Brazilian National Culture, Organizational Culture and Cultural Agreement

Abstract

The present study looks into the organizational culture of a Brazilian company, concentrating on its main Brazilian branches as well as on its European, Latin American, Central American, North American and Asian branches, making a total sample of 36 cities and 1742 respondents. Results indicate the influence of national culture on organizational culture, as the dimensions found clearly reflect the ambiguity and double-edged ethic characteristic of Brazilian culture. This study also shows the importance of hierarchy, and of relational networks, which stresses the relevance of the cultural element in organizational structure and functioning. In brief, understanding the double-edged ethic that governs Brazilian culture helps us understand apparently different, ambiguous or even contradictory behaviors reflected in the organizational culture practices of a Brazilian company with international operations. Moreover, there is little empirical research that directly deals with what combination of factors makes individuals agree or disagree over their cultural viewpoints. Consequently, we consider that this study attempts to deal with that issue as the cultural clusters were obtained using a multivariate approach, using demographic variables and the identified organizational dimensions. Thus results suggest the organizational context may increase or reduce the probability of nationality affecting the cultural agreement of group members.

Indigenous Brazilian Management Practices

“…Some questions were designed based upon models from previous research by Machado-da-Silva and Oliveira (2001), specifically to measure the practices linked with Jeitinho, Personalism, and Formalism. These characteristics are considered as typically Brazilian and did not raise any concerns about interpretation during the pre-test (Hilal, 2006;Hofstede and Hilal, 2010;Motta, 1997). Beyond questions about practices, there were also some formulated to measure the international relationships and participation of the managers (Karlsen and Silseth, 2003;Papadopoulos and Martin, 2010;Sullivan, 1994;Welch and Luostarinen, 1993).…”

Social aspects of sustainable supply chains: unveiling potential relationships in the Brazilian context

“…A number of researchers have affirmed that Brazil offers a singular context for understanding organizational management in emerging economies (Islam 2012;Hilal 2006;Jabbour et al 2016). Brazilian culture and its organizations' culture can be understood as mixed-culture, in which organizational practices and concepts derive from digesting European modernism while affirming indigenous cultural sources, resulting in a hybrid co-production of ideas through intercultural encounters (Islam 2012).…”

“…As explained by Chu and Wood (2008), Brazil has key characteristics that should be considered when studying the diffusion of organizational trends in the country. As highlighted by Hilal (2006), one of these characteristics is the importance of friendship and relational networking when dealing with business partners. Another trait of Brazilian organizational culture is the use of jokes to indirectly deal with complex and difficult situations, or to deal with more powerful people in business (Duncan and Feisal 1989).…”

O valor dos valores: avaliação de uma marca global por meio dos diversos Brasis culturais

“…Assim, os tipos regionais brasileiros não correspondem, necessariamente, à área de residência ou de nascimento dos respondentes. Como todos falam uma mesma língua e compartilham um corpo comum de tradições, cujo significado é mais forte do que qualquer variante subcultural (HILAL, 2006), espera-se que:…”