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The official Brazilian language is Portuguese, and it is spoken by 99% of the citizens there. However, due to their Amerindian (Native American) and African origins and influence, the Portuguese spoken in Brazil is a variation from the traditional European Portuguese (Cabral). Also, due to a strong immigrant presence, there are small portions of Brazil that speak minority languages, which include German, Italian, and others. Because of the prominence of Portuguese as the dominant language, and the fact that almost all of the rest of Latin America speaks Spanish, Brazilians are “very proud of their linguistic heritage and resent that many foreigners, particularly North Americans, think Brazilians speak Spanish” (“Brazil”). As a result of this pride, and in conjunction with the fact that any other languages spoken there represent a very small minority, it is very important that international companies that are looking to do business in Brazil have (or hire) a consultant(s) that are fluent in the Brazilian variation of the Portuguese language. If not, it could seriously deter any business dealings, as Brazilians could take the lack of preparation as an insult.
Religion Roman Catholicism is practiced by 2/3 of the population, but this number has fallen precipitously over the last 70+ years, as Protestantism has been on the rise. Since 1940, the percentage of Roman Catholics has decreased from 95% to 64.6%, while the various Protestant denominations have risen from 2.6% to 22.2% (“Number of evangelicals”). Despite this, Brazil still remains as the largest Catholic country in the world.
Technically, Brazil practices the doctrine of separation between church and state and the constitution provides for religious belief and expression. Des...
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...h a score of 76. These societies have an “emotional need for rules” (Hofstede 10), because they feel that “bureaucracy, laws and rules are very important to make the world a safer place to live in” (“What about Brazil?”). As a result of their high Uncertainty Avoidance, Brazilians will continue to work in jobs that they aren’t even fond of.
Long-Term vs. Short-Term Orientation (LTO) – According to Hofstede, values found at the long-term pole “were perseverance, thrift, ordering relationships by status, and having a sense of shame; values at the opposite, short-term pole were reciprocating social obligations, respect for tradition, protecting one’s ‘face,’ and personal steadiness and stability” (Hofstede 13). Furthermore, Hofstede concludes that Brazil, with a score of 65, is in the intermediate range in this dimension, leaning slightly more towards the long term.