Global Immersion: Doing Business in Brazil - Challenges & Opportunities

Brazil is the largest national economy in Latin America, and the world's tenth largest. It is one of the world's leading producers and exporters of food, it has become self-sufficient in energy thanks to the development of ethanol and deep-sea drilling and has a sizeable and well-developed consumer market. It is also a stable and peaceful democracy. However, it is a complex economy with large inequalities and systemic deficiencies in infrastructure, education, and basic services. After a spurt of healthy and resilient growth for more than a decade, the economy is facing serious headwind lately. Most of Brazil’s problems, however, are self-inflicted and can be corrected. The purpose of the Global Immersion Program is to understand the sources and the challenges impacting current and future growth in the Brazilian economy, identify business opportunities that appear as the country grows and, through your research towards the final project, gain in-depth knowledge and become an “expert” in an aspect of Brazilian business and economics that particularly interests you. Global Immersion Program classes bridge classroom lessons and business practices in another country. These three credit classes meet for half a term in New York prior to a one week visit to the country of focus where students will meet with business executives and government officials while working on team projects. Upon return from the travel portion of the class, students will have a wrap up meeting at Columbia Business School. The course consists of six 1.5-hour sessions in New York during the first six weeks of Fall 2024 semester before traveling to Brazil .There will be a follow-up post-visit class for 2 hrs on a Friday in the B term.. We will be visiting companies and meeting with business leaders in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Attendance and regular participation both in New York and Brazil are a crucial part of the learning experience and as such attendance is mandatory. Students who miss the first class meeting may be removed from the course, and will not have their program fee refunded to them. No program fee refunds will be given after the add/drop period has closed. Travel to Brazil will take place October 13-19, 2024 to Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The 2024-2025 Global Immersion Program mandatory fee for all classes is $2100 and provides students with double occupancy lodging, ground transportation and some meals. It does not cover roundtrip international airfare. Attendance both in New York and in-country and regular participation are a crucial part of the learning experience and as such attendance is mandatory. Students who miss the first class meeting may be removed from the course. No program fee refunds will be given after the add/drop period has closed. Please visit the Chazen Institute website to learn more about the Global Immersion Program, and visit the Global Immersion Policies page to review policies affecting these courses. Only second year students may participate in Global Immersion Program fall courses; please note exams scheduled during this week may be rescheduled and papers due during that week are expected to be turned in by their due date. Please note all international travel involve risk. We do not control the cities and companies we visit. We try our best to plan a safe trip with positive experience. However, if your tolerance for risk or uncertainties is low, GIP is not for you.