Corporate Social Responsibility in Gambling Industry – TabCrop
Wai Cheung
27 May 2010
Corporate social responsibility
There is an increasing concern in corporate social responsibility (CSR) among companies. (Franklin 2008) CSR has become main stream, with estimated spending on charitable giving reaching $300 billion in the United States. For many multinational corporations, CSR is now a crucial part of long-term business strategies to build and sustain a competitive advantage.
To a certain extent, companies engaging in CSR would benefit from several ways. Most of the theoretically oriented researcher has focused on investigating the connection between CSR and corporate financial performance. Corporations always put their revenue on the first sight, now CSR should be considered as a way to increase revenue. Luo & Battacharya (2006) found that “CSR contributes positively to market value suggesting that managers can obtain competitive advantages and reap more financial benefits by investing in CSR”.
CSR could improve corporate reputation and brand image. According to Keller (1998), “a socially responsible corporate image association involves the creation of consumer perceptions of a company as contributing to community programs, supporting artistic and social activities and generally attempting to improve the welfare of society as a whole.” A positive corporate reputation and brand image are critical for a gambling company, as they help a lot in gaining customer loyalty.
It is also believed that a good CSR policy would boost the productivity and employee loyalty. Employee is the most important asset of a service oriented industry. It is another way of motivating employee besides increasing salary. Chakraborty et al (2004) claimed that “CSR results in a bonus in terms of stronger staff bonding with the organization and stronger motivation. This can be converted into higher productivity, better product quality, better and faster implementation of the needed...