Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Corporate DNA: A Case Study of Ocean Park Hong Kong

Ocean Park Hong Kong was established in 1977 and is operating in a unique business model: incorporated as a nonprofit organization while adopting commercial principles. Since its inception, Ocean Park’s mission—to provide recreational and educational services for all guests—aligns the organization in a common direction and serves as a rubric for strategy and decision-making. Ocean Park strives to maintain its commercial viability with the strategy of embedding education within recreation. The seeds of CSR as an explicit strategy that includes a publicity and marketing focus are being sown since day 1, as Ocean Park argues that it would educate visitors in the value and diversity of nature. The gradual but consistent and rewarding success of this strategy provides for a positive feedback loop, in which CSR contributes to rising visitor numbers and customer satisfaction, which in turn makes the case for still more prominent CSR strategies and programs. In this case study, we discuss the driving forces of Ocean Park’s CSR initiatives and its operational approach to CSR based on primary data collected from site visit and interview with its Deputy Chief Executive and CFO. Ocean Park’s CSR initiatives in terms of social programs, edutainment, conservation, and corporate partnerships are examined in the context of ISO 26000 reporting framework. This showcases a successful operating model of putting rent-seeking after corporate mission, in which CSR principles are embedded.