D271 Brazil Final (info after midterm)

Presidential federative Republic

President acts both as head of the state and chief of the executive branch of the government

Three Independent Branches

Legislative, executive, judicial

Branch that creates laws

Legislative (Congress has almost 600 seats)

Branch that acts in the enforcement of programs or rendering of public service

Executive

Branch which solves conflicts among citizens, entities and the state

Judicial

Electoral process, political pluralism and participation, functioning of government

Political Rights

Freedom of expression and Belief, Associational and organizational rights, rule of law, and personal autonomy and individual rights

civil liberties

Foreign Corrupt Practices Act

US companies, in their worldwide operations, are forbidden to engage in activities that are illegal in the USA

two types of taxes in Brazil

State tax and Municipal taxes

Accuracy in planning the costs for new projects is one of petrobras' competitive strengths (T/F)

False

Local content laws (protectionism) helped Brazil to be economically competitive in the global oil industry. (T/F)

False

A potential problem caused by local content laws is

Lack of firm commitment by local industry to become competitive

Petrobras faced many problems, with the exception of:

Excessive political interference

Instability in top leadership

Not enough controls and systems to manage growth

Lack of knowledge in deep water oil exploration

Lack of knowledge in deep water oil exploration

Lava jato (car wash) was the beginning of Petrobras' decline. (T/F)

True

Kickbacks were used for financing political campaigns and the company became a source of political slush funds. (T/F)

True

Considering the company's corporate governance, Petrobras' board is strongly influenced by politicians. (T/F)

True

The corruption scandal at Petrobras has had many impacts on the Brazilian economy and government. (T/F)

True

Integrated large-scale production is one of Petrobras' strengths. (T/F)

True

The ability to build solid partnerships on its projects is one of Petrobras' strengths. (False)

False

Privileged access to new reserves and new proposed oil and gas regulation is one of Petrobras' competitive strengths. (T/F)

True

Petrobras was privatized (T/F)

False

Natura and Havaianas take advantage of "Brazil as country of origin" as one of their competitive strengths. (T/F)

True

Natura has a strong focus on sustainability and uses different plants as raw materials.

True

The recession in Brazil in the last few years has not affected Natura.

False

Direct selling in Beauty and Personal Care represents a higher % of the Brazilian Market than in the United States.

True

Department stores are the best place to sell Beauty and Personal Care items in Brazil.

False

Distribution channel preferences in Brazil and the USA are very similar in the two cases.

False

Brazilian culture influences distribution channel preferences, as seen in the Natura case.

True

Natura and Havaianas have production in different countries, as part of their strategy.

False

Natura and Havaianas have acquisition as one of their expansion strategies.

True

The Northeast region of Brazil offers lower labor costs than in the Southeast of Brazil.

True

Natura and Havaianas focus on innovation and creativity.

True

Entrepreneurship and collectivism supported the expansion of Havaianas.

True

Havaianas uses temperature as one of these items for its prioritization map for internationalization

true

Networks were very important in the case of Havaianas' internationalization process.

True

Brazilian firms are not as competitive as their foreign competitors.

False

McDonald's is seen as a cheap fast food option in Brazil.

False

The following are examples of adapting products and services to the Brazilian market, with the exception of:

Offer of tropical juice in all meals

Changing the names of products to Portuguese

Opening coffee shops

Selling ice cream cones in free standing locations

Changing the names of products to Portuguese

One of McDonald's main competitors in Brazil is the informal sector.

True

Brazilians are open to foreign products.

True

McDonald's faced issues in Brazil related to releasing market campaigns focusing on children

True

Brazilians tend to have breakfast at home.

True

One of the problems McDonald's faced when entering Brazil was:

Real estate costs and availability in urban centers

McDonald's faced problems in Brazil related to exploitation of workers.

True

In a MFA (master franchising agreement), a master franchisee has the rights to sub-franchise in a certain territory.

True

What do Brazilians usually give instead of gifts?

Meals (Don't use fingers!)

What age do men usually retire? Women? How long do each work?

Men-60 (work for 35 years)

Women-55 (Work for 30 years)

Reform being voted on

Some HR notes

-44 hrs per week/8 hrs per day

-overtime not exceed 2hrs a day at payment of %150 of normal

-minors cant work from 10pm to 5am

-part time workers can only work max 25hrs a week

-Companies grant paid holiday 30 days after working a year with no more than 5 absences

-employees have the right to work 1/3 of the holiday period at double pay

-employees receive full sick pay for the first 15 days of illness

-females receive maternity leave 4-6 months & Men 5-20 days

-employees must make contribution of 8% of wages for length of service guarantee fund

-20% of employee salary to Social Security administration

-employing more than 3 people, 2/3 of all employees must be Brazilian

-A permanent visa is required for anyone stating in Brazil for 4+ years

Brazil is the _____ largest economy and _____ biggest FDI recipient in world

9th (Economy) 7th (FDI)