Not least because of a recently published article (“The CSR Lie”), there has been a lot of buzz about corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a so-called “marketing fig-leaf”. A high-caliber discussion panel with international participants, including Prof. Katja Rost of the University of Zurich, took the podium at the NOVOMATIC Stakeholder Dialog and discussed the demonstrable pros and cons of CSR with regard to the success of a company.

The questions of the interested audience were aNOVOMATIC participated at the world’s major gaming show “International Casino Exhibition” (ICE) in London, held this year from February 2nd-4th at the ExCeL Exhibition & Conference Centre London, with a new record number of 22 exhibiting Group companies. With a surface area of over 4,500 square meters NOVOMATIC once again had the largest exhibition booth in gaming show history.

“As a global full service provider, the scale of this trade show participation is consistent with our strategy of covering all segments of the gaming industry”, said NOVOMATIC CEO Mag. Harald Neumann at the press conference held at ICE in London.

The offer at the NOVOMATIC exhibition stand ranged from casino equipment, systems and cash management solutions to arcade and pub products as well as sports betting, lotteries and online, mobile and social gaming.

According to Neumann, the preliminary figures for the financial year of NOVOMATIC AG will break through the threshold of 2 billion Euros for the first time. Together with the two Swiss sister holdings Gryphon Invest AG and ACE Casino Holding AG, the NOVOMATIC Group will increase its accumulated total turnover to about 3.9 billion Euros. “In the course of the current financial year and due to the changes in the regulatory framework in Germany we will enhance our presence as an operator with the acquisition of further venues in this important market. In addition, we also intend to expand our market share in further key markets such as the UK and Spain through acquisitions,” said Neumann.

In addition to continuous product innovation, NOVOMATIC will focus on an even more intensified diversification of its business activities in the future. For example NOVOMATIC Lottery Solutions (NLS) has been able to quickly and successfully establish an excellent position in the international lotteries business. NOVOMATIC Sports Betting Solutions (NSBS) was established in 2015 as an umbrella brand for all sports betting activities of the Group in the international B2B segment. NSBS companies offer Omni-channel sports betting solutions for the management of self-service terminals and tills in the land based segment as well as secure online and mobile sports betting solutions for discerning operators in various countries in Europe.
nswered by Dr. Monika Poeckh-Racek, Head of Group CSR at NOVOMATIC and hostess of the event, as well as Prof. Katja Rost from the University of Zurich who just recently published a paper according to which there is no scientific evidence that CSR has a positive impact on corporate success. The other participants in the panel discussion included Prof.Dr. Franz-Josef Radermacher from the University of Ulm, a member of the Club of Rome, as well as Dr. Fred Luks from the Competence Center for Sustainability at the Vienna University of Economics and Business, Dr. Christine Jasch, Head of Climate Change and Sustainability Services at Ernst & Young and a member of the jury for the ASRA-Awards, entrepreneur and president of the Julius-Raab-Stiftung Bettina Lorentschitsch and Christine Vieira Paschoalique, Corporate Sustainability Officer at Wienerberger AG.

In the conclusion Dr. Fred Luks concisely summarized the key findings of the decidedly controversial and highly fascinating discussions as “’stone age’ CSR which does not pay off and modern CSR which does indeed deliver tangible benefits”. This statement was based on the insight that, from a long-term perspective, CSR that is credibly integrated with a company’s core business can and does indeed contribute to the company’s success. ‘Stone age CSR’ on the other hand refers to unstructured individual activities that do not (and cannot) have any long-term impact.

Following the panel discussion, small groups under the expert guidance of the panel discussion participants formed “World Cafés” to brainstorm individual aspects of CSR. Under the guidance of Dr. Christine Jasch and Christine Paschoalique, the “11 deadly sins of CSR” were identified. Among others, these include the use of ‘sustainability cloud formations’, as well as the truly inflationary use of the term ‘sustainability’ itself. The results developed by the panel discussion as well as the three World Cafés will gladly be provided upon request.