The Achievement of Corporate Social
Responsibility Through Sport

Brady Karlson
Taylor Kwas

MGT-3031-C

Submitted to:
Patty Vadnais

Tuesday April 16th, 2013

In todays business world many companies face the difficulty of enforcing corporate social responsibility (CSR). CSR can be defined as the social responsibility of business that encompasses the economic, legal, ethical, and discretionary expectations that society has of organizations at a given point in time (Carroll, 1979). An example of an organization that delivers this definition of CSR is an NHL hockey team, the Toronto Maple Leafs. We argue that sport can be an effective way for companies to implement CSR.

In the article titled “Sport as a Vehicle for Deploying Corporate Social Responsibility” (Aaron C.T Smith and Hans M. Westerbeek) it is argued that sport can be used as a bridge across social and economic gaps. It is also argued that this bridge can improve quality of life and ultimately act as a stimulus to encourage profitable businesses to share their prosperity and success with the society to which it derives from. As expressed the Toronto Maple Leafs organization provides a clear example of how companies can express successful CSR within sports. Some features of sport CSR (SCSR) as described in the Smith, Westerbeek article include positive health impacts, youth appeal, social/cultural integration as well as strong communication through all sources of media. Many of these features lye within the Toronto Maple Leafs Alumni Association’s mission statement, “We are responsible for our teammates and the community”. Included in this mission statement is that they undertake the following three statements; utilize our past accomplishments to open doors for others, raise money and profile for charitable causes, and last to promote camaraderie while providing business opportunities for our alumni. The three statements within their mission statement provide a clear guideline that they work under ethical conditions worthy of CSR, while remaining profitable as a business. Is has been made evident that companies that express high scores of CSR, remain not only profitable, but with an opportunity to perform better then companies with low scores of CSR (Smith & Westerbeek, 2007. P4). Examples of the Toronto Maple Leafs organization’s effort to install CSR involve their Citizen Community Map that includes a new hockey player each month that is recognized for outstanding work within the community. Other great examples are their shape up program, which offers free daily physical activity programs for children, the various ticket programs that provide over two thousand Toronto youth with tickets per season, as well as over six hundred player appearances each year. Further evidence is displayed through the Toronto Maple Leafs organization’s community partners, which include Canadian Forces, Toronto District School Board, Ontario Physical Health and Education Association, and Canadian Blood Services.

It is clear that the Toronto Maple Leafs organization employs a sufficient level of universal ethical value (UEV). More specifically, they express good citizenship where assisting the community is a top priority. An example of the Toronto Maple Leafs organization’s effort to remaining profitable as a business is that they are the highest valued team in the NHL at 1 billion dollars, as well their yearly revenue is ranked number one in the NHL (The Business of Hockey, forbes.com). The image their outstanding financial success exemplifies the commitment they have to shareholders. With relation to the evolution of their ethical view, the Leafs organization reaching the age of one hundred years in 2017 makes it clear that their ethical views have evolved hand in hand with the needs and expectations of society.

In the Toronto Maple Leafs CSR strategy is made clear with their vision statement, which expresses that “we will be an important bridge between