In Brazil, the leadership role combines a top-down approach with a great deal of personal interaction and emotional connection. Commanding yet affable describes what is required: respect for a hierarchy but building personal rapport with others. Decision-making can be slow because, quite often, a lot of people need to be consulted to achieve consensus so that harmony is maintained. Personal relationships and social networks exert great influence in the decision process, sometimes even more than naked facts or merit.
In Brazilian organizations, information is likely to follow a hierarchical path, taking a long route through several layers before it reaches those who make the decisions. Personal contact may influence who gets the information; a dependence on trusted sources can sometimes slow the adoption of new ideas. The central idea concerning Brazil is the fact that indirectness and subtlety in communication are used to avoid confrontation and save appearances. Body language and the tone of non-verbal messages are very important indicators of what is said.
Personal relationships are extremely important in Brazil. Networking can be very beneficial, but relationships take time and require trust and mutualism. Time is viewed much more flexibly: the observance of schedules in social time, for example, is not so strict. Brazilians often multitask and put relationships and results before sticking too rigidly to deadlines. Quality is highly important both in manufacturing and services, but it is well balanced with cost and competitive prices. The Brazilian consumer is properly informed, looks for good value, and values personalized service; in many cases, they become loyal customers of the companies they trust. With the growth of the middle class, the expectations regarding services and products also increase, and quality is a must to keep one's clients.
Companies are rapidly turning their focus to customer satisfaction and experience, even though service levels can be said to vary by region and industry. The workplace is highly cooperative, with emphasis on teamwork in order to keep group harmony and high priority on not creating individual competition. Their sense of community extends into their professional life.
Gender roles are in transition, with more women leaders. Despite this advancement, the expectations of traditional gender and challenges such as the gender pay gap have remained, whereas women leaders continued to struggle with issues of cultural stereotypes and balancing work and life.
Generally, a sense of respect for age and experience is quite strong in Brazil. In other words, people show respect for senior employees as these are often believed to be wise. Still, the country has a large young workforce bringing massive contributions, particularly in technology and innovation. Family is of primary importance to people in Brazilian society. Work–life balance is very vital. In the family, people find the most important support, and influence from family extends to workplace decisions, provoking work policies that make concessions to family requirements.
A company's culture, values, and business practices, above all in Brazil, need relationships, respect, and flexibility. With these elements, this paper will help one to become successful with Brazilian society and business here.