Challenges in responsible provision of gambling: questions of efficacy, effectiveness and efficiency

This paper aims to explain why responsible provision of gambling is an important corporate social issue facing many gambling providers by examining its status with reference to three characteristic features of such issues proposed in the corporate social responsibility literature – expectational gaps, impacts and controversy (Wartick and Mahon, 1994). The existence of expectational gaps, impacts and controversy relating to contemporary gambling operations thus clarifies why gambling providers are under pressure to manage their gambling operations in a more socially responsible manner. A second aim of this paper is to clarify why resolving this issue has been difficult. Drawing on a second explanatory framework from the corporate social responsibility literature (Waddock and Mahon, 1991), the paper identifies three areas hindering the resolution of this issue between gambling providers and key stakeholders - lack of agreement over the facts of the issue (efficacy), lack of agreement over goals to be achieved (effectiveness) and lack of agreement over the means to achieve these goals (efficiency). By examining these existing barriers, it is hoped that some pathways to the issue’s resolution may be illuminated. Examples from Australia underpin the discussion.