One assignment students were required to do in the MIM 564 Global Human Resource Management class this past spring 2011 term, taught by Dr. Sully Taylor and Dr. Berrin Erdogan, was to choose any country that currently did not have an SAP Lab, thoroughly research the country’s Human Resource Management (HRM) policies and practices, and defend a conclusion as to whether SAP should expand with an R&D center in that particular country.
Although the PSU Master in International Management program specializes in Asia studies, MIM classes also incorporate a variety of countries and international assignments in the curriculum. Our MIM 564 team of four chose to research Brazil due to its rapid expansion, its relatively young history as a major manufacturing hub and more recently as a financial hub for Latin America. In addition, our team looked forward to learning a little more about Brazil’s economy and workforce as it relates to HRM with the excitement of the 2016 Summer Olympic Games to be held in Rio de Janeiro. On another note, just a three cohorts ago, the MIM program was lucky enough to have a student from Brazil.
In our Global Human Resource Management team’s research we came across an interesting research article on the Association of Executive Search Consultants’ (AESC) website; Executive Talent: A Key to Unlock Brazil’s Future. It is a short article, just approximately 11 pages long, but provides a nice summary of Brazil’s economy and growth, talent shortage, and need for change in recruiting and managing top talent in order to remain competitive.
The research paper Executive Talent: A Key to Unlock Brazil’s Future “focuses on Brazil and attempts to illuminate the critical nature of senior executive talent to the growth trajectory of Brazilian enterprises and the Brazilian economy at large.” In particular I found their statements about the new workforce of most interest. One of the things that a teammate and I discovered in our research findings, as we attempted to describe the Brazilian workforce, is the significant difference in the older and younger generation of Brazilian workers. Our team discussed the similarities to the generation gaps in workers in our own home countries of Japan, Jordan, and the U.S.
Here I will share some of the excerpts from Executive Talent: A Key to Unlock Brazil’s Future as it pertains to the younger generation of workers, Generation Y. To read the full article, click HERE.
- “Generation Y is most often defined as individuals born between 1981 and 2001; a group of young professionals known to have a vastly different vision of employment than their older colleagues. As a group, Generation Y employees expect flexible work schedules, increased training programs, state of the art technology, decreased hierarchy, and higher pay. They are known to lack loyalty to any one employer – believing that their managers should be grateful to have them on the workforce and perceiving that another job with equal or better benefits is always available for the taking.”
- “Today, Generation Y is creating a new cultural shift that is having a profound effect on Brazilian enterprise. The extent to which Brazilian employers address the unique demands of Generation Y will directly affect their ability to compete.”
- “Competition for top performers has never been more intense nor has the recruitment of that talent ever required more professionalism and skill.”
- “Many firms are taking a gamble on younger talent, more likely to be educated abroad or exposed to international standards of business.”
- “Generation Y’s perception is quite accurate in Brazil. Today, given the shortage of senior level executives, the top talent in Generation Y is in very high demand. However, employers have been slow to provide a workplace that meets the expectations of this generation – leading to challenges in the recruitment and retention of this business critical segment of the workforce.”
- “…Understanding how to retain the talents of the new generation, maintaining a stable workforce and understanding trends leading to future generations are still the great challenges and goals of managing people in Brazil.”
Photo credit: Executive Talent: A Key to Unlock Brazil's Future, AESC
Portland State MIM 
Great post, and thank you for the insight on what’s to come! I think I’ll enjoy that class. By the way: the incoming cohort has a Brazilian as well!
Your cohort is lucky to have that kind of diversity! It is great that MIM specializes in Asia studies but it really nice and refreshing to get other perspectives on it!