Within the foodtech industry landscape, new ordering and delivering platforms, marketplaces, and channels have recently been introduced. Of particular interest are the case of Deliveroo and Uber Eats and the business model they follow. In the UK marketplace, food delivery is a big market that is growing rapidly. Most restaurants and takeaways have their in-house delivery service, but they will not always cater to all areas within a given city. Restaurants or takeaways that do not have an in-house delivery service may be at a severe disadvantage against the competition. Deliveroo and Uber Eats offer a solution by providing delivery services for all restaurants and takeaways that subscribe to their services, thanks to the delivery radius and wide coverage enabled by their cyclists. These cyclists are easy riders who can deliver food orders to most locations within a city. However, considering how new all of this is to the economy, how do teamwork and performance figure in the new model?      To begin with, the model is a rather self-managed set-up. Riders are classed as self-employed contractors who are not entitled to protections granted to employees and workers." They are not entitled to rights. Nevertheless, they are part of a team and of the broader company's group. They are paid a flat rate per order they deliver without any time restriction, which means that they can work flexible hours (with the bonus of keeping their bodies physically fit!). Therefore, the ones who accomplish the most deliveries will get a good day's earnings. There are issues, of course: one is if the deliveries are great distances from each other, and another is the weather, which can slow down deliveries and thus restrict the earnings of the day for individual cyclists.      Supervision over self-management and self- sustained contractors can be challenging with regard to overall group performance, but the way the reward system works could act as a further positive reinforcement for better performance individually and therefore, as an entity of a particular group setting. But perhaps the most interesting aspect here is the matter of trust in the working relationships between the cyclists and their supervisor-how these are built and sustained is the big question. Complicating this setup further is the fact that there are no physical supervisors delegating tasks to the riders; a algorithm calculates variables such as distance, time, etc., possibly diluting team spirit.      In contrast to the model above, other companies, such as Marks & Spencer and Moneypenny (the United Kingdom's leading telephone company), pride themselves on their team-driven incentives and team-bonding activities. Yet all these companies perform very well in their individual industries despite their different reward system models and activities.Yet all these companies perform very well in their individual industries despite their different reward system models and activities. Thus, the question of whether it is better to praise Individual work or group work, for which performance and under which circumstances, still offers food for thought. 

Questions 

1. Would you consider the Deliveroo and Uber Eats model a work-group or a work-team environment? Justify your answer based on the characteristics of groups and teams. 

2. What type of group or team are cyclists working for a supervisor for Deliveroo? Justify your answer. 

3. In the cases discussed above, where do you think you would perform better, and why? Justify your answer by taking into account efficiency   factors, reward systems, the context, and your individual perceptions