“Culture eats strategy for breakfast” – this insight from strategy guru, Peter Drucker, should be imprinted on the minds of all business decision makers.

Agile companies like prepaid value distributor MobileData are constantly reviewing and evaluating their own values in an attempt to consciously shape their ideal corporate culture.

The values upon which a company is founded is far more relevant than most would imagine. They define the culture of a business and not only reflect the manner in which it operates, but ultimately serve as the blueprint for its eventual success or failure.

This is the view of management at MobileData, an established technology service provider focussed on payment facilitation and prepaid electronic value distribution.

The company describes values as general beliefs that define what is right and what is wrong and help to determine preferences.

At the same time MobileData sees ‘attitudes’ as an expression of values and disposes a person to act or react in a certain way towards something or someone.

“Why is this important? The reality for any business operating across any industry or sector, and more so for those in fast moving, dynamic environments such as the ICT sector, is that values and attitudes will either support growth or hamper progress,” says André Louw, CEO of MobileData

Louw says for any progressive, technology-focused business in today’s economy the values of professionalism, quality, innovation, integrity and passion are crucial.

To ensure that life is brought back into what can easily become a dull, ‘red-tape’ driven culture, MobileData incorporates FUN as the ‘secret’ ingredient in its values mix.

“We need fun to create the energy required to glue everything we do together in a sustainable manner,” Louw adds.

“This is because we want to make our mark as a technology provider that delivers best-in-class solutions, that demonstrates innovation in our approach while our customers experience consistent, high quality support,” he continues.

According to MobileData the primary value underpinning technology service provision is passion combined with innovation. “The two go together,” says Louw.

Key role-players 

Service excellence and the level of service quality are dependent on how well a service provider understands the role they are expected to play within a customer.

Louw notes that credible technology partners would place a premium on ethical operations and business practices, that they would respect the business of their clients, and the significance of continuous product improvement.

The company also identifies several hallmarks of a professional, focused and experienced service provider: make expertise a speciality, take ownership and “say what you can do and do what you say”, communicate effectively and praise peers.

“All the values we speak of, the behaviour and attitudes that we have identified all point to one central component that should be the compass for any professional venture – placing customer satisfaction first,” Louw continues.

Understanding and satisfying your customer’s needs are the cornerstones of a successful business. Do what is necessary to meet those needs. After all, without the customer, there is no professional, according to MobileData.