Ken Ungar is founder and president of Indianapolis-based U/S Sports Advisors, a sports marketing agency that counts the National Basketball Players Association, NASCAR and Honda among its clients. Ungar runs the company with a focus on creating a collaborative culture. To that extent, he recently was featured in a study by the Chief Marketing Officer Council that addressed how a firm’s culture affects its overall success. Ungar said many strides can be made in this regard in sports, as many front offices are divided, and business and team-operations staffs often work separately.
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Everyone told us we would hate it, that there would be no privacy and we would be subject to constant interruption. There were doubts both inside and outside the company. But just the opposite has happened. People feel plugged in as to what is happening. It really has created a cohesive feeling as we grow.”
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Photo by: U/S SPORTS ADVISORS
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On defining culture in the workplace: Culture is “the how” we get our work done. … It is how we are organized as a staff and how we create excellent outcomes for our clients. It starts with the physical environment. Our workspace is completely open. We don’t have walls and offices. Everyone, including me as the agency president, is out in the open. Offices tend to breed silos, and silos breed separateness. We have collaborative spaces around the office. If you don’t want to sit at your desk, then there are other places that breed creativity. People are encouraged to drop by everyone’s workspace to talk about challenges. What has happened both formally and informally is that we have created interdisciplinary teams. Whether you work in branding or in public relations, you are there to collaborate and help solve problems and to produce great work.
On sports organizations and the value of establishing culture: What is interesting is that defining culture is not new to sports. Collaboration is baked into sports but not into sports business. The sports business industry has been typically organized as a traditional business. The very definition of a front office means it is separate from a back office. Culture is new to sports business, but we are taking the very concept of a team and applying it.
On success that is related to a company’s culture: Culture trumps strategy every time. That is my personal business philosophy. You can have a business that can execute, but if it doesn’t have the culture to support it, then it minimizes the effectiveness. Our philosophy is that culture makes your business stronger and produces better outcomes for clients, which ultimately achieves business success.
