Business Culture

Foreigners looking to do business in Brazil should understand its business environment, language and culture. Learning about how to negotiate a deal and becoming aware of its legal system will also help.

Business environment

Brazil is far from the “new frontier. Brazil has a highly competitive local industry and services sector, and multinationals have been operating in Brazil for decades. Brazil’s Stock Exchange (the B3) is the largest in Latin America and among the most liquid in the world.

Language and culture

English (lack of) fluency

The sophisticated elite, large-company executives, and young executives generally speak English, but speaking Brazilian Portuguese (or, alternatively, Spanish) is a definite advantage. Foreigners are often surprised by how little English (or any other foreign language, for that matter) is spoken in Brazil, especially outside the large state capitals.

Few government bureaucrats speak English. Correspondence in English sent to authorities is often ignored.

Humour

Brazilian humour draws substantially from the language. Slight nuances between words often carry different meanings, and a person’s social standing is quickly assessed based on their grammar and pronunciation.

Informality

Brazilians are more informal than Anglo-Saxons and northern Europeans. During meetings, Brazilian businesspeople will invariably chat about soccer results, their children’s schooling, or even politics. Outside the city of São Paulo, things move more slowly, so Brazilians may arrive late for meetings.

Warmth

Brazilians can become “close friends” very shortly after meeting someone. However, this is often a superficial relationship and several hurdles may still have to be faced before a deal is closed. Brazilians may take months or years to make a final decision – but they will hug you, if you are a male, and kiss you once, twice or even three times (depending on the region of the country) on the cheek, if you are a female, when merely saying “hello” or “goodbye”.

Personal connections

Personal connections, “name‑dropping” and recommendations are common and generally encouraged. Even though this can be an advantage in any country, in Brazil it is especially important. On average, Brazilian business people are more susceptible to such tactics than their western counterparts, perhaps as a consequence of mistrust in Brazil’s institutions.

Sarcasm

Sarcasm, although present, is much less prevalent than, for instance, in the UK, Australia or New Zealand. Due to cultural differences and translation issues, sarcasm should be avoided as it could dangerously backfire against the person using it.

Brazilians tend to gesture more during speeches and are generally quite loud. What may look like a frantic discussion ready to explode into a physical confrontation is probably just a spirited argument about who is the best player in the soccer league.

Negotiating a Deal

It is very difficult to define a singular “Brazilian way of doing business”. Brazil is simply too vast and diverse, with significant regional differences, so there is no one-size-fits-all formula. Hence, you may consider the following issues when negotiating with Brazilians no more than a rough checklist:

Do your homework: obtain information – look at the latest economic, political, sports or news about Brazil and the region that you are visiting;
Build strong relationships: Establishing trust is important – try to visit Brazil as often as possible;
Think of the long term: it is difficult to make a “quick buck” in Brazil – adopt a long-term view;
Don’t take things at face value: Brazil has high levels of corruption – background checks and due diligence are very important;
Get good advice: Otto von Bismark once said that only fools learnt from experience and that he preferred to learn from the experience of others – obtaining good advice will help you avoid many pitfalls;
Put things in writing: you cannot rely on your personal relationships alone to protect your legal position – properly drafted contracts are still the best way to protect you if the deal goes sour.

Keep in mind that although Brazil has the most robust legal system among the BRICS nations, it is still not an easy place to do business.ally from the way business is conducted elsewhere, particularly when compared to developed countries.

Legal System

Brazil is a civil law jurisdiction – that is, it follows the Franco-German (also called “Continental European”) legal tradition.

Laws are codified and all but some specific Federal Supreme Court decisions have a binding effect on lower courts. Brazil has a far-reaching and detailed Constitution and various codes, presidential decrees and regulations that comprise its total body of law.

Brazil is also a very litigious nation. Court disputes can take over a decade to be finalised. Court proceedings rely heavily on written materials and are very formalistic.