Xerox :: essays research papers

COUNTRY ISSUES Culture, Social, and Demographics:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When examining any company and their possible expansion into new markets you must first examine the culture, social, and demographic issues impacting foreign businesses. The Colombian culture has begun to show a bias towards American products as recently as 1998. As written in Carol Casper's New York Times article, 'There is a lot of interest in U.S. concepts and products...'; in not only Colombia but also all of Latin America. The interest has caused more American firms to begin to see these developing attitudes and expand their businesses into Latin America. For Xerox to also take part in this expansion they would be able to take advantage of the new interest.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Colombians, although, are not welcoming these companies with open arms. There is an interest in the U.S. businesses but as Dianna Jean Schemo reports; it is not uncommon to be threatened by the cartels of Colombia. These cartels want in on the inflow of money and will get involved in kidnappings and murderer if they see it necessary. In 1996, the last year these figures are available, the Federal Bureau of Investigation reported 19,645 homicides while in Colombia there were 26,627. For the fear of being on the wrong end of such instances American businesses need to be extra careful when trying to penetrate the Colombian marketplace. Xerox would not be as impacted by the threat of cartel interference. The cartels become more involved with restaurants and oil companies that have developed in Colombia. They have not developed any interest in the technology industry as of yet.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Colombia has a population of 37 million Spanish-speaking people. The annual growth rate is 1.7% and 95% of the population is Roman Catholic. In the urban areas a 93% literacy rate was found, as opposed to a 67% literacy rate in rural areas. This is due to the fact that only five years of primary school are offered in rural areas. This information regarding the population is encouraging. Although the rural population's literacy rate is low, the urban rate is quite high for a Latin American country. This rate leads me to believe that for Xerox to expand in this market with its technology/communication equipment would not be a problem. The majority of the targeted population where Xerox would be selling their products could understand the benefits of their product and would want to purchase Xerox products. Political/Governmental Concerns: