Brazilians Working With Americans/Brasileiros que trabalham com americanos [Portuguese on title page only]: Cultural Case Studies/Estudos de casos culturais

5. Petro Fibras

5. Petro Fibras Company: PETRO FIBRAS, ALL-WORLD OIL Focus: Derivation of fiber products from petroleum Case Objective: Adhering to laws and working with unions Cultural Conflict: Dealing with human resources programs, benefits, and labor law Empresa: PETRO FIBRAS, ALL-WORLD OIL Ênfase: Produtos de fibras derivados de petróleo Objetivo do Caso: Obediência às leis e a interação com sindicatos Conflito Cultural: Programas de Recursos Humanos, benefícios, e leis trabalhistas Introduction and Synopsis I n this case Renan Zettu’s German roots and southern Brazilian background help create a whole new image of Brazilian professionals. His discussion of employee benefits, human resources (hr) policy, and union activities also paints a new image of Brazilian companies. All of the executives’ comments touch on the difference between workers’ unions and company unions. All address the relative complexity of the system as well as the importance of finding local assistance when wading through the structure. This case also introduces various profit-sharing and benefits strategies that have been used by North American and Brazilian companies. As Paul Cluff observes, profit sharing in the United States is focused on the long term, while in his opinion Brazilian employees want the kinds of benefits that they can see in their hands, like the vale transporte and the vale refeição. 72 Brazilians Working With Americans Introdução e Sinopse Nesse caso, a descendência alemã de Renan Zettu e o fato que ele vem do sul do Brasil ajudaram a criar uma imagem totalmente nova de profissionais brasileiros. Sua discussão sobre os benefícios para os funcionários, a política de Recursos Humanos e as atividades do sindicato, também delineam uma imagem nova das companhias brasileiras. Todos os comentários dos executivos tocam na diferença entre os sindicatos de trabalhadores e os sindicatos patronais. Todos tocam na relativa complexidade do sistema assim como na importância de encontrar auxílio local para lidar com a estrutura. Este caso também introduz as diferenças em participação de lucros e nas estrat égias de benefícios que foram usadas por empresas americanas e brasileiras . Como Paul Cluff observa, o foco de participação de lucros nos EUA é a longo prazo, mas ele acha que os funcionários brasileiros querem os tipos de benefícios mais imediatos, como o vale transporte e o vale refeição. Case: Petro Fibras Renan Zettu, fifty-six years old, is the general financial manager at Petro Fibras, one of the chemical branches of All-World Oil. Renan is one of those Brazilians who just does not look like the Americans’ mental picture of what a Brazilian should look like. Of course, part of this is because Renan is from Santa Catarina, where German influence has resulted in some very distinguishedlooking blonds with blue eyes like Paul Newman’s. Renan’s English is not totally polished, but he speaks well and easily carries on a conversation. Renan, who always has a quick story, recalls, “The first time I ever went to Houston, years ago, I was real nervous about my English, and I said at my first meeting, ‘I apologize for my bad English.’ To this my American counterpart responded, ‘That’s OK, Mr. Zettu, my Spanish isn’t very good either.’” Most Brazilians would be happy if Americans knew only two facts about Brazil: Buenos Aires is not the capital of Brazil, and Spanish is not the language of Brazilians. The first thing you notice when entering the building where Renan’s office is located are signs at every doorway that say, “Please look both ways before leaving this office and entering this hallway.” No, it is not a particularly dangerous office building, but recently there was an accident at the plant, an accident that broke a string of 957 days without one. So everyone is focusing on increased “accident awareness.” It is a nice touch and one for which Human Resources can be proud. Or maybe it is the Worker’s Union that came up with the idea. Or maybe it is the Company Union that deserves the credit. The fact is that, in Brazil, the lines between human resources and unions do not always Petro Fibras 73 coincide with North American definitions. And the concept of unions is also different. With a sparkle in those...