Business Culture în Brazil

1.Introduction & General Information about Brazil

Many executives and employees travel to Brazil without a clear idea of Brazilian business culture. Stereotypes and a lack of information about the socio-economic background make it more difficult to integrate into Brazilian business culture and can cause stress and low work motivation. Some people love the culure of Brasil, because they imagine them being in Rio enjoying the carnaval and doing samba, but things are not this simple. If you want that your business travel or your business relationship with brazilians to be a successfull one, than you have to be open, learn about their culture, and try to understand the other side. Mostly, be attentive to the aspects, which are presented in this project.

Here are some general things, which has a geo-economico-cultural importance. Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population. Is located in Eastern South America bordering Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela. The capital is Brazilia. This country’s climate is mostly tropical, but is temperate in south. Population is formed by 184,101,109 people, who’s ethnicity is diveded in the following way: white (includes Portuguese, German, Italian, Spanish, Polish) -55%, mixed white and

black -38%, black -6%, other (includes Japanese, Arab, Amerindian) -1%. Nearly 50% of the population is under twenty years of age.

Language is one of the strongest elements of Brazil's national unity. Portuguese is spoken by nearly 100% of the population. The only exceptions are some members of Amerindian groups and pockets of immigrants, primarily from Japan and South Korea, who have not yet learned Portuguese. The principal families of Indian languages are Tupí, Arawak, Carib, and Gê.

There is about as much difference between the Portuguese spoken in Brazil and that spoken in Portugal as between the English spoken in the United States and that spoken in the United Kingdom. Within Brazil, there are no dialects of Portuguese, but only moderate regional variation in accent, vocabulary, and use of personal nouns, pronouns, and verb conjugations. Variations tend to diminish as a result of mass media, especially national television networks that are viewed by the majority of brazilians.

There is no official religion, however the predominant religion is Roman Catholic (about 90% of the population). Some 16% practice Afro-Brazilian religions that combine tribal and Catholic beliefs (Spiritual Catholics) and Evangelical Catholics make up 9%. Protestants, Judaism, Buddhism, and other religions account for less than 9%.

Despite massive economic problems, Brazil is often regarded as a potentially rich country with a strong industrial sector, large agricultural production, and rich natural resources. An example of its potential for efficient utilization of resources is its processing of sugarcane into ethyl alcohol for fueling 1.5 Million Brazilian cars. Major export products include aircraft, electrical equipment, automobiles, ethanol, textiles, footwear, iron ore, steel, coffee, orange juice, soybeans and corned beef.

Brazil is a mixture of races and ethnicities, resulting in rich diversity. Many original Portuguese settlers married native women, which created a new race, called 'mestizos'. 'Mulattoes' are descendents of the Portuguese and African slaves. Slavery was abolished in 1888, creating over time a further blurring of racial lines. Unlike many other Latin American countries where there is a distinct Indian population, Brazilians have intermarried to the point that it sometimes seems that almost everyone has a combination of European, African and indigenous ancestry.

The core culture of Brazil is derived from Portuguese culture, because of its strong colonial ties with the Portuguese empire. Among other influences, the Portuguese introduced the Portuguese language, Roman Catholicism and colonial architectural styles. The culture was, however, also strongly influenced by African, indigenous and non-Portuguese European cultures and traditions. Some aspects of Brazilian culture were influenced by the contributions of Italian, German and other European immigrants who arrived in large numbers in the South and Southeast of Brazil. The indigenous Amerindians influenced Brazil's language and cuisine; and the Africans influenced language, cuisine, music, dance and religion.