Childbearing Rates

The childbearing rate talks about the average number of children that would be born per woman. It has been decreasing in the last few years, with an average deceleration of 0, 3 perceptual points. Currently Colombia has a childbearing rate of 2, 2 according to the International futures at the pardee center. And this rate is expected to continue decreasing in the next few years.

This deceleration in the childbearing rate, means that people are having less children compared to past years, know a days in Colombia couples prefer to have between one or two children, meaning less reproductively in terms of having numerous childrens.

total_fertility_rate.html

Taken on february 13th 2016 from: http://www.indexmundi.com/g/g.aspx?c=co&v=31

IFU.du.edu (2016) taken on February 13th 2016 from: http://www.ifs.du.edu/ifs/frm_CountryProfile.aspx?Country=CO

Number of Special-Interest Groups

Interest groups could be any person or group that have an interest in the organization or that represent any interest or concern like some environmental or social aspects and that will be affected directly or indirectly by the organization. This groups have a very important role in our industry as our company have to follow and have into account all the ideas or concerns people have if not people will not invest or use our service because they are not in accordance with us.

Taken from:

Robert Boutilier, P. (s.f.). Stakeholder 360. ¿Qué es un grupo de interés (stakeholder)?: http://www.stakeholder360.com/A2_esp.htm

Number of Marriage

In Colombia Between January and May 2015 they were recorded the number of 24,206 marriages, an increase of 1.36 percent compared with the same period last year, when there were 23,881. This is shown by figures from the Office of Civil Registration. Civil marriages, the highest percentages are in the Central region, with 36.59 percent, representing 9,856 incidents reported, and the Caribbean area with 5,353 unions, it means the 22.11 percent increases. The cities that reported as much more civil marriages were Bogotá, with 3,839; 1,591 Medellin and Cali 1,522.

These three account for 28.72 percent of the country's civil marriages. (http://www.eltiempo.com/estilo-de-vida/gente/aumentan-divorcios-y-matrimonios-en-2015/16009876)

http://www.revistacredencial.com/credencial/noticia/actualidad/como-es-la-nueva-familia-colombiana

A higher socioeconomic status, the greater the number of couples united by marriage: while stratum 1 only slightly more than half of respondents are married (53%), while in the stratum 6 is 86%.

Number of Divorces

Between January and May 2015, 7.721 divorces were registered in the country, representing an increase of 11.22 percent over the same period last year (2014) in which 6,942 events were presented, as well as numbers shown by the “Superintendencia de Notariado y Registro”. According to the data of the 898 notaries of the country, the cities with the highest rate of divorce are Medellin, with 44.19% increase (685); Bogotá 12.13% (1,987) and Cali 2.54% (434).

The Andean and Central regions are showing the greatest number of divorces. The Central is an increase 43.96%, equivalent to 3,394 divorces, while in the Andean is 21.11%, which corresponds to 1,630 divorces.

Numbers conclude that: “For every ten couples getting married, three were divorced and the average is rising”, that means we can expect to be facing more and more divorced over the years in Colombia and specially in cities like Bogotá, Medellin and Cali. This fact does not affect us in a direct way because our core costumers or our range of business is between university students, and business’ people (PYME’S owners), which means that divorce do not have the power to alter our activity.

Portafolio (2 August 2015), obtenido el 13 de febrero de 2016, available at: http://www.portafolio.co/finanzas-personales/divorcio-como-es-proceso-y-costos-colombia

El Tiempo (26 June 2016), obtenido el 13 de febrero de 2016, available at: http://www.eltiempo.com/estilo-de-vida/gente/aumentan-divorcios-y-matrimonios-en-2015/16009876

Number of Births

Our company will take in account the number of births in Colombia because the population is fluctuable but more specifically Bogota, in which there are people from all cities, this variable gives the average annual number of births for every one thousand inhabitants and is known as the rate crude birth rate, this factor is decisive in determining the growth of the population and this will give us a target of population who provide the service. It is assumed that the growth of the inhabitants of the country will be reduced from 1.25% to 1.18% and the birth rate of 21.59% to 19.86% per thousand.

Every minute according to DANE in Colombia, 2 births are registered; 120 every hour; 1'051.200 2880 per day and per year, equivalent to a departament as Huila and Boyacá.

In demographic projections DANE estimated fertility of Colombian women down from 2.60 to 2.46 children on average.

Taken from: http://es.tradingeconomics.com/colombia/gdp-per-capita

Taken from: http://www.dane.gov.co/index.php/poblacion-y-demografia/nacimientos-y-defunciones/118-demograficas/estadisticas-vitales/4647-nacimientos-2015

Number of Deaths

In Colombia the number of deaths is around 5,867/1.000, meaning that 5,867 people died during one year within a group of 1.000 citizens. The potencial growth or decrease in the deaths rate will affect our industry, due to the fact that, in the case of a potential growth, the industry will have more people entering to it. But if the rate decreases less people is going to demand the services that our industry provide to society.

IFU.du.edu (2016), taken on February 13th 2016 from: http://www.ifs.du.edu/ifs/frm_CountryProfile.aspx?Country=CO

Chart taken from IFU.du.edu (2016) from: http://www.ifs.du.edu/ifs/frm_GraphicalDisplay.aspx

Immigration and Emigration Rates

-0.64 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2015 est.)

Country comparison to the world: 141

High levels of migration will cause an increment in unemployment as people are coming into the country and besides that a labor force reduction as people are leaving the country. (CIA, INDEX MUNDI, 2015)

Taken from:

CIA. (2015). CIA. THE WORLD FACTBOOK: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/co.html

CIA. (30 de JUNE de 2015). INDEX MUNDI. COLOMBIA NET MIGRATION RATE: http://www.indexmundi.com/colombia/net_migration_rate.html

Social Security Programs

The Social Security in Colombia, was instituted by Law 100 of 1993 and brings together in a coordinated manner a set of institutions, policies and procedures to which access is restricted to individuals and the community for the primary purpose of ensuring quality of life that is worthy of human dignity, being part of the social protection system with policies, standards and procedures for labor protection and social assistance. It is divided in four sections that refer to the main components of the system:

The first book: deals with the general pension system.

The second book: deals with the General System of Social Security in Health.

The third book: deals with the General System of Occupational Hazards. Heading amended by Act 1562 of 2012 on "General System of Occupational Hazards" .1

The fourth book: is a complementary social service.

The objectives of the social security programs in Colombia are:

Ensure economic and health benefits to those who have an employment relationship or sufficient economic capacity to join the system.

Ensure the provision of complementary social services in terms of law providing greater citizen guarantees.

Ensure the expansion of coverage until the entire population has access to the system through mechanisms that developing the constitutional principle of solidarity, let sectors without sufficient economic capacity as peasants, indigenous and freelancers, artists, sportsmen, community mothers, access the system and the granting of benefits in a comprehensive manner.

(http://corteconstitucional.gov.co/relatoria/1994/C-408-94.htm)

Nowadays in Colombia the situation of the security programs look like this:

(http://economia.elpais.com/economia/2015/08/03/actualidad/1438627434_696800.html)

Life Expectancy Rates

Total population: 75.25 years
Country comparison to the world: 97
Male: 72.08 years
Female: 78.61 years

Life expectancy at birth is one of the most important demographic indicator. It shows the number of years a newborn infant would live assuming that birth and death rates will remain at the same level during the whole lifetime.

Here we have the comparison with other countries, Colombia because of his color shows and average between 73-76 years.

This entry contains the average number of years to be lived by a group of people born in the same year, if mortality at each age remains constant in the future. The entry includes total population as well as the male and female components. Life expectancy at birth is also a measure of overall quality of life in a country and summarizes the mortality at all ages. It can also be thought of as indicating the potential return on investment in human capital and is necessary for the calculation of various actuarial measures.

If this life expectancy rate continues increasing this will benefit in some way our company as there will be more people and of course, more students, universities are going to grow as well and the capacity will be higher, growing in the same way our customers.

CIA WORLD FACTBOOK (2016), obtenido el 13 de febrero de 2016, available at:

Country Meters (2016), obtenido el 13 de febrero de 2016, available at:

Index Mundi (2016), ), obtenido el 13 de febrero de 2016, available at:

Per Capita Income

The important thing about the per capita income is that the country must have a bigger national income rather than a big increasing of the population, in that way if this does not happen, the per capita income will be less.

The income per Capita refers to all the income every person in a country has. Is calculated by the Gross Developed Product divided in the number of population in a specific country. In Colombia during the last five years de income per capita has increased. The president’s objective for 2018 is for the income per capita to increase to $11.200 USD per year.

Taken from: http://www.larepublica.co/el-aumento-del-ingreso-cápita-no-ha-servido-para-reducir-la-desigualdad_159951

Taken from: http://www.portafolio.co/economia/ingreso-capita-colombia

Location of Retailing, Manufacturing, and Service Business

In order to have a successful business, the location is one of the important factors to get in to final customers, but our company will be operated by internet, it should not need an specific location. We just need a small and simple space where we can stablish our operational system but it will not have personal client assistant, those types of services are deployed on our web page.

Entrepeneur.com (S.F). 10 things to consider when choosing a location for your business, taken on February 12th 2016. From: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/244866

Attitude Toward Business

45 % of business owners claim that they don’t find trained workers in Colombia to make up for vacant. This dramatic diagnosis revealed by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) as a consequence of the educative model, that doesn’t set up the work-force required by the market. Colombia has high levels of informality and at the same time an unemployment rate higher than other countries in the region. Faced with a slowing down in the economies, formal employ suffers. Nevertheless, the state stand out because of its macroeconomic solidity, fiscal and the government is taking decisions to come up with new employs.

Taken from: El Colombiano. Colombia no educa para el trabajo: BID (Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo), by DAVID ORTIZ CASTAÑO. Published January 20th 2016. http://www.elcolombiano.com/negocios/colombia-no-educa-para-el-trabajo-bid-GX3462080

Life Style

A move to Colombia may be triggered by a desire for a change in lifestyle: a long awaited opportunity to change pace, improve the quality of life, spend more time with loved ones, or explore new ventures. Big draws to the Colombian lifestyle include the extensive opportunities for sport, leisure and cultural involvement, all of which provide huge attractions to tourists and residents alike. From traditional gastronomic delights, such as bandeja paisa and ajiaco, to the various sporting activities Colombia has to offer (football and water sports being particularly popular), find out here how to make the most of your new life in this rich and varied country. (http://bogota.angloinfo.com/information/lifestyle/)

Traffic Congestion

The market of automobile has been growing hold up by increasing disposable incomes, higher ability of credit and consumer attitudes, consequently this provide a rise in the numbers of cars in the city that has also create a traffic problem in cities as Bogota, Cali, Bucaramanga, Medellin and even Cartagena. The share of households in possession of a passenger car increased from 10.1% in 2005 to 13.4% in 2014.

Also is important to say that traffic congestion in Bogotá is part of the “10 things to hate about Bogotá” that means is a really important issue that have not been solved over more than 50 years, that really affects every industry and also ours, despite of the fact that we will function as a webpage, when we do our job, we connect students with businesses, and of course a business will not want a student who lives really fear from where they operate, Why?, because that means he or she will have problems to arrive on time, thus, even though the student have enough capacity to work, a business’ owner will think it twice before hire them, and that really affects our mission.

This Changes Everything (2015), obtenido el 13 de febrero de 2016, available at: https://solutions.thischangeseverything.org/module/traffic-mimes-in bogot%C3%A1

Euromonitor (2015), obtenido el 13 de febrero de 2016, available at: http://www.portal.euromonitor.com.ezproxy.unisabana.edu.co/portal/analysis/tab

Inner City Environment

The Chamber of Trade of Bogota announced last month Victimización's survey realized in the capital of the Republic to 9.527 persons this year, 43 % expressed that the insecurity goes in increase at the expense of the bands that operate in the city.In the places where the public centers, in the malls or the public transport, as Transmilenio, the increase of the insecurity and the thefts are increasingly frequent. (Elnuevosiglo.com.co, 2015).

Taken from:http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Colombia.aspx

Taken from: http://www.elnuevosiglo.com.co/articulos/11-2015-aumenta-inseguridad-en-bogot%C3%A1.html

Average Disposable Income

Every year the minimum wage has an adjustment, as the table shows from 2006 to 2016 the increases in Colombian pesos.This cipher is really important for us because as employers we must know the minimum wage to pay all employees fairly and according to law, furthermore, 54% of the population earns this amount is approximately the half of the country, it show as that the level of disposable income is really low and as the income gets higher the amount of population decreases.

The previous chart shows the amount of disposable income that in average Colombian people spend, the chart show the average until the 2019 and thanks to that it can be said that the amount of disposable money is increasing and it will continue like this, because the Colombian economy will continue evolving in a constant way.

This will be good for the majority of the industries, because if people are able to spend more money, they will use that money for things like more luxury or other services, like the one that our industry provides.

Taken on february 5th 2016 from: http://www.portafolio.co/especiales/salario-minimo-colombia-2016/salario-minimo-2016-colombia-anif

Taken on February 5th 2016 from:http://www.shd.gov.co/shd/escala-salarial

Trust in Government

Since coming to power in 2010, this is the lowest level in the popularity of the government of Juan Manuel Santos have had. Only 21% of respondents approve of the way the President is leading his government and country. Thus, 57% of respondents disapprove Santos’s government.

This content was originally published in Vanguardia.com January the 21th 2016 http://www.vanguardia.com/politica/344135-santos-obtiene-solo-21-de-favorabilidad-a-su-gobierno

Attitudes Towards Government

Colombians are now more favorable to the principles of liberal democracy and the separation of powers and the existence of guarantees to the opposition parties and minority attitudes. Still, it is noteworthy that, compared to previous years, citizens are less satisfied with the functioning of democracy. This is manifested in less support for the political system, reduced confidence in public institutions, greater skepticism in the ability of the state to protect their basic rights and against the operation and effectiveness of justice.

(http://www.elnuevosiglo.com.co/articulos/8-2014-colombia-actitud-democr%C3%A1tica-pero-desconfianza-en-instituciones.html)

Attitudes Toward Work and Attitudes Toward Investing

In Colombia attitude toward work has been increasing, people are more committed to their work because the culture of responsibility and also because the country has been experienced good times economically talking, thus, workers are perceiving their money buys a little more than before. Also people are more committed to study more and more to have better opportunities in the future.

On the other hand, according to the Global Entrepreneurship Report AGER 2014, the country ranks third in the desire to create a company. The research was conducted by Amway, in partnership with the Universidad del Rosario, the International Centre for Social Responsibility and Sustainability, BmLab and Kreab.

The study also shows the motivations of entrepreneurs and aspects Most Common Business Creation, among 44,000 respondents in 38 countries around the world.

According to the 2014 AGER, entrepreneurship is highly valued worldwide and STRESSES in China, Mexico and Colombia at the top. In addition, 80% of respondents aged 35 years show a positive attitude front entrepreneurship.

In Colombia, 88% of People is positive about entrepreneurship; Sweden (94%) and Mexico (93%) topped the list.

Based on that information, we could conclude this fact affects positively our company, because students are motivated to study meanwhile getting some extra income for their families, working is part of their thought and they are willing to sacrifice some time in order to get experience and incomes, so they will be willing to use some mechanism (like our) to find some place to work, taking about investing we could see how Colombians are more motivated to create companies, so invest giving new ideas, in the same time multinational corporations are placing factories or offices in Colombia, because of the good economic facts which give stability and opportunities as well.

Even though we have that information above, we find Giovanni Acevedo’s opinion on El Tiempo Blogs, and he says: Before thinking about overtime payment is substantial to think about educating the worker, because in Colombia workers are lazy and are not proactive, Colombians work because they have to, not for pleasure, not for personal satisfaction, unfortunately the Colombian works to survive.

He emphasizes his opinion saying that it is the reason why some companies are not working well, and give some solutions to that issue in his text.

Blogs El Tiempo (2014), obtenido el 13 de febrero de 2016, available at: http://blogs.eltiempo.com/giovanni-acevedo/2014/12/09/el-colombiano-buen-trabajador/

El Empleo (24 de julio de 2015), obtenido el 13 de febrero de 2016, available at: http://www.elempleo.com/colombia/consejos_profesionales/colombia-un-pais-con-ganas-de-emprender----/16143216

Buying Habits

30 years Colombian households earmarked half of their budgets to buy food; Today, that percentage has dropped to 28%. That space lines have earned as education, recreation, transportation and communications. Changes like these are, without exaggeration, of great importance for society and for business. It is up to employers perceive detect and buying trends of families to find profitable opportunities.

Colombian consumers are changing. However, not at the speed required to resemble the behaviors that occur in developed nations. Both in Colombia and Latin America, our consumers have a number of characteristics that make them something different from their US counterparts or Europe: our culture and customs, the physical, social, economic resources, in order, are not strictly comparable with those seen in more developed nations. This circumstance is very important to take into account by companies intending to operate in Colombia: marketing formulas designed by the Americans, absolute leaders of matter in the world, not always be adopted and implemented in accordance with our environment the original outlines of its formulation, because could be a costly mistake.

Taken from: http://www.fenalco.com.co/contenido/2852/Los%20cambiantes%20hábitos%20del%20consumidor%20colombiano

Ethical Concerns

The ethical concerns in Colombia is a topic in which many industries, persons, companies had been accused, such topics are related to corruption, bribes and more issues affecting the normal performance of the industry our company is located on. Know a day’s corruption is the first ethical concern that is affecting Colombia in its social, economic, and industrial aspects. That’s way our company is focus on give the opportunity to those who are willing to get ahead in their lifes, by providing them with a job opportunity will studying or after completing their studies.

Dinero.com, (2015). La corrupcion sigue reinando en Colombia. Taken on february 14th 2016 from: http://www.dinero.com/pais/articulo/corrupcion-colombia-segun-barometro-americas/208665

Attitudes Toward Saving

In Colombia, more and more people are aware of the importance of saving, and act accordingly. However, the resources saved are represented mostly in cash, with the risks that entails. That said by the Global Investor Pulse, a survey that annually makes the investment manager BlackRock. According to the survey, 70 percent of their savings are represented by cash, double what they think would be the ideal level. The reasons for this have to do with risk aversion or because they believe that their savings are not enough to reverse it. This variable affect our industry since there´s not only saving for families but for companies too. As a company we need to save a portion of our incomes to prevent future difficulties and be prepared if crisis appears.

Taken from: Noticias Entorno Inteligente. Colombia: el 70% de ahorro de los colombianos es en efectivo. Published in February the 10th 2016.

http://www.entornointeligente.com/articulo/7877329/COLOMBIA-El-70--del-ahorro-de-los-colombianos-es-en-efectivo-10022016

Sex Roles

When Colombian chooses to get paid work, women earn on average 20.2 percent less than men for the same work. Statistics show that the pay gap is not a local issue, as women are victims of employment discrimination throughout the world. The difference or gender pay gap is the difference between the wages of men and women expressed as a percentage of men's wages, according to the OECD (the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development). The European Commission defines this phenomenon as the difference between the salaries of men and women per hour. Today there is debate about the extent to which this discrepancy is the effect of gender differences, by lifestyle, low frequency of maternity leave, or whether these differences are due to gender discrimination.

(http://www.semanariovoz.com/2015/03/06/las-brechas-salariales-por-genero-en-colombia/)

(http://www.iadb.org/es/noticias/articulos/2012-10-15/diferencia-salarial-entre-hombres-y-mujeres,10155.html)

To avoid the role gender differentiation the Colombian government has a program called “PROGRAMA NACIONAL DE EQUIDAD LABORAL CON ENFOQUE DIFERENCIAL” (NATIONAL PROGRAM WITH Employment Equity Focus). The objectives are:

1. Preventing discrimination and inequities in the workplace on grounds ofgender, access to permanent jobs, compensation, protection, promotion, andpositions, reconciliation and prevention of sexual harassment fromlaw enforcement and labor rights.

2. Reducing unemployment gaps based on gender and job segregation gender.

3. Reduce informality concentrated in women.

4. To promote and strengthen social dialogue and create mechanisms for monitoring, control and monitoring indicators of gender gaps in the labor market.

(file:///C:/Users/Usuario/Downloads/programa_nacional_para_la_equidad%20laboral_2013-2016.pdf)

Racial Equality

Racial equality in Colombia is divided into several groups, but all of them have the same rights, the government guarantees the participation of indigenous people and African descent equal in all aspects.

This affects our industry, Bogota being the biggest city in Colombia; there are people all around the country; this influences their habits, tastes, and beliefs; then our industry must take account of the racial differences in order to provide better service to our consumers.

Taken from:http://www.afrodescendientes-undp.org/FCKeditor_files/File/VISIBILIDAD_ESTADISTICA.pdf

Taken from: http://www.banrepcultural.org/blaavirtual/observatorio-racial/raza-y-derechos-humanos

Use of Birth Control

In Colombia, the birth control is regular used by women between 15 and 49 years old. The percentage of females that use those kind of techniques to avoid pregnancy is ranging from 9,7% and 13,8%. In some cases the intake of birth control is given by several factors, for example: recommended by my doctor; because my friend told me it was healthy; and much more factors tha influence in the customer decision making.

There are three types of birth control uses, those are:

Oral contraceptives (prefer by the 47,8% of users).

Hormone injection (prefer by the 14,3% of the users).

Barrier methods (prefer by the 12,1% of users).

Scielosp.org (2015). Taken on February 13th 2016. From: http://www.scielosp.org/pdf/rpsp/v37n6/v37n6a04.pdf

Revista iberoamericana de fertilidad (S.F) taken on February 13th 2016. From: http://www.revistafertilidad.org/rif/articulo/pstrongpreferencias--usuarias-colombianas-en-cuanto-uso-anticonceptivos-orales-estudio-descriptivostrongp/117

Average Level of Education

The Colombian Ministerio de Educación Nacional has imposed some challenges for education in this 2015: kids from 6 to 17 years has to attend to school in the grade they must be as in this moment only 74% of this kids to it and the failure of the academic year to be 0 and decrease the illiteracy rate to 0. The average level of education in Colombia is of 8,6 years taken and it must be 10,6. For this to happen the ministry needs that the actual rate of failing the academic year 6% decreases to 3%. This variable affect our industry since we want to offer job opportunities for those who are in the university educational process to achieve a better future.

Taken February the 13th 2016 from Colombia aprende. Ministerio de Educación Nacional. (s.f.). http://www.colombiaaprende.edu.co/html/home/1592/article-87521.html

Government Regulation

In the last two reports of the World Bank Doing Business, which assesses the impact of government regulations in the vicinity of business-, Colombia results have been satisfactory. Overall, the competitive assessments undertaken by different institutions are benchmarks and provide signals or useful guidelines to correct the operation of certain indicators. But Colombia's competitiveness policy goes beyond these publications; it has a broader horizon and is based on a strong partnership between the Government and private sector. The objective of competition policy is to achieve productive transformation of the country, working on five pillars: development of world-class sectors; promote productivity and employment; labor and business formalization; science, technology and innovation; and cross-cutting strategies. The results achieved should generate greater productivity in the economy and result in growth, development and social welfare. Many international studies have shown that the difference in the growth of countries is precisely due to increases in productivity. The long-term goal is to ensure that Colombia is one of the three most competitive countries in Latin America in 2032 and reach a per capita GDP that ranks us among the upper middle income countries; for this it is necessary that the per capita GDP to grow at a rate close to 7% annually.

(http://www.portafolio.co/columnistas/colombia-compite-xi)

(http://www.portafolio.co/negocios/colombia-ocupa-puesto-54-facilidades-hacer-negocios)

Attitudes Toward Retirement

The retirement ages are increasing each year and that have effects on attitudes toward retirement because young population feel that they will never retire. The current retirement age is 65 years with 35 years of “Cotizaciones”.

Of course there are some people working even after 65 years old, some people nowadays feel they have the power to continue working, but most of the time happens if they are owners of their own company or if they really love their job, some people when retire they use the money to enjoy those thing they had not enjoyed their entire life, but is necessary to tell that the average amount that retired people get is really slow, almost the minimum wage that as we all know is not enough, of course that depends where did you work, how much did you get monthly, your profession and other stuffs.

51% of people have unfavorable attitude about retirement, because of the money they will get and because some people are not willing to stay at home doing nothing at all.

Gerencie (2014), obtenido el 13 de febrero de 2016, available at: http://www.gerencie.com/preparar-a-los-trabajadores-para-el-retiro-laboral-por-jubilacion-es-una-practica-que-va-en-aumento-en-las-organizaciones.html

Attitudes Toward Leisure Time

Colombians prefer to spend their leisure time watching Television and in social events. Cultural events are less important than entertainment events as shown in the graphics. According to this it’s possible to say that in Colombia while people are in their leisure time they want to have fun. This affects the catering industry because people would want someone to do their job so they can profit more and have longer leisure moments, creating an opportunity regarding our industry.

Taken from:https://books.google.com.co/books?id=-bxtAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA86&lpg=PA86&dq=value+placed+on+leisure+time+colombia&source=bl&ots=StbYk-d1Vh&sig=gqmaxnpWLWo0nBDCe64fdL5484s&hl=es&sa=X&ved=0CCAQ6AEwAWoVChMIq-io3Je0xwIVi7YeCh1DSAG1#v=onepage&q=value%20placed%20on%20leisure%20time%20colombia&f=false

Taken from:http://www.dane.gov.co/index.php/educacion-cultura-y-gobierno/encuesta-de-consumo-cultura

Attitudes Toward Product Quality

In Colombia aspects like quality have been increasing in terms of importance, every day people require more quality in products and services they eventually will buy. That’s why companies must make sure that every process they do to elaborate its product must count on highly elaborated processes in order to avoid improvisation in the fabrication process.

In Colombia exist some governmental entities that helps people to denunciated or report a bad practice they notice in the lending of a service or product. Such entity is Superintencia de Industria y Comercio.

Portafolio.co (2015). Taken on February 13th 2016 from: http://www.portafolio.co/especiales/recomendaciones-planeacion-financiera/asi-se-interpone-una-queja-o-demanda-la-superindust

IMF business school (S.F). taken on February 12th 2016 from: http://www.imf-formacion.com/blog/corporativo/calidad/la-importancia-de-la-calidad-en-la-gestion-empresarial/

Attitude Toward Customer Service

To be competitive in the industry they operate, companies must count with trained employees in attending their customers. Customer service is almost the most important factor to the customers since if they are treated well they will continue consuming that product or service, but if they didn’t like the attention they received they will never be back. Increasingly, the customer service is becoming more important each time and companies should operate toward it and most of all since Colombia signed the TLC and foreign companies which customer service it’s their pillar are coming to the country.

All companies, public or private, must be able to provide a good service. Those who are not satisfied seek competitive very quickly and that migration can provide loss of 20 to 30 percent. This is related to our business because we are looking to offer an excellent service so we can get the loyalty of our customers, which is all that matters.

Taken February 13, 2016 from the article Una nueva era del servicio al cliente se vive en Colombia. Revista Portafolio. Published at: http://www.portafolio.co/finanzas-personales/una-nueva-era-del-servicio-al-cliente-se-vive-colombia

Pollution Control

Environmental pollution is presented as the physical alteration, chemical and biological that half or territory may suffer from the dynamics that develop natural resources and / or anthropogenic. The pollution control in Colombia begins with the generation of data and information. The characterization of environmental quality that is equivalent is one of the most important processes of development-oriented information to a wide range of decision makers ranging from the ordinary citizen that seeks to improve their livelihoods, to senior officials the State must make public policy decisions related to large population groups, especially those who live in urban areas. (http://www.ideam.gov.co/web/contaminacion-y-calidad-ambiental)

(http://drgdiaz.com/eco/salud/contaminacionenbogota.shtml)

Attitudes Toward Foreign Peoples

What labor rights protect foreign workers in Colombia?

In any national or foreign citizen an employment relationship in Colombia, will apply the provisions of the Labor Code which regulates the rules of individual labor law, for personal and collective labor law, official and private, and It applies throughout the territory of the Republic.

In this regard, and based on the constitutional principle of equality and non-discrimination, the foreign worker in Colombia have the following rights:

• Conclusion of an employment contract.

• Payment of wages for the service.

• Membership of the General Social Security System (Health, Pension and Occupational Hazards).

• Affiliation to a family compensation fund.

• Payment of social benefits.

• Holidays.

• Membership of an association and / or a trade union.

Colombia is becoming an open door for foreigners from different countries, people look here for a good economic opportunity and the government gives benefits in order them to help to the develop of the country, on the other hand, Colombia have touristic places such as Cartagena which receives many people from different countries and its economy depends on them. Thus, Colombia are eliminating barriers which in the past caused people not to come, also the good economic numbers, the progress in decreasing criminality and the development of the peace treaties work together as a hook, not only to satisfy citizens but to create a new view of Colombia’s environment.

Portafolio (6 de Julio de 2015), obtenido el 13 de febrero de 2016, available at: http://www.portafolio.co/economia/extranjeros-menos-opcion-hallar-trabajo-colombia

MinTrabajo (2016), obtenido el 13 de febrero de 2016, available at: http://www.mintrabajo.gov.co/preguntas-frecuentes/migracion-laboral/extranjeros-en-colombia.html

Social Programs

Bogotá has several social programs that come from the town hall of the city. Such social programs are focus to cover those aspects that are more important to the development of the city. Such aspects are:

* Security and coexistence

* Education

* Health

* Housing and quality of life

* Parks and natural environment.

* Employment and competitiveness.

Every single of those aspects has within them a social program to cover the entire population of Bogotá in every of those aspects.

Peñalosa, Enrirque (2016). Programa de gobierno. Taken on February 13th 2016. From: http://www.bogota.gov.co/gobierno/programa-de-gobierno

Number of Churches

Freedom of religious worship established by the Constitution of 1991 triggered a process of proliferation of cults and they receive the state protection. Until last March (2013), they were recognized by Ministerio de Interior more than 3,600 churches whose philosophy is based on any Bible passage, from the Koran or even eschatological visions of unsubstantiated theology.

From: Revista Dinero. En Colombia hay más Iglesias que colegios. Article available at http://www.dinero.com/pais/articulo/en-colombia-mas-iglesias-colegios/174266

Number of Church Members

(http://www.pulzo.com/mundo/en-colombia-los-catolicos-se-estan-yendo-iglesias-evangelicas-alli-verian-mas-milagros/241451)

l. Pew Research Center, a research center based in Washington, conducted a global survey of Catholics in the world, according to which Colombia is the sixth country with the largest number of Catholic population.

(http://www.semana.com/mundo/articulo/colombia-sexto-pais-mas-catolicos/333397-3)

Social Responsibility

The idea that companies should embrace its social responsibilities and not be solely focused on maximizing profits. Social responsibility entails developing businesses with a positive relationship to the society which they operate in. According to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), this relationship to the society and environment in which they operate is "a critical factor in their ability to continue to operate effectively. It is also increasingly being used as a measure of their overall performance."

The top 26 of Corporate Social Responsibility in Colombia:

Alimentos Caribe
Alpina
Alqueria
Angloglold a shanti
Asocolflores
Aviatur
British American Tobacco
Bavaria
Cemex
Cerrejón
Chevron
Coca-Cola Femsa
Colombina SA
Diageo Colombia
Drummond LTD
Equion Energy LTD
Fundacion casa Ronald McDonald
Fundacion creaciones Miquelina
Fundacion Techo
Grupo Nutresa
Kimberly Clark
Mineros SA
Triple A
Unilever
Sucroal
Syngenta

Corporate Social Responsibility in Colombia was born out of concern for the violation of human rights, negative environmental impacts, the decline in the quality of life of the population, corporate scandals by the lack of business ethics and child labor, among others. Many companies goes into corruption and that decrease the level of corporate social responsibility and that affects our company even though we will be threating with PYMES and not with big corporations, some entrepreneurs who own a company often violate rules and law to hire people, in order not to pay the exact amount they do (by law) have to pay, so we have to prevent and really evaluate our customers and the companies who will use our service in order not to offer companies who do not offer the real conditions they should offer.

Investopedia, obtenido el 13 de febrero de 2016, available at:

Camara de Comercio Colombo-Britanica, obtenenido el 13 de febrero de 2016, available at: http://www.colombobritanica.com/web/english/the-chamber/social-responsibility/the-top-30-of-csr-in-colombia.html

Attitudes Toward Careers

It is a study on the attitude that is taken from the most common careers to study, and according to the trends in which are the most desirable careers or those that will have more demand in the future.

The study of more than a thousand people with the intention of carrying out higher education studies, trends showed that the races of Psychology, business administration and accounting are leading the ranking of the most desirable careers, also graduates on Rules international Financial Reporting Standards, to be applied by all companies in 2015. According to analysts, the current success of these races is due to the situation of the new normativities and increased taxes and statements to be performed by people, which represents to know of these financial issues is a good working alternative.

This variable influences our business in the way that our customers should have the means to buy a car, so they should to be profesional beacuse that is the best way to have income.

Taken from: http://www.elespectador.com/noticias/nacional/carreras-profesionales-mas-deseadas-colombia-articulo-495030

Population Changes by Race, Age, Sex, and Level of Affluence

The current population of Colombia, according to DANE, is 48´544.914 people, and those population is divided by some aspects, suchs aspects are:

1. Population by sex: The overall population (48´544.914) in Colombia, is divided in two gender, that are composed by 49,2% are males (24´599.711). And 50,8% are females (25´416.338).

2. Population by age: Population in Colombia is divided by five big age groups. Such groups are: 1) population under 14 years (25,3%); 2) population between 15 and 24 years old (18%); 3) population between 25-54 years old (41,6%); 4) population between55-64 years (8,3%); 5) population over 65 years old (6,7%).

3. Population by level of affluence: In terms of potential buyers for a good or service, people belonging to social strata 5 or 6 are the most likely to buy or acquire a service ir can be done via internet or just by going to shopping malls. Those two main buyers represents the 85% or buyers, living the 15% to the other social classes.

Countrymeter.com (2016). Taken on February 13th 2016. From: http://countrymeters.info/es/Colombia

DANE.GOV.CO (2016). Taken on February 13th 2016. From: http://www.dane.gov.co/reloj/reloj_animado.php

Worldonmeters.info (2016). Taken on February 13th 2016. From; http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/colombia-population/

Charts taken from Google picture gallery. On February 13th 2016.

Emarketers.com (2014). Taken on February 13th 2016. From: http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Affluent-Digital-Buyers-Lead-Way-Colombia/1010515

Attitudes Toward Authority

According to the World Values Survey, conducted in 100 countries, 70 percent of Colombians do not trust public servants and 80 percent believe that there should be more respect for authority. Justice is one of the most serious problems. The most recent Gallup poll revealed that 75 percent of respondents have a bad image of this institution, in any developed country it is the backbone of the peaceful coexistence and the symbol of the rule of law works.

Taken February the 13, 2016. From Revista Semana (2015). ¿Dónde está la autoridad en Colombia? Available at http://www.semana.com/nacion/articulo/donde-esta-la-autoridad-en-colombia/420951-3

Population changes by city, county, state, region, and country

Value Placed on Leisure Time

First of all, leisure time is time available for ease and relaxation and rest. Most of the time countries have laws where the leisure time is required and obligatory for each worker in each company.

Ordinary Working Day Maximum is the maximum time that the rule allows the worker to labor in the service of an employer.

This day is set forth in Article 161 of the Labor Code, which states: "Article 161. Duration”

The maximum legal duration of the normal working day is eight (8) hours per day and forty-eight (48) a week, a daily and weekly hour more than ordinary, would mean extra work or overtime. The remaining time this is contemplated for leisure, relaxation, and resting.

Also, Article Nº 52 of the Colombian constitution recognize the right for all people to recreation and the well use of leisure time. We now could now that leisure time is extremely important in Colombia, and people typically use their leisure time to spend it with their families, going out the weekends or resting at home.

The Free Dictionary, obtenido el 13 de febrero de 2016, available at: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/leisure+time

MinTrabajo (2016), obtenido el 13 de febrero de 2016, available at:

Constitución Colombiana de 1991 (Reforma 1997), obtenido el 13 de febrero de 2016, available at: http://www.unesco.org/culture/natlaws/media/pdf/colombia/colombia_constitucion_politica_1991_spa_orof.pdf

Regional Changes in Tastes and Preferences

According to a survey made by Fenalco, Colombians haven 7 trends when it comes to tastes and preferences.

The first is the careful consumption. This factor is the intention of leading consumer brands shop that care about their environment and mitigate any negative impact of their goods and services on the environment.

The second trend corresponds to health as an obsessive theme. Healthy food, promoting physical activity through relaxation centers, spa, spas and fitness is a priority issue for the consumer. Is expected to increase the demand for healthy food, dietary and organic, as well as the entire portfolio of functional foods industry develops.

In shopping malls, the gym is becoming essential in the supply of open to the public, according to the study.

The economic crisis that hit the world has made consumers see their home as an interesting place of entertainment. The home access to television, tablets, DVD, home theaters, makes fun to stay at home. "There is a tendency to encapsulation, also motivated by urban insecurity," says the study Fenalco trends.

Amid the occupations of household members, it appears that the dining room is the least used part of the house. For analysis, this last detail should be a factor care for architects.

Amid the difficulties that may arise in the day, the pursuit of happiness will be a fourth trend among modern consumers.

Another aspect that interesting developments are related to the luxury market is expected. Even among scholars begin to move the (low price and luxury) luxury concept that addresses the combination of luxury products at low prices.

The challenge, consider the analysis is on the responsiveness of domestic production to meet the demand generated in the different categories on own brands.

The seventh trend Fenalco states is called "The attractive multicultural lifestyle" now characterized by the presence of common brands in the country, making lifestyles in Latin America and Colombia are globalized.

Teleworking, constant connectivity and deepening appreciation of fashion are the other three consumer trends projected for the next three years.

This trend affect the industry by giving a direction on how to meet the costumers, how to get in touch with them and by which sources could their attention be more efficiently captured.

Number of Woman and Minority Workers

The number of woman in the current Colombian population is 25´416.338 that represents the 50,8% of the hole population. Of that 50,8%. On the other hand. The minority workers is compose by African descent represent the 10,6% of the total population. And indiands that represents the 3,4% of the total population.

According to DANE the portion of women that are employed is much more lower that the males employed. Talking of the minorities, El Tiempo has develop an study that reveals that only 323 people belonging into minorities acquired an job. Where there was almost 9.500 jobs availables.

El Tiempo, taken on February 12th 2016. From: http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/CMS-13553556

DANE.GOV.CO (2016). Taken on February 13th 2016. From: http://www.dane.gov.co/reloj/reloj_animado.php

Number of High School and College Graduates by Geographic Area

Published by Ministerio de Educación. (29 de November de 2014). Caracterización de Graduados por Departamento 2001-2013. Taken in February 13, 2016 from Observatorio Laboral para la Educación

http://bi.mineducacion.gov.co:8380/eportal/web/men-observatorio-laboral/ubicacion-geografica

Recyling

National Recycling Association presents the results of a study entitled "Proposal for the remuneration for the collection and transportation of recyclable waste" during the congress. A study proposes the creation of a new model or Integral System Toilet, in which it dignifies, recognized and remunerated fairly recyclers shape, and allowed to provide important expertise and knowledge we have accumulated over more than 80 years this activity.

(http://www.elempaque.com/temas/Presente-y-futuro-del-reciclaje-en-Colombia+4087864)

(http://www.cartagenacomovamos.org/dia-del-reciclaje-barranquilla-y-cartagena-entre-las-ciudades-que-generan-mas-residuos-solidos/)

Waste Management

The Ministry of Environment was established in 1993 after the issuing of the new Constitution in 1991 and environmental policies and regulation became in progress

There are 1206 providers of the solid waste management (SSPD, 2010), more than 60% of the population is attended by private or mixed capital companies (Econometría, 2008).

More than 900 suppliers provide the collection and transportation services, 576 supply final disposition service and 269 carry out some recycling activity. In general terms, all the suppliers who provide the collection and transportation activities also provide the sweeping service of public areas and roads. The population covering who receive the solid waste collection service has increased during the last 20 years, from 87,2% in 1993 to 94,6% in 2005. The higher covering rates are found in larger cities (Chart 1).

The collection frequency varies between 2 and 3 times a week, higher frequencies are provided in the more populated cities. Recently, two transfer stations started working close to two of the main cities in Colombia, Medellin and Cali, where sanitary landfills are located 41,5 km (Guacal) and 62,2 km (Colomba-Guabal) away from the cities; both stations are operated by a private utility company (INTERASEO SA ESP).

Magda Carolina Correal Sarmiento PDF, D-Waste Colombia (2012), obtenido el 13 de febrero de 2016, available at: file:///C:/Users/Romildo%20Marquez/Downloads/SWM_Colombia_Magda_Correal.pdf

Air Pollution

It is the care of the environment , controlling emissions and effluents that are issued during a specific activity , releasing these substances to different media , and then performing for Air Pollution , and Soil Pollution Water contamination.

The Nature Conservancy is a global organization leader that has as a mission the conservation of land and water ecologically important for the people and the nature. This organization develops in Colombia, evaluations about the conditions of the ecosystems and determines objects conservation at the landscape scale. This information is constituted by a basic tool to propose some alternatives to avoid the damage of the ecosystems in the country.

Nowadays, it has been identify the priority areas of conservation at marine areas of the Caribbean sea and Pacific ocean, Caribbean and pacific continental, the Colombian Andes, the Magdalena´s river basin and the Easter plains.

Taken from:http://www.mundotnc.org/donde-trabajamos/americas/colombia/index.htm

Taken from:http://www.conserve-energy-future.com/causes-effects-solutions-of-air-pollution.php

Water Pollution

Colombia is known for its rough water deposits, but beside this the water is not all pure, according to the Ministerio de medio ambiente in Colombia almost the half of the water resources are infected, due to the waste generated by homes, factories and agricultural sector. Which its around 9.000 tons of rubbish. Affecting rivers, lakes and other types of water reservoirs where all the wastes are deposited.

UNperiodico.Unal.edu.co (S.F). taken on february 13th 2016. From: http://www.unperiodico.unal.edu.co/dper/article/el-50-del-agua-en-colombia-es-de-mala-calidad.html

Ozone Depletion

Colombia has no ozone depletion, but has low ozone levels, with a maximum of 280 Dobson Units-UD-, unit used to measure the amount of ozone in the atmosphere. It is considered that there is a hole where the levels are below 220 units. According to Instituto de Hidrología, Meteorología y Estudios Ambientales, IDEAM, entity to measure ozone in the country, the annual average is between 255-265 UD.

Taken in February 13, 2016 from: Ministerio de Ambiente y Desarrollo sostenible. Article: Una luz al final del túnel: La Capa de Ozono se recupera. (2014) Available at https://www.minambiente.gov.co/index.php/sala-de-prensa/2-noticias/950-el-uso-sostenible-de-los-bosques-prioridad-de-minambiente-290

Endangered Species

In Colombia there are 5 species that could be extinct

Armadillo
scarlet macaw
West Indian manatee
Sloth
Golden Frog

(http://www.publimetro.co/vida-con-estilo/5-animales-en-peligro-de-extincion-en-colombia/lmkmcv!wnYi7L39URNg/)

(http://www.barrameda.com.ar/animales/animales-en-peligro-extincion-en-colombia.htm)

The social and cultural forces help organizations to identify what are the individual’s trends, about likes and behavior. It is very important for organizations to adapt and change their service and products to changes in individual’s behavior and likes.

SOCIAL, CULTURAL, DEMOGRAPHIC, AND ENVIRONMENTAL FORCES