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Brazil

Brazilians tend to dress conservatively for business with men in dark suits and women in dresses, suits, or pantsuits. Certain colors like yellow and green should not be worn together unless you are Brazilian. Handshaking and physical contact are important greetings. Meals are for socializing and can last two hours. Business may be discussed at dinner in Rio or Sao Paulo at a prestigious restaurant using utensils even for fruits. When entertaining at home, send flowers the next day and avoid purple flowers often used for funerals. Meetings often start late by 10-40 minutes and appointments are preferred two weeks in advance to develop trust, which is important in negotiations. Cultural differences between Brazilians and Chinese regarding punctuality

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Madalina Beret
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42 views

Brazil

Brazilians tend to dress conservatively for business with men in dark suits and women in dresses, suits, or pantsuits. Certain colors like yellow and green should not be worn together unless you are Brazilian. Handshaking and physical contact are important greetings. Meals are for socializing and can last two hours. Business may be discussed at dinner in Rio or Sao Paulo at a prestigious restaurant using utensils even for fruits. When entertaining at home, send flowers the next day and avoid purple flowers often used for funerals. Meetings often start late by 10-40 minutes and appointments are preferred two weeks in advance to develop trust, which is important in negotiations. Cultural differences between Brazilians and Chinese regarding punctuality

Uploaded by

Madalina Beret
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Appearance

Regarding dress code in business we can talk about conservative attire, even if Brazilians tend to be
informal: so men should wear dark suits, women feminine dresses, suits or pantsuits. Polished shoes and
what is very important is to avoid wearing yellow and green together because they should not be worn
by anyone who is not Brazilian.
To invoke appreciation, the used sign is to pinch earlobe between thumb and forefinger, while wishing
good luck is used the so called fig sign presented in the picture, which has different meanings
according to the country, as in Romania has a negative connotation like a no way expression.
Behavior
Meals are for socializing only and can have a length of two hours or more. Occasionally business may be
discussed at dinner in Sao Paulo or Rio. Restaurant entertainment prevails versus at home and it should
be a prestigious restaurant and use knife and fork for everything even fruits and always use a napkin
while eating or drinking. In case of home entertainment, it is polite to send flowers to the hostess the
next day with a thank you note and try to avoid purple flowers because this kind of color is used often at
funerals.
Communication
Handshaking is very important, even for women at the first meeting. It express trust, friendship and is
used as a method of greeting and also leaving. Women kiss twice if married and add a third kiss of
single. Physical contact is important, like touching arms or elbows and also is often to stand extremely
close to one another. Between 30-40 cm is the average distance. Eye contact is important as a
demonstration of sincerity and interest in the conversation. Good conversation topics are family, soccer
as is practically a national religion. Avoid talking about Argentina as is considered an enemy,
deforestation in Amazon, politics or poverty because Brazilians tend to take criticism personally.
Interrupting during a conversation shows enthusiasm as Brazilians enjoy informality and friendships.
When presenting use the first name, but also the title is important. It is representing you and your
company.
Meetings
Brazilians are known for being late, so meetings often start late, it can vary from 10 to 40 minutes. And
this is also applied to social meetings when Brazilians often arrive 15 minutes after the agreed time.
Usually business meetings start with a small talk before. The meeting may start later or the topics within
the agenda will not be strictly followed, but certainly they will be covered even if the meeting is running
late. Appointments 2 weeks in advance are preferred in order to avoid impromptu calls. What is very
important in business and meetings which tend to negotiations is developing trust. Brazilians want to
trust the person before getting serious, this being part of their informal way of doing business.
Cultural Clash
China is the largest destination for Brazilian exports, but there are problems which has lead to difficult
for Chinese companies in Brazil to retain workers. Chinese employers do not understand the
importance of developing personal relationships between co-workers. Punctuality and the fact that
Brazilian business is hierarchical are also barriers. With a Communist culture, Chinese companies take a
while to accommodate to Brazilians customs.
Conclusion
Doing business in Brazil may raise a problem related to Brazil cost which can mean inefficiency of
public services, legal uncertainty, bureaucracy, but the gain is that Brazilians are hospitable, they create
a relaxed and friendly atmosphere, and what you should keep in mind as a visitor is to have patience
and be expressive in order to gain their trust and develop solid ties.

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