Global Business Cultural Analysis: Brazil Cultural backgrounds reflect the ways and standards of living, which is unique and different for each country. In fact, the business world is also profoundly influenced by the cultural differences of the counties. This focus of this research paper, in this regard, is to analyze the cultural perspectives of doing business in Brazil. Therefore, major elements and dimensions of Brazilian culture such as business structures, management styles, communication, ethics, values, and customs are discussed comprehensively.

Moreover, the discussion has also been made on how the local businessmen integrate these cultural dimensions and elements. Indeed, a detailed comparison United States business has been made with that of Brazilian culture and business elements by means of Hofstede's dimension tool (that is particularly used for measuring cultural differences). Finally, the paper concludes with the implications for the U.S. businesses that plans and desires to conduct business in Brazil.

Table of Contents

Background Information to Business in Brazil

Major Elements and Dimensions of Culture in Brazil

Business Structures in Brazil

Management Style

Communication Style

Verbal Communication.

Non-Verbal Communication.

Ethics, Values, and Customs

Brazilian Meetings.

Team Working.

Dress Code.

Religion

Social Structures

Integration of Major Cultural Elements by Local Businessmen

Comparison between Brazilian and U.S. Culture and Business

Comparison via Hofstede's Dimension Tool

Power Distance Index (PDI).

Uncertainty Avoidance.

Collectivism (IDV).

Masculinity (MAS).

Long-Term Orientation (LTO).

Difference in Communication Patterns

Verbal Communication.

Non-Verbal Communication.

Diverse Social Structures

Different practices of Ethics and Values in Business

Business Meetings.

Implications for U.S. Businesses intended to conduct Business in Brazil

Foreign Direct Investment Analysis (FDI)

20 SWOT Analysis

Strength.

Weakness.

Opportunity.

Threat.

Conclusion

References

Background Information to Business in Brazil

The geographic size and population has made Brazil the largest nation in the South America. Indeed, this country is characterized by a rich and distinct culture with a diverse topography. A major fusion of Portuguese descent, native Indians, African influences makes up the Brazilian ethnically diverse population that has formed the rich, wealthy, and diverse culture of Brazil. Indeed, hospitality, openness and colorful activities are few of the well-known features of Brazilian culture. Catholicism is the predominant religion practiced all over Brazil (Dicks, 2005).

The fast growing manufacturing sector, large agricultural production, and rich natural resources are also few contributing factors due to which the country is regarded as a rich country. The natural reservoirs such as timber, coffee, and sugar have well positioned the economic situation of Brazil on the global platform (Boraas, 2001).

The increased level of stability within the political landscape in the past few years and the strong currency of Brazil have also made this country one of the hottest investment opportunities for the businesses from all over the world. The successful macroeconomic steadiness has made Brazil one of the economic super powers of South America. This image is fast turning out as an emerging economy in the today's global business world (Boraas, 2001).

Even though Brazil has turned out to be an emerging economy on a global arena, few of the problems are significant to mention especially from the business perspective. Corruption has remained one of the severe issues that have remained for centuries, making international business activities very susceptible (Boraas, 2001).

The first and one of the pervasive barriers to consider is the Brazil cost. This is particularly the additional costs associated with carrying out the business operations in Brazil. Corruptions, governmental inefficiency, legal and bureaucratic complications, excessive taxation, and so on are few of the justifications of these extra costs added with doing business in Brazil. This extra cost is considered to one of the primary reasons of dissatisfaction for the international businesses, even though these extra costs have been minimized in the recent years (Dicks, 2005).

Apart from the potential pitfalls, the significant growth of Brazil's economy over the past few years in comparison to various other nations has made this country a good choice for expanding businesses. Brazil is often regarded as one of the leading market opportunities in the whole South America due to its strong infrastructure and technological development. Additionally, the rising of a new segment of consumers (the middle-class inhabitants with price conscious attitude) with new buying patterns and behaviors has provided an opportunity for the business world, both domestic and international (Dicks, 2005).

However, for the U.S. businesses that seek to expand their operations...

This is vital because the U.S. businesses might confront with cultural or structural barriers in Brazil. If the international business like United Sates is not aware of the cultural traits of the local business of Brazil, they might have to confront with difficulties and it is very muck likely that the business operations might fail.
Therefore, in order to avail the opportunities in Brazil to the maximum level and to establish a relationship with the local people of Brazil, it is essential to gain extensive knowledge about the local business landscape, so that the U.S. businesses can reap the rewards and have successful business.

Major Elements and Dimensions of Culture in Brazil

Business Structures in Brazil

When business cultural dimensions and elements are concerned, the business structure is one of the aspects to consider with gravity, since it provides an overview of the working mechanism of the hierarchies within the organizations. Enterprises in Brazil practices strict hierarchies, where the flow of information firmly runs in a very structured manner through the chains of command in the hierarchical lines (Poelzl, 2009).

According to these structured hierarchies, the most senior levels of the organization are the key decision makers. It is essential for the international negotiators to understand this corporate structure so that they can look for the most suitable person (as the potential partner) when making deals for their expansion of business in Brazil. If they are not able to locate the key decision making person, then it is likely that they are not utilizing the time in the most appropriate manner with the people who are just influencers of the decision makers and preferably does not have requisite level of authority for decision making (Poelzl, 2009).

The hierarchical structure of Brazilian organizations is not so simple to understand, as it is typically associated with added complications, hence, the international businesses ought to learn and gain awareness of the in and outs of the exact organizational structure. The additional complicating factor within the hierarchy is typically caused because of the power of personal relationships that is riddled with internal politics. This indicates the idea that the power as described in the organizational hierarchy might not reflect the actual scenario of power flows within the organization (Poelzl, 2009).

The international businesses should focus on negotiations with people, instead of companies, and hence, the negotiating team should always remain the same (since the focus is on building relationships with the people). This is another vital factor to consider because if the international organization focuses on companies, then successful business dealing is unlikely to happen. In fact, the U.S. based companies should also be prepared with the fact that Brazilian business would consume their long-term resources (both in terms of time and money) on the way to the establishment of strong relationships.

Management Style

Management style is another prominent business cultural dimension to be taken into account. As far as Brazilian business culture is concerned, relationships are one of the integral aspects of this Latin culture, due to which both the boss and the subordinates make a great effort to foster this bond on a long-term basis. Trust and respect for personal dignity is the key for having a strong relationship at workplace in Brazil. The personal styles of the managers are valued to a great extent (like their technical abilities) by the Brazilian businesses (World Business Culture, 2013).

However, the managers are only held responsible for managing the direct instructions that are given by the boss. The managers within the Brazilian corporate culture are not expected to make much discussions or debates over the instructions provided by the boss. However, if the matter needs discussion, it is only carried out in private as a confidential issue, so that disrespect to the hierarchy is not obvious in public (World Business Culture, 2013).

Another aspect to highlight about the management style is they are expected to be very clear, precise, and comprehensive while giving instructions for a task to their subordinates. This is an important component because if the task is partially performed, the managers are responsible for it, as the subordinates are likely to undertake the exact tasks, any additional work is considered to be disobeying the boss (World Business Culture, 2013).

Communication Style

Communication is preferably one of the integral components of corporate culture, which plays a significant role in building the relationships. The Brazilian corporate culture elucidates the idea that Brazil has a very different and unique communication style in both verbal and non-verbal form.

Verbal Communication. Language is a very important factor in verbal communication. The official language of the local business people is Portuguese, and the people use a very soft pronunciation during the conversation. Due to this reason, many of the international cultures view it as over-emotional, since the key emphasis is on maintaining professional reservation. Even though, many business executives use…