Research Article
Sports Toto’s Revival and Success via Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility
Seoul National University
Published: January 2009 · Vol. 13, No. 1 · pp. 1-32
Full Text
Abstract
The current research analyzes the revival and the success of a Korean sports betting company, “Sports Toto,” with the framework of strategic corporate social responsibility (strategic CSR; Porter & Kramer, 2006). As a consequence, the authors attempt to present a case of successful corporate strategy which pursues the simultaneous benefit for corporation and society. Sports Toto took the promising first step in the year 2001 with premature optimism based on the success of sports betting industry in Europe. However, Tigerpools, the initial owner of the company confronted unexpected plunge of customer demands, highly restrictive government regulations, and a widely publicized corporate scandal, all of which ultimately led the company to suspend its operation. In March 2003, Sports Toto, left with the enormous amount of debt, was taken over by Orion, a reputable confectionery company in Korea. Recognizing that the previous failure had been mainly due to the unfavorable social atmosphere surrounding its operation, the new owner launched a novel strategy which responses to various social demands while pursuing the firm’s economic growth at the same time. The subsequent dramatic revival of Sports Toto was the course of achieving the shared value among corporate and society, by effectively managing ‘value chain social impacts’ and ‘social dimensions of competitive context’ of Porter and Kramer’s framework. By redefining the concept of products, and conducting socially-sound marketing campaigns, Sports Toto attempted to alleviate the possible harm of its internal value-chain activities. Furthermore, its support for the less popular sporting events and participative community service effectively improved the social context which is closely related to the firm’s operation. This strategy, which was designed to strike the exact point where the corporate and the society meet each other, had successfully led the company to the complete restoration in only five years. This case of Sports Toto embodies the essence of strategic CSR, which purposes to strategically ‘integrate’ the interests of both corporation and society.
