Between Unity and Diversity: Historical and Cultural Foundations of Brazilian Management

Between Unity and Diversity: Historical and Cultural Foundations of Brazilian Management
Gazi Islam

Insper Working Paper
WPE: 218/2010

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Cultural Foundations of Brazilian Management Running head: Cultural Foundations of Brazilian Management

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Between Unity and Diversity: Historical and Cultural Foundations of Brazilian Management Gazi Islam Insper Institute of Education and Research

Gazi Islam 300 Rua Quatá Insper Moema São Paulo SP 04546-042 Brazil (11) 4504-2438 [e-mail]

Cultural Foundations of Brazilian Management

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Between Unity and Diversity: Historical and Cultural Foundations of Brazilian Management Introduction Over the past two decades, Brazil has increasingly established itself as one of the world’s foremost emerging economies. As the 8th largest economy in the world and largest in South America (World Bank, 2009), Brazil is among the world’s leading producers of key commodities, as well as a pioneer in areas such as ethanol production and genetically modified crops. As one of the members of the BRICs group of emerging economies (O’Neil, 2001), Brazil is poised to become a major player in the 21st century. As a home country of multinational corporations (MNC’s), internationally recognized companies such as Embraer, JBS-Friboi and AmBev are among the dominant forces in their respective markets. Despite the growing importance of Brazil as an economic power, very little work has been internationally published, in comparison with other BRIC countries, with regards to the dynamics of Brazilian management practices (e.g. Mesquita, 2008). Extant literature tends to focus on specific sectors, (e.g. Mesquita,

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