Market entry strategy for management consulting companies into the Brazilian market with focus on the LEAN consulting business

Inhaltsangabe:Introduction: ‘Brazil is rich: rich in natural resources, rich in fertile soil, and rich in people”. Although the country still shows deficits in different areas, the Brazilian market has attracted large investors and companies especially in the past decade. The country’s potential has been the focus of many analysts and researchers by renowned economic institutes. After years of high inflation and slow growth – especially in the eighties and early nineties – Brazil was able to recover and get back into game with the other global players. From a historic perspective it is to say that the country has gone through large transition periods in the last century. Emerging from being a major coffee exporter until the early 20th century, Brazil now belongs to one of the most industrialized countries in Latin America. Although it is the largest country in the region in terms of population figures and geographical size, its GDP share in Latin America or annual growth rate offer a different conclusion. Nevertheless, the consulting market in Brazil has been growing, in particular during the last ten years. Many European and North American consulting companies have invested into the country, built branch offices and bought local firms. Although the market is still very young, its future potential has clearly been discovered. When thinking of Brazil, the words that tend to enter people’s minds are positive sounding ones such as Samba, Carneval and beautiful beaches which radiate joy and energy. On the other side issues like criminality, poverty and high social inequality are often associated with Brazil as well. Either way, it is almost certain that one will have heard of Brazil. The country manifested itself in the mind of people and has made front page news more than once. Objective, relevance and research questions: The objective of the thesis is neither to conduct a market evaluation nor to point out the importance and future relevance of Brazil in the world economy. In fact this work is an empirical study on a market entry strategy which can serve as a reference for management consulting companies that want to enter the Brazilian consulting market. Furthermore, the work attempts to deliver a comprehensive picture of this market, with the intention of elaborating on whether it is wise to invest in Brazil, or whether there may be another – more suitable – Latin American country. Yet, the focus lies on the framework for strategy formulation [...]