We are enthusiastic about teamwork. This attitude makes us strong and encourages us to seek out new goals in our work. The constructive cooperation among our employees helps us fulfill our role as a leading multichannel distributor in the world market.

Otto’s success as a trading and services group is critically dependent on its ability to make all the knowledge that has been acquired within the Group available to all other employees. The Otto Group actively promotes effective cooperation and knowledge transfer among its employees, which is seen as the source of significant competitive advantages, by institutionalizing a system in which business processes are highly networked. Thus, the key operating entities of the Group’s mail-order business are globally networked with the corporate staff departments of Purchasing, Marketing, Sales, IT and Logistics. This strategy ensures the successful transfer of know-how within the Group and makes it possible to exploit synergies.

Intelligent networking is a fundamental principle of cooperation within the Group that goes beyond the organization of processes. Experts from the group companies regularly come together for workshops devoted to key topics pertaining to all stages of the value chain, where they compare their experiences and adopt the most successful practices. Otto Group always emphasizes people as the most important agents of business success. In its e-commerce activities, Otto has taken steps to establish groupwide transparency and optimize processes. Forums and best-practice clubs are regularly held, both on national and international levels. These meetings are designed to identify synergies and perfect the e-commerce platforms based on rigorous benchmarking and the intensive exchange of ideas between the group companies.

The internationally active Human Resources Development Office has an important role to play in this regard. This corporate department was recently honored with the prestigious Continuing Education Award for 2003 by ZfU International Business School, Zentrum für Unternehmensführung AG in Zurich, for its “High Potential Network” training program, which has already received numerous other awards. The international jury specifically cited the innovative character of this program, its proven practical benefits and the degree to which the training program is strategically integrated with the overarching interests of the Group. Having received a total of seven awards from various different organizations in the last four years, Otto’s Human Resources Development Office has reinforced its outstanding reputation.