Table Of ContentBuilding Bridges Among
the BRICs
Robert Crane
Building Bridges Among the BRICs
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Building Bridges Among
the BRICs
Edited by
Robert Crane
Independent Consultant, Paris, France
Selection and editorial content © Robert Crane 2015
Individual chapters © Contributors 2015
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First published 2015 by
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Contents
List of Figures vi
List of Tables vii
Preface viii
Notes on Contributors i x
1 Brazil 1
Rodolfo Ferrari
2 Russia 3 7
Jerome Dumetz and Anna Vichniakova
3 India 115
Anand Jagadeesan
4 China 154
Jason D. Patent
Index 193
v
List of Figures
1.1 Geographical extent of Brazil 3
1.2 Carnival is a large cultural party for which a huge
amount of money is invested 8
1.3 Y emanja celebration in Salvador, Bahia 9
1.4 E xportation of main commodities, MDIC 12
1.5 Foreign direct investment, Central Bank 15
1.6 ( a) Brazil cultural dimension; (b) BRICs comparison
of cultural dimension 16
1.7 Cultural values structure 2 1
1.8 P ublic debt and private debt of emerging countries,
Central Bank 29
1.9 C hanging middle class proportion 31
1.10 R eal monthly average income in reals per
person, IBGE 31
1.11 Brazilians protest 3 2
1.12 MASP: where everything starts. During protest
and before 32
1.13 Global pharmaceutical ranking and estimates
for 2016 33
2.1 W estern part of Russia 4 1
2.2 Maps of Russia and its neighbors 60
2.3 Maps of Russian main cities and rivers 6 1
2.4 Russian “subjects” 64
2.5 B rent spot price, 1987–2013 72
2.6 Russian GDP, 1989–2012 7 3
3.1 M ap of India 118
3.2 I ndia’s exports and imports 130
3.3 Caste hierarchy in India 1 38
3.4 Population growth in India 140
vi
List of Tables
1.1 W orld Cup spending in 2014 12
1.2 Revenues from international flights during World Cup,
Central Bank 13
1.3 Trade flows to Brazil in 2013, Bloomberg 14
1.4 Negotiation styles 27
3.1 Most populous cities 119
3.2 Religion distribution 1 21
3.3 R ecent inflow of foreign direct investment 128
3.4 S ectors attracting the highest FDI 129
3.5 Agricultural output in 2011 1 33
3.6 B RICS country comparison 1 43
4.1 T imeline of Chinese history 159
vii
Preface
The term “BRIC” was coined at Goldman Sachs some 20 years ago to
designate four developing countries which were developing much faster
than others. They were developing so fast, in fact, that it was popular
wisdom that Brazil, Russia, India, and China would not only become
the dynamos of the world economy but that they would come to domi-
nate it. Two decades later, we now perceive that neither statement is
completely true, nor completely false. While the four – more recently
joined by South Africa to become BRICS – have largely driven world
economic growth in recent years, all four national economies are notice-
ably cooling in the middle of the second decade of the 21st century.
Moreover, Russia is currently engaged in a Ukrainian adventure that
may well jeopardize that country’s prosperity for some time to come.
So we, the authors of this book, asked ourselves, “Is there any intrinsic
cohesion among the BRICs? Are there underlying cultural factors
which imply a longer-term coalescence of the group of four nations? Is
their cultural proximity such that both business and political links are
facilitated among them?” This, then, is the subject of Building Bridges
Among the BRICs and makes our book a cultural and economic study
of the group and an investigation into their coherence.
All the authors take a close look at the national culture of their
nations with their strengths and weaknesses for politics and business.
They examine the origins of these cultures from the historical and
geographical perspectives. Then, from their differing viewpoints, they
seek to project the likelihood of their country working successfully with
the other three. Finally, they examine what has actually happened on
the ground. Have Indian companies worked successfully with compa-
nies from Russia, China, or Brazil? If so, how? If not, why not?
Our hope is that we have advanced both the academic discipline
of cross-cultural research applied to the BRICs and to business and
the down-to-earth field of doing business with the four nations. It is
up to you, our readers, to judge our success in the two tasks and – we
hope – to tell us what you think and why.
Robert Crane
Paris, April 2014
viii
Notes on Contributors
Robert Crane is a specialist in cross-cultural issues. He has worked
in all four countries of the BRICs, among the 60 different countries
in which he has worked. He applies his cross-cultural approach
to university teaching, to consulting with multinational firms, to
publications, and to fostering improved interfaith relations.
Jérôme Dumetz is a specialist in cross-cultural management, with a
strong focus on Eastern Europe in general and Russia in particular.
He has extensive experience in Russia as a cross-cultural researcher
of Russian management practices, being a member of the faculty
of business at the Plekhanov University and an independent facili-
tator and consultant specializing in Russian business. Certified as
an intercultural facilitator, he organizes cross-cultural trainings for
major global corporations about cross-cultural management, often
focusing on Russia. Co-author of several books in the field of cross-
cultural management, he is an invited speaker and lecturer at various
Universities in Russia and across Europe.
Rodolfo F errari , a Brazilian born in São Paulo, is a mechanical
engineer trained by Escola Politécnica at the University of São
Paulo and also by the Ecole des Ponts ParisTech, Paris, where he
received his bachelor’s degree with honors (Augustín-de-Bettancourt
Excellence Prize). He had two years of experience at ArcelorMittal
while working on his final thesis. In Brazil, he works in the investor
relations department of Hypermarca, where he is responsible for
financial modeling and also for being the contact person for foreign
and local investors.
Anand Jagadeesan , founder and partner of Chennai Consulting
Group (CCG), has over 20 years of experience in the industry
and academics. CCG is a firm offering market research, business
consulting, and corporate training services, and caters to clients from
various sectors across the world. It supports entrepreneurs, corpo-
rate organizations, banks, NGOs, and government organizations
for their consulting needs. The author acknowledges the efforts of
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