Brazil
Country ReportMIS480 OU Fall 2004
Jawan Brooks Gene Lopinski Igor PertrovskiNick ZeiglerKaren Zezula
AgendaGENERAL INFORMATION Physical Area Jawan Brooks
Demographics Jawan Brooks Socio-Cultural Atmosphere Gene Lopinski
Economy Igor Petrovski
Business climate of country and region Igor Petrovski
TECHNOLOGY IT Possibilities in Brazil Nick Zeigler IT industry strengths and weaknesses Nick Zeigler
IT industry Producer Characteristics Gene Lopinski
IT industry Consumer Characteristics Gene Lopinski
E-Commerce Igor Petrovski Sample of IT industries Jawan Brooks Websites Karen Zezula
REGIONAL COMPARISON French Guiana Nick Zeigler
Basic Demographics Brazil is populous along the coast, less in the interior. The inhabitants are very
diverse with many races and cultures represented. Population
177.062.044 (2003). Ethnic groups
White (includes Portuguese, German, Italian, Spanish, Polish) 55% Mixed white and black 38% Black 6% Other (includes Japanese, Arab, Amerindian) 1%
Religions Roman Catholic (nominal) 80%
Languages Portuguese (official), Spanish, English, French
Exchange rate Reals per US dollar - 1.954
Labor force 79 million
By occupation: services 53.2%, agriculture 23.1%, industry 23.7% Unemployment rate: 7.1%
Industries textiles, shoes, chemicals, cement, lumber, iron ore, tin, steel, aircraft, motor vehicles and
parts, other machinery and equipment
Socio – Cultural Picture
Brazilians like to create relationships Brazilians, being extremely cordial Business and social circumstances you may hear
this word - jeitinho (pronounced jay-chi-nyo) In Brazil, basic business networking is based on
the family Sense of Camaraderie Dressing up for Business
Economic Picture
Brazil is advanced in agricultural, mining, manufacturing, and the service sectors.
The beginning of September Brazil’s government reported that the nations GDP grew 5.7% beating all median forecasts of 4.5%.
Economic Picture
The three pillars of the economic program Floating exchange rate
Inflation-targeting regime
Tight fiscal policyTight Use of the federal government's powers of spending and taxation to stabilize the business cycle
A floating exchange rate is when a nation's government is NOT trying to manipulate currency prices to achieve some change in the exports or imports
The central bank is responsible for achieving a publicly announced target for the inflation rate
Business Climate of Country and Region
Economy in South America Brazil's economy is greater then all other South
American countries and is expanding its foothold in the world markets
Human Resources Brazilian has high quality managers and a excellent
local labor force that contributes to the success of companies operating there.
Nokia had such confidences in the quality and production of the Brazilian workforce that they adding more than 1,000 workers to its Manaus cell phone assembly facility.
Business Climate of Country and Region
Drawbacks One of the main problems in Brazil is high
duties and taxes. In 2002 import duties averaged over 11%.
Freight hijacking organizations are known for their success in getting goods to market quickly. Hijackers, along with smugglers and counterfeiters supply Brazil's Black market which is equivalent to 40% to 50% of the country's gross national income.
IT Possibilities in Brazil
Possible industries for investment: Outsourced Technical Support Services
Corporate Help Desk Customer Service/Support Example: Volkswagen Call Center
Outsourced Manufacturing Lower labor costs (but not lowest) Labor skill level higher than less-developed nations Example: Nokia Assembly plant
Not a viable target market for imports: High import tariffs 20% of imports can take up to 30 days to clear customs
IT Industry Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths: Brazil’s telecom infrastructure used to be considered a barrier
to growth. The aging telecom infrastructure was privatized in 1998. This lead to an influx of telecom-related investment, and Brazil now has a modern infrastructure.
Educated, skilled workforce Central location in South America Many sea ports
Weaknesses: Business laws not supportive of e-commerce Inadequate legal protection for e-commerce transactions Language Barrier
IT Industry Producer Characteristics
Brazil is the leading IT market in Latin America Long-term outlook IT sales is extremely good --
economic expected growth 3.5% annually, next few years
Hardware Market should increase due to private sector’s ongoing modernization of it’s operations
Brazilian governments commitment to providing Brazilians with electronic government, plus expanding computer and Internet use throughout the country
Brazilian government commitment should increase sales and opportunities for suppliers of Servers, Desktop, Notebook, PDA’s and used PC’s in the future
Peripheral Firms should benefit Scanners, Printers, Disk Drives
Demand for High-end data storage should be strong
IT Industry Producer Characteristics
Software market has enormous potential Brazilian Manufacturing & Services need for software
solutions Brazilian Corporate Security concerns result in heavy IT
spending Excellent Market for networking equipment-continuing
expansion International Data Corporation predicts IT Services
overtake investment in computer equipment Brazils acute shortage of qualified IT personnel-Great
need for consultants and system integrators Corporate execs consider data warehousing and IT
security part of their budgets
IT Industry Consumer Characteristics
Brazil has most the PC’s installed and Largest internet population in Latin America
PC use still confined to the Wealthy US market research forecasts Brazilian Internet users will triple
to 42 million by 2006, Yankee Group
Brazil was the 11th largest computer market in 1997, could reach 5th in the near future
Most PC consumers are in Industrial commercial and financial establishments
Small Office/Home Office Market to continue to increase Growth in Government Market & Educational Market
E-Commerce
E-commerce in Brazil has a firm hold in information intensive sectors with little affection by foreign business
The growth of e-commerce in Brazil has been rapid in the last two years; electronic trade grew from 100 million US dollars to nearly 2 billion dollars a year
IT Industries Variety of IT Industries in which to work:
Computer Analysts Programmers Systems Administrators Web Developers Telecommunications
Education Certifications are not mandatory Preference given to college education and relevant work
experience Graduate level degrees preferred by employers for higher
level positions
Brazil Websites Portugese
MSN Mercado Livre = free market
Sandisk SD 256MB $175.00 Reals Exchange rate
US Comparison -- EBay General Motors Brazil Extra.com
English Braslink
In translating its 'Got Milk?' slogan into Hispanic, the US Milk Board would have been best to know that it actually asked people if they were breastfeeding. Ford had a similar problem in Brazil when the Pinto flopped. The company found out that Pinto was Brazilian slang for "tiny male genitals". Ford prised all the nameplates off and substituted Corcel, which means horse. These, and dozens of other blunders, highlight how linguistic nuances can change the whole meaning of marketing slogans and would have been avoided by using native linguists in marketing translations
French Guiana v. BrazilFrench Guiana Brazil
General Geography/Information
Population 191,309 184,101,109
Literacy Rate: 83.0% 86.4%
GDP per Capita $ 8,300.00 $ 7,600.00
Mean IQ 87 88
Land Area (sq. km) 89,150 8,456,510
Coastline (km) 378 7,491
Climatetropical; hot, humid; little seasonal
temperature variation mostly tropical, but temperate in south
Natural resources:
bauxite, timber, gold (widely scattered), petroleum, kaolin, fish, niobium,
tantalum, clay
bauxite, gold, iron ore, manganese, nickel, phosphates, platinum, tin, uranium, petroleum,
hydropower, timber
Land use:
arable land: 0.14% 0.14% 6.96%
permanent crops: 0.05% 0.05% 0.90%
other: 99.81% (90% forest, 10% other) (2001) 99.81% 92.15%
Irrigated land (sq. km.): 20 26,560
Natural hazards:high frequency of heavy showers and
severe thunderstorms; floodingrecurring droughts in northeast; floods and
occasional frost in south
Of Note:
mostly an unsettled wilderness; the only non-independent portion of the South
American continent
largest country in South America; shares common boundaries with every South American
country except Chile and Ecuador
French Guiana v. BrazilFrench Guiana Brazil
Technology Infrastructure
Telephones - main lines in use: 51,000 38,810,000
Percentage of population 26.66% 21.08%
Telephones - mobile cellular: 138,200 46,373,300
Percentage of population 72.24% 25.19%
Internet users: 3,200 14,300,000
Percentage of population 1.67% 7.77%
Internet TLD .gf .br