IN MANY ways Odebrecht, Latin America’s largest construction conglomerate, is an exemplar of a modern, well-run and progressive business. It has a strong internal culture which emphasises training, meritocracy and decentralised decision-making. It led the way among Brazilian firms in going global, and now earns about half its revenues abroad. Its achievements have won it praise from afar. In 2010 IMD, a Swiss business school, named it the world’s best family firm. Last year McKinsey, an American consulting firm, published a highly flattering interview with Emílio Odebrecht, the chairman, which was headed: “Principles and values have helped this Brazilian family-owned conglomerate thrive.”
Odebrecht’s boosters will surely be regretting their words of praise, especially the bit about principles and values, now that the firm has become caught up in a huge bribery scandal that is engulfing Brazil. On August 16th mass street protests were held, for the third time this year, in which 800,000 people railed against corruption and called for the removal of President Dilma Rousseff. Prosecutors allege...
from The Economist: Business http://ift.tt/1Jlww7o
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