By Matt Serafin, MS ’12
Thunderbird students had the opportunity on Sept. 14, 2012, to see Dr. Daniel Motta, CEO of Brazilian Management Institute, a leading Brazilian niche consulting firm. Dr. Motta and BMI are global business partners both of Thunderbird as well as MIT, and they work all over Latin America including with well known names such as Coca-Cola, Fiat, KPMG and Volkswagen.
Dr. Motta spoke about the challenges and opportunities regarding doing business in Brazil, and answered questions from a lot of T-Birds interested in working in the country. Regarding T-Birds seeking to work in Brazil, Dr. Motta maintained that the country is in desperate need of educated and global-thinking managers. An important obstacle to working there, however, is having the language skills necessary to communicate effectively in Portuguese.
In regards to companies doing business there, Dr. Motta talked about the incredible opportunities due to the size of Brazilian’s consumer market, but warned that protectionist economic policies including import duties and tariffs can add significant cost to a product before it reaches the end consumer.
The event was organized jointly by the Latin American Business and Culture Club and the Thunderbird Technology and Business Association, and was attended by around 25 students.