their driver partners, while they were discouraging riders to make use of Uber. Uber had taken initiatives to create additional revenue streams for drivers. The case highlights how Alon Lits and his executive team prioritised the health and well-being of their Uber community and quickly adapted their technology to meet the evolving needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. They customised their offerings to the different needs in the seven Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries in which they operated. Uber supported businesses by using the Uber-X sedan vehicles to deliver necessities like food, medicine and parcels to the frontline and poor communities. Uber globally offered their drivers in quarantine 14 days of financial assistance. Serving communities also involved offering free rides to women and children who were victims of domestic violence to get them to a safe space. The multi-sided platform technology business had to consciously adapt, to the “next normal” as the COVID-19 era evolved. Complexity academic level The case is most suitable for Post-Graduate Master’s level courses, MBA, MPhil in Corporate Strategy. Supplementary materials Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS: 11 Strategy.

Il presente articolo contribuisce al dibattito sulle piattaforme digitali focalizzandosi sull'analisi del livello micro, al fine di comprendere i vissuti dei rider del food delivery rispetto ai macro-cambiamenti del mercato del lavoro. La riflessione indaga il rapporto tra trasformazioni strutturali ed esperienze soggettive nel modello organizzativo delle piattaforme digitali. Il contributo è parte di una più ampia ricerca iniziata a Torino (Italia) nel 2016 e attualmente in corso, concepita e realizzata seguendo l'approccio che Alquati (1993) ha definito "conricerca". L'articolo sottolinea la centralità delle pratiche conflittuali agite dai lavoratori. I risultati evidenziano tra le cause scatenanti dell'antagonismo nei confronti del management, i conflitti tra rider e aziende, la contraddizione tra reddito e salute, le tensioni tra autonomia e controllo. La ricerca mostra come la posta in gioco delle pratiche conflittuali attuate non debba essere intesa come riguardante questioni meramente regolative ma abbia a che fare con questioni interpretative e politiche.

AbstractWith the rapid development of e-economy, ordering via online food delivery platforms has become prevalent in recent years. Nevertheless, the platforms are facing lots of challenges such as time-limitation and uncertainty. This paper addresses a complex stochastic online route-planning problem (SORPP) which is mathematically formulated as a two-stage stochastic programming model. To meet the immediacy requirement of online fashion, an end-to-end deep learning model is designed which is composed of an encoder and a decoder. To embed different problem-specific features, different network layers are adopted in the encoder; to extract the implicit relationship, the probability mass functions of stochastic food preparation time is processed by a convolution neural network layer; to provide global information, the location map and rider features are handled by the factorization-machine (FM) and deep FM layers, respectively; to screen out valuable information, the order features are embedded by attention layers. In the decoder, the permutation sequence is predicted by long-short term memory cells with attention and masking mechanism. To learn the policy for finding optimal permutation under complex constraints of the SORPP, the model is trained in a supervised learning way with the labels obtained by iterated greedy search algorithm. Extensive experiments are conducted based on real-world data sets. The comparative results show that the proposed model is more efficient than meta-heuristics and is able to yield higher quality solutions than heuristics. This work provides an intelligent optimization technique for complex online food delivery system.

Abstract The Covid-19 pandemic disrupted service access and use for many older adults aging in place. This study focuses on understanding how a rural “Village”, where services are primarily provided by volunteers to older adults, adjusted to Covid-19. The sample is drawn from service users of at least one or more services between January and October 2020 (N=233). Survey and qualitative data were gathered via telephone-interview (N=80). This study examined (1) the impact of Covid-19 on service use and ability to stay at home, 2) services offered, and 3) changes to day to day life. In the sample, 53.75% is 80+ in age, 70% female, and 43.75% lived alone. 15% of respondents reported reduction in service used, 10% an increase, 65% no change, and 6.25% used no services. Some services such as rides to medical care, and grocery delivery increased, other services (e.g., caregiving) were reduced. 26.24% respondents believed that the organization’s services helped them stay at home during Covid-19. Other services were developed to better serve older adults such as phone reassurance and expansion of delivery of medication and food. Open ended responses identified how Covid-19 impacted day to day life. While many reported negative ways such as changing mental health perspectives and limiting medical care, others report life being more peaceful and providing time to enjoy nature. Findings provide an understanding that services while disrupted continued for one volunteer organization with some service users showing resilience in their day to day lives.

Teluk Kenidai Village is located in Tambang District, Kampar Regency, Riau Province. Teluk Kenidai Village has the potential for natural tourism in the form of beaches, which are one of the alternative tourist destinations for the community. The activities carried out are playing various kinds of rides and swimming on the banks of the Kampar River. The visitors to the island of love in Kenidai Bay are the largest visitors of all tourist objects in Kampar Regency. The existence of the island of love tourism can develop the community's economy by providing special foods as souvenirs and drinks for tourist visitors. Alternative foods that can be done are processed crispy monitor fish and lime syrup drinks because these two things have very high potential in Kampar Regency, and can provide added value to people's lives. The purpose of the activity is to empower the people of Teluk Kenidai Village, to process various crispy monitoring fish and to increase the attractiveness of the island of love for visiting tourists. The benefits of the activity are opening up people's insights in increasing the potential of natural resources, gaining skills and abilities in making crispy monitor fish and lime syrup to improve the economy. The method is carried out by demonstration and hands-on practice in the manufacture of crispy monitoring fish and lime syrup. The target communities are the people living in Teluk Kenidai Village and village customary leaders and the Tourism Awareness Group (Pokdarwis) totaling 15 people. Evaluation is carried out by giving questionnaires to all participats before and after the delivery of counseling materials and practices. The results of the evaluation of the community service activities that have been carried out show that the increasing desire of the community in practicing extension activities to earn additional income by opening this bussines, especially in the tourist area of Pulau Cinta in Teluk Kenidai Village.

Климатические условия на большей части территории Российской Федерации не позволяют выращивать виноград в открытом грунте, поэтому его завозят из южных районов страны. Производство виноградных напитков обычно сосредоточено в местах выращивания винограда, так как доставка готовой продукции в северные регионы сопряжена со значительными финансовыми затратами. В Республике Дагестан выращивают около 30% винограда в масштабах всей страны, а площадь плодоносящих виноградников занимает более 20 тыс. га. Возникла необходимость переработать виноград таким образом, чтобы полуфабрикат для изготовления напитков выдерживал длительные сроки хранения и транспортировку, отличался высоким качеством и имел небольшую массу. Разработана технология получения виноградных криопорошков, которые можно использовать в качестве пищевых добавок, для изготовления восстановленных соков и напитков. Целью исследования было создание инновационной технологии производства криопорошков для получения безалкогольных напитков. Объектом исследования стал виноград дагестанских технических, столовых и изюмных сортов. Алгоритм получения криопорошков соответствовал предложенной автором схеме: доставка винограда, отделение гребней, инспекция, мойка, дробление, замораживание жидким азотом, обезвоживание в вакуумной СВЧ-установке, криоизмельчение и фасовка. При выполнении работы определяли качественный состав сырья и криопорошков с использованием аналитических приборов и лабораторного оборудования кафедры технологии продуктов питания и учреждений Дагестанского научного Центра РАН. Определен химический состав криопорошков, полученных из винограда, выращенного в горно-долинной зоне Дагестана. Приведены физико-химические показатели напитка из криопорошка винограда. Органолептические показатели изготовленных виноградных напитков подтвердили их высокие качественные показатели. Climatic conditions in most of the Russian Federation do not allow growing grapes in the open field, therefore they are imported from the southern regions of the country. The production of grape drinks is usually concentrated in places where grapes are grown, since the delivery of finished products to the northern regions is associated with significant financial costs. Winegrowers of the Republic of Dagestan grow about 30% of grapes throughout the country, and the area of fruit-bearing vineyards occupies more than 20 thousand hectares. There was a problem to process grapes in such a way that the semi-finished product for the production of drinks withstands long storage and transportation periods, is of high quality and has a small weight. A technology has been developed for producing grape cryopowders, which can be used as food additives, for the production of reconstituted juices and drinks. The aim of the study was to create an innovative technology for the production of cryopowders for the production of soft drinks. The objects of the study were Dagestan common and raisin grapes. The algorithm for obtaining cryopowders corresponded to the scheme proposed by the author: delivery of grapes, separation of ridges, inspection, washing, crushing, freezing with liquid nitrogen, dehydration in a vacuum microwave unit, cryo-grinding and packaging. When performing the work, the qualitative composition of raw materials and cryopowders was determined using analytical instruments and laboratory equipment of the Department of Food Technology and institutions of the Dagestan Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The chemical composition of cryopowders obtained from grapes grown in the mountain-valley zone of Dagestan has been determined. The physical and chemical parameters of a wine drink made from grape cryopowder are given. The organoleptic characteristics of the produced wine drinks confirmed their high quality indicators.

Immobility, fixation, or paralysis of the vocal folds is an ominous sign when encountered in the clinics. This may be due to a variety of diseases, lesions, injuries, or vascular compromise which may affect the integrity and physiologic mechanism of the vocal folds. The common etiologies include infectious processes such as laryngeal or pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB), malignancy or neoplasms, central problems such as cerebrovascular accidents (CVA), stroke and others.1,2,3 The problem should be addressed immediately because this potentially life threatening and imminent narrowing of the glottic opening may lead to respiratory distress. Vocal fold paralysis due to compression of the recurrent laryngeal nerve from PTB and laryngeal cancer are perennially seen in clinical practice, but immobility of the vocal folds due to cricoarytenoid joint fixation or ankylosis is seldom seen and appreciated. Hence, we present a case of bilateral cricoarytenoid joint ankylosis and discuss its etiology, pathophysiology, differential diagnoses, ancillary procedures, and management. CASE REPORT A 60-year-old man was admitted for the first time because of difficulty of breathing and stridor. One week prior to admission he started to experience difficult breathing associated with productive cough and colds. He consulted in a primary private hospital and was managed as a case of bronchial asthma in exacerbation. Nebulization with salbutamol afforded temporary relief. A few hours prior to admission, difficulty of breathing and productive cough worsened, prompting emergency room consult. He was referred to us for further evaluation of stridor. The patient had no diabetes mellitus, hypertension or allergies to food and drugs. He was diagnosed with refractory bronchial asthma during childhood and had frequent hospitalizations for pulmonary infections. He had no maintenance medication for bronchial asthma and was nebulized with salbutamol during exacerbations. He had PTB and completed six months’ anti-TB medications in 2013. The patient claimed that he had no dyspneic episodes during routine daily activities or upon exertion. No history of hoarseness or joint pain was noted either. A golf caddy, he was a previous 15-pack-year smoker, occasional alcoholic beverage drinker and denied use of illicit drugs. Upon admission, the patient was awake, coherent, not in cardiorespiratory distress. Blood pressure was 110/70 mmHg, pulse rate was 74/minute, respiration was tachypneic at 24 cycles per minute, afebrile. Ear examination showed normal pinnae, no tragal tenderness, patent external auditory canals with no discharge and 80-90% dry central perforations of both tympanic membranes. Anterior rhinoscopy, nasal endoscopy and the oral cavity examination were unremarkable. Head and neck examination showed no cervical lymphadenopathy or palpable mass. Video laryngoscopy showed both vocal folds were immobile and fixed in paramedian position upon inspiration, with a 1–2 mm glottic opening and no mass or lesion appreciated. (Figure 1) The initial impression was impending upper airway obstruction secondary to bilateral vocal fold paralysis. Under general anesthesia, direct laryngoscopy revealed no mass or lesion on both vocal folds and passive mobility test demonstrated resistance and limitation of lateral rotation and movement of the arytenoids on both sides. (Figure 2) The vocal folds did not abduct on lateral retraction of the arytenoids. Tracheostomy was performed and he was discharged after a few days. A subsequent laryngeal electromyography (EMG) study showed no signs of myopathy or acute or chronic denervation changes of the thyroarytenoid muscles, and rheumatoid factor was normal. At this point, bilateral cricoarytenoid fixation or ankylosis was considered and posterior interarytenoid web and bilateral vocal fold paralysis were ruled out. We recommended a lateralization procedure such as unilateral arytenoidectomy with cordectomy. The patient is currently well while he and his family are still contemplating whether he will undergo the surgical procedure. DISCUSSION Respiratory stridor is always considered an ominous sign which implies upper airway obstruction. If severe, stridor may compromise breathing and in some instances is life threatening and a telltale sign of imminent danger requiring immediate endotracheal intubation. Stridor is a musical, high-pitched sound which may be elicited in the presence of laryngeal and upper tracheal obstruction while wheezes are defined as high-pitched, continuous, adventitious lung sounds.4,5 Stridor may be due to several reasons such as immaturity of the laryngeal structures seen in laryngomalacia in newborns, laryngeal infection, foreign body in the airway, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.3,6 This may be the reason why bronchial asthma was entertained in the clinical course of our patient and initially at the emergency room. It is unfortunate that despite the non-responsiveness of bronchial asthma to medical therapy and persistence of stridor, no ENT referral to evaluate the upper airway was made until recently. It should be emphasized that patients who develop stridor need to be evaluated by otolaryngologists specifically to ascertain the status of the vocal folds, which in this case turned out to be fixed or ankylosed, a condition which is rarely seen and encountered in clinical practice. Among the differential diagnoses considered in this case were laryngeal cancer, vocal fold paralysis, interarytenoid web, and arthritis.7,8,9 Initially, laryngeal cancer was entertained because of his age, however no mass or suspicious lesion was appreciated on video laryngoscopy and this was ruled out. Because the vocal folds were immobile and fixed in paramedian position upon inspiration, bilateral vocal fold paralysis was considered with the etiology to be determined. Vocal fold paralysis occurs when nerve impulses to the laryngeal muscles are disrupted in case of CVA or stroke, recurrent nerve injury after thyroid surgery or compression of the inferior laryngeal nerve due to pulmonary TB or lung cancer.8,11 On the other hand, vocal fold fixation occurs when movement of the cricoarytenoid joint is compromised in cases of rheumatoid arthritis provided that the innervation is intact.10,11 Another common differential diagnosis which may be entertained is laryngeal TB in which nodular lesions may be seen in the vocal folds, granulation tissues are usually present in the posterior commissure and histopathology shows Langhans cells and caseation necrosis.8 Paralysis is oftentimes unilateral due to compression of the recurrent laryngeal nerve from apical PTB. Although the patient has a history of TB, he was asymptomatic and close examination of the vocal folds revealed no lesions except for bilateral fixation, and this was ruled out. Direct laryngoscopy (DL), the gold standard in the evaluation of laryngeal anatomy especially when dealing with the vocal folds,3 showed smooth, normal-looking vocal folds with no lesions. The passive mobility test is done to differentiate vocal fold paralysis from cricoarytenoid ankylosis, by retracting or pushing the arytenoid laterally. If there is limitation of rotation and movement of the arytenoid laterally and the vocal folds do not abduct, then cricoarytenoid ankylosis or fixation is considered. On the contrary, if the arytenoid rotates and abducts laterally when retracted by forceps, then vocal fold paralysis is considered.1,6 Hence, because there was limitation of rotation and movement of the arytenoids, cricoarytenoid joint fixation was entertained and vocal fold paralysis was ruled out. Interarytenoid web was excluded because the vocal folds had no mucosal adhesions, synechiae, or any scarring within the posterior portion of the glottis. In addition, although the patient’s glottic opening was restricted, no difficulty was encountered during endotracheal intubation since a smaller caliber tube was used. To further confirm the diagnosis of cricoarytenoid fixation, laryngeal electromyography (EMG) revealed no paralysis of the thyroarytenoid muscles with no signs of myopathy and acute or chronic denervation, making bilateral vocal fold paralysis unlikely in this case. Laryngeal EMG is indicated to determine the integrity of the laryngeal muscles and innervation especially in cases of vocal fold paralysis.11 In post-thyroidectomy patients, laryngeal EMG is done 6 months after surgery to determine if the laryngeal nerve injury may recover or is irreversible. The 6-month waiting period is to allow swelling or inflammation to subside and to observe whether the injured nerve will recover prior to further intervention.12 The findings on direct laryngoscopy, passive mobility test and laryngeal electromyography clearly favor the diagnosis of cricoarytenoid joint ankylosis. Other ancillary procedures such as a CT scan may show sclerosis of the arytenoids1,11 in elderly patients and videostroboscopy may be useful in determining the relative vertical height and tension of the vocal folds for assessing the cricoarytenoid function.1 A CT scan was not done because there was no palpable neck mass and no other lesion was entertained that would warrant CT imaging. Videostroboscopy may help and may further show and magnify the movement of the vocal folds for observation however, the findings seen on direct laryngoscopy and laryngeal EMG were deemed enough to support and confirm the diagnosis. The patient may be classified under type IV posterior glottic stenosis - congenital or acquired bilateral cricoarytenoid fixation with or without interarytenoid scarring - based on the classification by Bogdasarian and Olson which was later modified by Irving and associates.3 Interarytenoid web and scarring presents as bilateral impaired abduction but adduction is normal and patients affected tend to have a normal voice while the main presenting symptom is airway compromise. In cricoarytenoid joint ankylosis, adduction and abduction of the vocal folds are limited.3 As previously mentioned, to distinguish cricoarytenoid joint ankylosis from vocal fold paralysis, palpation of the cricoarytenoid joint on rigid endoscopy and laryngeal EMG are necessary for definitive diagnosis.6 The patient’s voice was normal because the vocal folds approximate each other with a 1 to 2 mm glottic opening while no history of aspiration was apparent because the vocal folds are fixed in paramedian position which may prevent fluid from entering the larynx during swallowing. Although the patient’s voice is normal, respiration is compromised manifested as stridor and difficulty of breathing requiring tracheostomy. In contrast, patients with acute or recent unilateral vocal fold paralysis in post-thyroidectomy or post-CVA (stroke) conditions may initially manifest with aspiration. This is because the vocal fold assumes an intermediate position in which the glottic opening is relatively wider compared with the paramedian position. In a few months’ time, the paralyzed fold will compensate, move medially, and assume a paramedian position and aspiration may eventually resolve.13 Cricoarytenoid ankylosis has several etiologies which include arthritides, bacterial infection and trauma. Rheumatoid arthritis may account for numerous clinical diagnoses of cricoarytenoid ankylosis.2 Other causes include gout, Reiter Syndrome, and ankylosing spondylitis. Some anecdotal evidence suggests a mump-associated laryngeal arthritis and fixation secondary to radiation therapy.2, 8 Bacterial involvement of the joint space with infectious microorganisms such as streptococcal species, with resultant ankylosis is also well established.8 External and direct laryngeal trauma may also result in cricoarytenoid joint injury.8 Documented and retrospective studies suggest intubation-related joint injury and posterior or anterior arytenoid displacement secondary to the distal tip of the endotracheal tube engaging the arytenoid during intubation.8 Traumatic obstetric delivery using forceps and postpartum newborn care through vigorous cleansing and suctioning the mouth and pharynx of the newborn are also mentioned in the literature.11 Posterior dislocation resulting from extubation with a partially inflated endotracheal tube cuff is another probable cause.7, 8 Another potential etiology is arytenoid chondritis secondary to prolonged endotracheal intubation, which results in fibrosis.8, 16 Reviewing the patient’s history, however, showed no history of trauma, previous intubation, signs and symptoms of arthritis and serious laryngeal infections. The patient was delivered via normal spontaneous delivery by a traditional birth attendant (“hilot”) and no apparent respiratory distress or postpartum hospitalization was known of by the patient. Cricoarytenoid ankylosis is usually associated with cases of rheumatoid arthritis with 17 to 33% incidence among RA patients.9 House et al. in 2010 described approximately 0.1% incidence of cricoarytenoid joint ankylosis in endotracheal intubations.16 Most cases of vocal fold immobility seen under the service is secondary to vocal fold paralysis due to cerebrovascular accident (stroke), pulmonary problems such as PTB, or laryngeal malignancy and to our knowledge, this is the first reported case of cricoarytenoid joint ankylosis in our institution. Chronic cricoarytenoid joint ankylosis may be mistaken for asthma or chronic bronchitis, with symptoms of dyspnea, hoarseness, or stridor.3 In rheumatoid arthritis, laryngoscopy may show rough and thick mucosa and narrowed glottic chink which were contrary to the recent endoscopic findings. If the etiology is bacterial, there is direct involvement of the joint space with infectious agents, such as streptococcal species, which leads to scarring and thickening of the cricoarytenoid joints.8 Airway compromise occurs most commonly in patients with long-standing cricoarytenoid ankylosis and laryngeal stridor has been described as the sole presentation of the disease as manifested in this case.8, 14, 17 To rule out RA in this case, rheumatoid factor (RF) was done with negative results. Finally, when it comes to upper airway obstruction, the glottic opening or opening of the vocal folds should be thoroughly evaluated. The normal glottic opening in newborns opens approximately 4 mm in a lateral direction. Congenital subglottic stenosis is defined as a subglottic diameter of less than 4 mm.13 In retrospect, it may be presumed that the patient’s glottis may not be seriously compromised since birth because he was able to thrive and breathe with no apparent difficulty. It may be conjectured that narrowing of the glottic opening occurred only later in life. Although asymptomatic, rheumatoid factor was negative, and the etiology of the patient’s ankylosis remains perplexing and elusive. The management of cricoarytenoid ankylosis includes tracheostomy to address the upper airway obstruction. Surgical management includes open arytenoidectomy, arytenoidpexy and endoscopic arytenoidectomy or transverse cordectomy and all have their advantages and disadvantages.6, 11, 16 These are lateralization procedures which aim to widen the glottic opening and wean the patient from tracheostomy afterwards. In closing, when bronchial asthma remains refractory to treatment, the physician should not hesitate to refer to otolaryngologists to rule out other probable upper airway pathologies. Although rare, ankyloses of the cricoarytenoid joint should be considered especially when the movement of the vocal folds is compromised. Although direct laryngoscopy, passive mobility tests and laryngeal EMG are indispensable in clinching the diagnosis, the clinical history is important in determining etiology which in this case remains elusive and perplexing. REFERENCES Woo Peak M. Laryngeal Trauma in Woo Peak Stroboscopy. 1st California: Plural Publishing Inc. 2010. p. 221-226.. Bryson PC, Buckmire RA. Medscape. Arytenoid Fixation. [Updated 2016 Mar 30; cited 2013 Apr]. Retrieved from: https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/866384-overview#a6. Albert D, Boardman S, Soma M. Evaluation and Management of the Stridulous Child. In Flint PW, Haughey BH, Lung VJ, Niparko JK, Richardson MA, Robbins T, et al (editors). Cummings Otorhinolarynglogy Head and Neck Surgery. 5th ed. Philadelphia: Mosby Elsevier. 2010. p. 2896-2897. Lechtzin NM. Stridor. Merck Manual Professional. 2014 [cited 2014 Apr]. Retrieved from Merck Manuals: http://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/pulmonary-disorders/symptoms-of-pulmonary-disorders/stridor Lechtzin NM. Wheezing. Merck Manual Professional. 2014 [cited 2014 Apr]. Retrieved from Merck Manuals: http://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/pulmonary-disorders/symptoms-of-pulmonary-disorders/wheezing Jackson C, Jackson CL. Direct Laryngoscopy in Bronchoesophagology. 5th Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders. 1950. p. 116-117 Cooper R. Extubation and Changing Endotracheal Tubes. In Benumof J, Hagberg CA (editors). Benumof's Airway Management: Principles and Practice. 2nd Philadelphia: Mosby Elsevier. 2007. p. 1160. Heman-Ackah Y, Kelleher K, Sataloff R. Inferior Glottic Ridges That Prevent Vocal Cord Closure. In Sataloff RT, Chowdhury F, Joglekar S, Hawkshaw MJ (editors). Atlas of Endoscopic Laryngeal Surgery. 1st New Delhi: Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers. 2011. p. 45. Kamanli A, Gok U, Sahin S, Kaygusuz I, Ardicoglu O Yalcin S. Bilateral cricoarytenoid joint involvement in rheumatoid arthritis: a case report. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2001 May; 40 (5): 593-594. PMID: 11371675. Zakaria HM, Al Awad NA, Al Kreedes AS, Al-Mulhim AM, Al-Sharway MA, Hadi MA, et al. Recurrent laryngeal nerve injury in thyroid surgery. Oman Med J. 2011 Jan; 26(1): 34–38. DOI: 10.5001/omj.2011.09; PMID: 22043377 PMCID: PMC3191623. Remacle M, Sandhu G. Bilateral Vocal Fold Immobility. In Oswal V, Remacle M, Jovanvic S, Zeitels SM, Krespi JP, Hopper C (editors). Principles and Practice of Lasers in Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery. 2nd Amsterdam: Kugler Publication. 2014. p. 250-251. Chauhan A, Badhwar S, Patel M, Tiwari S. Post - Intubation Bilateral Arytenoid Dislocation with Acute Respiratory Distress. J Anaesth Clin Pharmacol. 2009 Aug; 25(3):361-62. Banovetz J. Benign Laryngeal Disorders. In Adams GL, Boies LR (editors). Boies Fundamentals of Otolaryngology - A Textbook of Ear, Nose, and Throat Diseases. 6th Singapore: W.B. Saunders. 1989. p. 406-408. Stojanovic SP, Zivic L, Stojanovic J, Belic B. Total fixation of cricoarytenoid joint of a patient with rheumatoid arthritis and Hashimoto thyroiditis. Srp Arh Celok Lek. 2010 Mar-Apr; 138(3-4): 230-2. PMID: 20499506. Hamdan AL, Sarieddine D. Laryngeal Manifestations of Rheumatoid Arthritis. Hindawi Autoimmune Diseases. 2013; 2013: 4-6. DOI:10.1155/2013/103081. Polisar IA, Burbank B, Levitt LM, Katz HM, Morrione TG. Bilateral midline fixation of cricoarytenoid joints as a serious medical emergency. JAMA. 1960; 172(9): 901-906. DOI:10.1001/jama.1960.03020090013003 Burkey B, Goudy S, Rohde S. Airway Control and Laryngotracheal Stenosis in Adults. In Snow JB, Ballenger JJ (editors). Ballenger's Manual of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery. 17th Ontario: BC Decker. 2009. p. 911.

This research determined the operational strategies of online food delivery businesses in Camarines Norte, Philippines. It assessed the profile of the online food delivery businesses in terms of number of riders, initial capitalization, form of business organization, commonly used digital platform and average weekly deliveries; the operational strategies being implemented and the problems encountered on the aspects of resources and processes. Findings revealed that majority of online food delivery businesses have 11 to 15 riders, under sole proprietorship, uses social media platform, with 201 and above weekly deliveries. The operational strategies of online food delivery businesses include: monitoring of riders’ performances, use of cellular phones, desktop, tablet and laptop for monitoring customer needs; optimizing marketing budget through utilization of low-cost marketing campaigns and promotions; promotion using various social media platforms; and updating customers with their transactions from time-to-time via chat or Short Message Service (SMS). The problems encountered by online food delivery businesses are shortage of available riders during peak hours and threat of new entrants. The study recommended for food delivery business owners to revisit the human resource plans and create operations manual to provide clear guidelines and processes in implementing their operational strategies which are significant to their daily operations.

Introduction. The delivery sector has experienced a remarkable expansion in recent years, owing mainly to theCOVID-19 pandemic. However, numerous elements, like practices, regulations, and health and safety conditions,impact their efficiency. Similarly, the issues and complaints of delivery services, notably its on-the-ground workers/riders, have grown.Objective. This research aims to describe delivery riders' work-related health and safety conditions in the Philippines.Method. An online survey was conducted for delivery riders to inquire about working conditions, and health and safety issues. Eighty survey respondents were included via snowball sampling. The survey focused on seven variables: precautions at work, health risks due to work, accident involvement, bad driving practices, road conditions, potential dangers for riders, and employer regulations and support. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data.Results. Most riders are low-income married men who have finished at least high school and work more than eight hours a day, six days a week. Most of them also work for food delivery businesses during the day. The findings show a general adherence to traffic and safety laws, a propensity to push oneself to work despite poor conditions, and a lack of company support for riders' health, safety, and other requirements. The regular delivery rider's everyday difficulties include dirt roads, a lack of traffic signals, the presence of wandering animals and irresponsible pedestrians, and an insistence on showing up to work despite weather or health concerns. Furthermore, responders have high esteem for and thoroughly grasp local traffic laws.Conclusion. Although the riders are generally perceived to comply with safety standards, their employers’ rules and support indicate that delivery firms are deficient in providing adequate safety and health measures for their workers. There is low importance on strategies to prevent transmission and contraction of COVID-19, such as vaccinations, testing, face masks, face shields, and sanitizers, among others.

The food delivery app business has grown in recent years, with an increasing number of customers and workers on these platforms. Food delivery apps are also an iconic example of the increasing precarity of working conditions. Delivery app workers have mobilised to demand greater stability and regulation, with one of their main demands being to switch from their current status as self-employed workers to being employees of these companies. However, in Spain, those who want to remain self-employed have also mobilised, demanding better wages and improved conditions from the platforms. In this article, we focus on the mobilisation of delivery workers in Spain, exploring the characteristics of the main actors involved and the evolution and current situation of the conflict.

Abstract This article investigates the preferences of food delivery platform workers regarding their employment status and working hours. We focus on the relationship between flexibility and protection, both of which can be understood—from a worker’s perspective—as a means towards increased autonomy and control. The analysis is based on a case study of Deliveroo in Belgium, which hired riders as employees through an intermediary, SMart. Despite their flexible working lives, most riders preferred employee status to self-employment. However, riders were divided in their preferences regarding working time flexibility, with many in favour of more regular working time patterns. To explain this divergence, we develop an embeddedness framework that relates worker preferences to the degree of their dependency as shaped by labour market and institutional factors. We thus link divergence in preferences concerning flexibility to workers’ scope for exercising control, their labour market vulnerability and economic attachment to the platform.

This study explores how Chinese riders game the algorithm-mediated governing system of food delivery service platforms and how they mobilize WeChat to build solidarity networks to assist each other and better cope with the platform economy. We rely on 12 interviews with Chinese riders from 4 platforms (Meituan, Eleme, SF Express and Flash EX) in 5 cities, and draw on a 4-month online observation of 7 private WeChat groups. The article provides a detailed account of the gamification ranking and competition techniques employed by delivery platforms to drive the riders to achieve efficiency and productivity gains. Then, it critically explores how Chinese riders adapt and react to the algorithmic systems that govern their work by setting up private WeChat groups and developing everyday practices of resilience and resistance. This study demonstrates that Chinese riders working for food delivery platforms incessantly create a complex repertoire of tactics and develop hidden transcripts to resist the algorithmic control of digital platforms.

PurposeThis paper focusses on on-demand food delivery (ODFD), i.e. the delivery of freshly prepared meals to customers' homes, enabled by the use of online platforms. In ODFD, a key process is represented by last-mile deliveries (LMDs): they directly affect customers (the delivery price influences their purchase intention), riders (the compensation drives their willingness to perform deliveries) and platforms (deliveries are very expensive). In this context, this work aims to investigate the economic performances of ODFD LMDs.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopts a multi-method threefold process. First, it develops a model that – after the generation of customers' demand and the assignment of deliveries to available riders – identifies incomes and costs faced by an ODFD operator. Second, the model is applied to a base case in Milan (Italy). Third, sensitivity analyses are performed (on daily demand and riders' salary).FindingsThe analyses allow – besides the identification of significant values associated to ODFD profitability – to draw general insights about delivery price (e.g. free delivery is not economically sustainable), daily demand (e.g. greater demand values do not only improve positive results but also worsen negative ones) and fixed/variable wage mix (e.g. increasing the variable wage enhances the profitability for platforms).Originality/valueOn the academic side, this word enhances extant literature about ODFD, proposing a model – with multidisciplinary implications – to strategically investigate profitability conditions of LMDs. On the managerial side, it provides support for (logistics/marketing) ODFD practitioners since it allows to evaluate the potential impact of significant decisions on profitability.

PurposeThis paper aims to explore the last-mile (LM) challenges faced by on-demand food delivery (ODFD) riders during the coronavirus pandemic. This study contributes to the literature on the less-explored domain of ODFD services.Design/methodology/approachA grounded theory methodology is used. Riders working for multiple ODFD firms in various urban and semi-urban areas of India were interviewed. Open, axial and selective coding of interview transcripts was done.FindingsA grounded model is developed consisting of riders' challenges represented broadly under four core categories: Operational, Customer-related, Organisational and Technological issues. The study indicates that while some of the challenges are inherent to the ODFD supply chain, these have been visibly exposed and intensified by COVID-19, while other challenges are specific to the pandemic.Research limitations/implicationsThe model is a qualitative proposition representing LM delivery issues in ODFD services faced by the riders in India's urban and semi-urban areas during the COVID-19 pandemic. Other countries may face similar problems, but further studies are necessary to confirm or refute the findings.Practical implicationsODFD companies must address the riders' issues to better adapt to the current and future disruptions and improve riders' quality of work–life to achieve operational excellence.Originality/valueThis study builds on the extant ODFD literature by focusing on one of its less addressed aspects: the working conditions of the riders. This work is conducted amid the COVID-19 pandemic in the context of a developing country and aims to study the challenges in ODFD operations.

Since Covid-19 (C19) became a global pandemic, there has been a rise in the number of people joining food delivery platforms (FDPs). Although this form of gig work is gaining its pace, food delivery riders (FDRs) are falling behind in terms of rules and legislation designed to safeguard their employees. To understand the spread of these unstable forms of employment, it is essential to comprehend the factors that keep FDRs in it. This quantitative study employed PPM to determine the relationship between push, pull, and mooring factors and FDRs’ intention to participate in the gig economy; and to test whether these factors prevent or lead to their participative behaviour. The SPSS 26.0 and Smart PLS 3.30 programmes were used to analyse the survey data from 393 respondents. Economic necessities, extra income, flexibility, and control and autonomy, encouraged FDRs' gig economy participation, whereas limited alternatives and enjoyment minimise it. It is also evident that FDRs will have lower participation due to the lack of employment protection that also moderates the relationship between economic necessities and their participation in the gig economy. This research provides widespread implications for both theory and practice.

There have been numerous legal battles in Western countries concerning employment relations between platform-based food delivery firms and their riders; however, no such legal battles have occurred in Taiwan. This qualitative case study applies the theory of institutional logics to examine the reason such legal action is absent in Taiwan, focusing on how different stakeholders apply different logics to employment relations in Taiwan’s platform-based food-delivery sector. Through this investigation, this article shows that most stakeholders in this sector quickly came to a consensus that the ‘quasi-employee’ hybrid logic should be applied to riders, and that this was due to a convergence of worker and capitalist theories of profit, motivation to maintain the profitability of these platform firms (who are regulatory entrepreneurs performing symbolic compliance) and the techno-developmentalism of the Taiwanese government.

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has intensified the need for online food delivery services (such as Deliveroo and Foodpanda), creating new job opportunities for South Asian youths. However, outbreaks of infected cases in districts populated by South Asians have spurred ‘racist’ remarks by customers, perhaps triggered by a flurry of negative mainstream news reports and social media outbursts targeted at South Asians. These behaviours reveal the added precariousness of ethnic minority employment. This paper examines the inter-sectional politics of race and class involved in platformed work, in the case of food delivery services. It discusses how the algorithmically controlled platformed economy may have an impact on racial minority workers. Employing the conceptual framing of ‘invisibility’, and notions around ‘platformed/ gig labour’, it argues that neo-liberalised infrastructural capitalism aggravates algorithmic surveillance of racial minority workers. It suggests the possible resilience of racial minority workers in the globally popular business model.

BackgroundMusculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are common occupational diseases. However, the influencing mechanisms were not clear in the new emerging takeaway rider occupation in the catering industry in China.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted using a takeaway rider sample from one of the largest e-platforms, the Mei Tuan Company in Shanghai. The chi-square test was used to compare the sex differences in MSDs according to various factors. Binary logistic regressions were then performed to explore the potential risk factors for the occurrence and severity of MSDs adjusted by age, sex and vehicle type. Crude odds ratios (CORs) and adjusted odds ratios (AORs) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for predictors were reported.ResultsThe prevalence of MSDs was found to be 54.9% (n = 361). Shoulders (joint pain: 24.5%, n = 154/629 cases; muscle pain: 29.0%, n = 183/632 cases; muscle numbness: 31.7%, n = 120/379 cases) and neck (joint pain: 17.0%, n = 107/629 cases; muscle pain: 14.1%, n = 89/632 cases; muscle numbness: 15.3%, n = 58/379 cases) were the most affected regions. Irregular meals (often having regular meals: p = 0.03, AOR = 1.89, 95% CI: 1.05–3.39; sometimes: p < 0.01, AOR = 2.54, 95% CI: 1.49–4.34 and seldomly: p < 0.01, AOR = 4.24, 95% CI: 2.28–7.91) were positively associated with the occurrence of MSDs. Work-related factors, including working over 5 years (p = 0.02, AOR = 1.87, 95% CI: 1.10–3.17) and over 51 km of food delivery distance per day (51–75 km: p = 0.02, AOR = 2.13, 95CI%:1.13–4.01; ≥76 km: p < 0.01, AOR = 3.12, 95CI%: 1.44–6.77), were strongly associated with severity.ConclusionMSDs were common among takeaway riders. Personal lifestyles (meal irregularity) were found to predict the occurrence, while work-related factors (longer years of employment and prolonged food delivery distance) were positively associated with severity. Public health efforts should be made to prevent MSDs in this population.