Activities of Equinox Company - Essay Example

? Equinox Company Equinox Company Corporate social responsibility refers to a corporate self-regulation mechanism which isincorporated into an organization. This enables an organization to maintain high social and ethical standards in the society where it carries out its activities. This implies that a firm must be accountable for the negative effects of its operations on its stakeholders. A reporting entity is an organization that collects analyses and gives a report pertaining to the financial information. Equinox Company is a corporation dealing with stipulation of credit ratings for various companies for the purpose of financial analysis and assessment. It was started in the year 1899, and it has served over four hundred companies (Regan, 2005, 25). It is situated in Atlanta in Georgia. This company has played a major role in the corporate world by securing jobs for more than seven thousand employees. This company is committed to safeguarding the environment from pollution from its own economic activities. This company is known to incorporate its stockholders in decision making process. This gives the community a chance to give credible contribution with regard to the company’s social responsibility. Activities of Equinox Company Ltd The activities of this company are many given its competitive advantage as a reporting entity. The entity provides credit reports to customers on demand. This enables various consumers to access financial aid by use of their financial credit status. Moreover, this serves a sales and marketing technique because a financially stable enterprise is considered favorable. It also carries out investigations on errand companies on request by state agencies and criminal investigation agencies. They give assurance to potential investors of some companies with an aim of encouraging investment in these entities. Provision of credit ratings of companies that are subject to syndicates in order to obtain concrete facts with regard to the liability of these companies. It contributes in the market liberalization as it reveals to the public some crucial information with regard to the credit worthiness of many companies hence enabling consumers to make informed decisions. It also performs audit for companies on ad hoc basis. This gives the stakeholders of the companies concerned an assurance of the safety of their resources. Equinox Company also provides reports to Insurance companies on demand. This helps the insurance companies to make informed decisions before accepting to cover risks of its prospective clients. It also sells credit reports in its possession to many industries of diverse types of businesses. It also sells sophisticated software for effective and efficient credit rating of a client. This entity provides population data to the demographic department. This enhances quick financial decision making with regard to the available resources. It provides non-financial data to its clients. This enables it to have a wide customer base hence high level of annual revenue. Furthermore, the company provides theft and fraud prevention products which help in keeping the levels of criminal activities in the business enterprises. Equinox Company corporate Social Responsibility It provides all the people with a single free credit file which helps in the personal financial analysis and assessment. This sparks investments in various projects because a high portion of the population is aware of their financial abilities. The firm practices strategic corporate social responsibility which enables it to identify specific social concerns to be solved. The management of the company always incorporates the input of all stakeholders in decision making. This provides an opportunity to the members of the society to give substantial feedback with regard to corporate social responsibility. Investors have cited the corporate social responsiveness of the company as the major competitive advantage. This initiative has been hailed as a source of motivation and sense of belonging among the employees and other stakeholders because it makes the entity to sell itself easily. The aspect of corporate social responsibility in this organization has created a safe business environment because the provision of the social amenities to the needy in society has reduced the crime rates. Therefore, the company’s products and services are readily acceptable in the society. The personnel of the company always carry out feasibility study before venturing into any project. This ensures that the social environment is not negatively affected by the projects of the reporting company. Furthermore, Equinox advocates for cordial relationship with its stakeholders. This boosts the responsiveness of the company to the societal needs. It also helps the company comply with the ethical standards through the assessment and recommendation of periodic corporate responsibility reports from the respective personnel (Vacca, 2007, 75). In addition, the management of the company does not have any conflict between the core business objectives of wealth creation and profit maximization, and their personal objectives. The management also considers both the long term and short term effects of a corporate social responsibility hence the long run effects of its operations are foreseen. This ensures corrective action in advance hence reducing negative effects in the society. Equinox Company reveals the credit worthiness of blue chip companies hence enhancing informed investment decisions among the investors. It also complies with changes made in the corporate reporting and governance procedures as stipulated in the international financial reporting standards (Equifax et al, 2006). There is public awareness of bankrupt companies. Equinox takes the initiative of informing the public through the television and other media channels. This protects the financial welfare of the public and potential foreign investors. This serves to protect the financial resources of parties involved in these transactions. Equinox company is socially responsible because of the activities it performs which advocate for the welfare of the public and all other stakeholders. For instance, the provision of information on fraud and theft investigation. This implies that the firm is committed to safeguarding the welfare of the public resources from the criminals. It also gives the businessmen and women credible information regarding their business partners. This is through the provision of adequate credit information of the companies these business people transact with on a daily basis. This enables the Insurance sector to make the informed decision with regard to the category of clients to cover and the amount to cover. This initiative protects the Insurance companies against cunning clients who do not consider their financial capability before insuring their properties against fire, accident and other forms of risks. The company has got a credit database for many companies of diverse industries (Carroll, 2007, 103). This helps in the tracking of the credit worthiness of various companies in order to make sound decisions with regard to these companies. The fact that the company takes part in seeking new markets and holding of social forums whereby various societal problems are addressed. This ensures the company upholds high social and ethical standards. The company’s social responsibility is manifest in the manner in which the company recruits members from the location it operates. This leads to co-operation of the community members in social services and other initiatives of the company. The firm is motivated to practice corporate social responsibility by the net gains which accrue from it. For instance, the company is able to increase its revenue and creation of more wealth for the shareholders. This owes to the fact that the company’s reputation attracts many customers to seek its services. The offering of extra services like audit and investigations services for free gives the company a competitive edge over its rivals. Compliance to the social and ethical regulations is another reason to practice social responsiveness. Indeed, failure to comply to these rules and regulations attracts severe sanctions, which reduce the returns of the firm. The company also needs to protect its long earned repute as a reliable credit reporter. This company has a reputation of quality service; hence, there is a need to maintain it and retain the confidence of the stakeholders. The size of its workforce requires that it practices CSR in order to guarantee the going concern of the enterprise and job security. The company gives demographic data to concerned departments. Bloom (2009) asserts that this data enhances proper budgeting and sound decision making. Therefore, the resources are equitably distributed among the citizens. This results in harmony and tranquility which is a requirement for conducting business. The firm takes both social and environment responsibility. For instance if it gives misleading information with regard to the activities of manufacturing companies, it will be legally held liable for any damage. Therefore, the environment is protected against any form of pollution. It is also socially responsible, because it maintains cordial relationship with all the stakeholders. It does this through improving the welfare of the employees, the investors, the suppliers, the consumers, the ordinary citizens. It ensures that the workforce works in a good working environment and remuneration is commensurate with the magnitude of the respective tasks. The stakeholders of Equinox Company include its clients, the suppliers, the employees, the shareholders, the government and the management. The clients require quality and reliable services. The suppliers include the outsourced providers of services and stationery. The suppliers also include people who provide the sophisticated software used by the company in delivery of its services. Its employees constitute of skilled and unskilled employees. The shareholders include all the investors who have bought shares of the company. There is insight adopted into CSR behavior from Millon (1993) on communitarianism. For instance, the company advocates for concerted effort in performance of various tasks. According to Bennett (2007) this is in sync with the esprit de corps principle whose application leads to great productivity. Moreover, synergy boosts morale and co-operation of employees in performing their tasks. It also enables the leaders to dispense their mandates with ease. Corporate social responsibility is a requirement for success in business. Indeed, Equinox prowess in delivery of credible credit reports is anchored in its responsiveness to the society and societal needs. Bibliography Bennett, C. J., & RAAB, C. D. (2007). The governance of privacy: policy instruments in global perspective. Aldershot , Ashgate. Bloom, P. N., & GUNDLACH, G. T. (2009). Handbook of marketing and society. Thousand Oaks , SAGE. Carroll, J. M. (2010). Confidential information sources, public and private. Boston, Butterworth- Heinemann. Equifax, INC, & LOUIS HARRIS AND ASSOCIATES. (2006). Equifax-Harris consumer privacy survey. Atlanta, Ga, Equifax. Regan, P. M. (2005). Rethinking privacy: social values, technological change, and public policy. Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina Press. Vacca, J. R. (2007). Identity theft. Upper Saddle River, NJ, Prentice Hall PTR. Read More