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// PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL // July/August 2016
Corporate Culture:
The Last Untapped
Strategic Asset
of Your Organization
By Ulli Appelbaum,
First-The-Trousers-Then-The Shoes
Brand Consultancy
L
ottery agencies face a unique set of business challenges
which we’re all familiar with and trying to tackle on a
daily basis. They include:
• Player fatigue with big jackpots
• Difficulty identifying and reaching the next generation of players
• Rising operating expenses mean that each dollar of incremental
growth comes at a higher cost
• Cracking the code on successful digital engagement
• Better utilizing digital throughout the POS experience
However, there is an even more important challenge most lottery
agencies face and that directly influences the performance of their
business. I am referring to an agency’s corporate culture, and the
fundamental role it plays in driving innovation, growth, profits and
employee satisfaction.
In fact, a lottery’s ability to tackle its business challenges is directly
related to the strength of its corporate culture.
So, what exactly is a corporate culture?
When in doubt, we can start with Wikipedia:
Corporate Culture (or organizational culture as it is often referred
to) represents the collective values, beliefs and principles of organiza-
tional members and is a product of such factors as history, product,
market, technology, and strategy, type of employees, management style,
and national culture. Culture includes the organization’s vision, values,
norms, systems, symbols, language, assumptions, beliefs, and habits …
Thus, organizational culture affects the way people and groups interact
with each other, with clients, and with stakeholders. In addition, or-
ganizational culture may affect how much employees identify with an
organization
(Source: Wikipedia)
So: the corporate culture represents the unique style and poli-
cies of an organization as expressed by the beliefs and values of its
employees. As well, and perhaps most important—the corporate
culture is also seen in the official and unofficial behaviors deemed
as acceptable or desired inside the company.
The peculiar and sometimes dangerous aspect of corporate cul-
tures is that they don’t have to be consciously created in order to
exist and seriously affect a business, for better or for worse—they
can just as easily be a remnant of a past management legacy.
Or perhaps, the corporate culture is not clearly defined at the top
of the organization or changes too frequently because of constant
management changes. Then, subcultures will take over that are usu-