Buddy Project

International Business Research

Brazil 2012

Dear student,

In May 2012, twenty-five students of the University of Groningen, the Netherlands, will

come to Brazil for 5 weeks to conduct field research for 11 Dutch companies.

The study association of the Faculty of Economics and Business organizes this business

research trip, named International Business Research (IBR), for the 22nd

time and last

year we added an extra dimension to the project; the Buddy System.

Every year, IBR is organized to conduct research in different countries all over the world.

Past experience has taught us that the quality of the research can only be enhanced by

attracting local knowledge to the research. Therefore, IBR focuses on the set up of a

Buddy Project. Its aim is to combine the knowledge of the Dutch students about the

companies and their need in Brazil and the knowledge of Brazilian students about culture,

language, sectors, companies and ways of doing business.

In this document you can find all the information about IBR and the Buddy Project.

We hope that, after reading this document, you are enthusiastic about the project and are

willing to take part in the Buddy Project. Find below my contact details to let me know

whether you’re interested!

I’m looking forward to your reaction!

Kind regards,

On behalf of IBR Brazil 2012

Kim Durieux

PR/Travel Coordinator

T: +31 (0) 50 363 9488

M: +31 (0) 6 48 69 78 66

E: k.durieux@ibr-groningen.nl

www.ibr-groningen.nl

IBR

History

IBR is a part of the study association of the Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB) of

the University of Groningen. IBR is a non-profit organization which offers research for

cost price to companies. It is the oldest international research project of its kind in the

Netherlands. It has started in 1988 and has had various destinations such as India, South-

Africa, Argentina and Vietnam. In 2012 IBR will go to Brazil for the 6th

time since 1988.

Over the years, a successful business model has been developed.

Goal

The goal of IBR 2012 Brazil is to conduct research in Brazil for 11 (Dutch) companies.

Research set up

The IBR research consists out of 3 phases (Figure 1). Phase I, the Dutch students will

start with the preparation. They will conduct a literature study and follow courses on

conducting research and about the culture of Brazil. In phase II, the students will have

more in-depth contact with the companies which would like to have research conducted.

In January, the Dutch students will be divided in pairs. Each pair will be assigned a

research and together they will perform the preliminary investigation by desk research

and the field research. The research proposal and research framework will be refined. At

the end of this phase, the students will travel to Brazil for 5 weeks to conduct the field

research. The first contact will be during the desk research phase, but especially during

the field research the Buddy Project will play a big part of the research. Phase III is the

closing phase in which the research report will be finalized and presented to the

companies.

F. 1. Student Research Phases

Research

IBR 2012 Brazil has as its goal to conduct research for 11 companies. The content of the

researches varies a lot. A few examples are: investigating the Brazilian market for export

possibilities concerning light bulbs, searching for partners concerning dredging and

conducting a feasibility analysis with regard to exporting cooking appliances.

These companies are going to be contracted throughout the year. Mostly the last

researches will be contracted in the month before we leave to Brazil, in March.

The desk research will start when the research is contracted, thus for some companies the

desk research can only start in March 2012.

Desk research:

During the desk research phase, the Dutch students will, with the help of our supervising

professors, refine the research question and research framework. After this has been

approved by the company for which the research will be conducted, the students will start

with the desk research.

The desk research consists out of:

- Gathering sector information

- Gathering information about the Dutch company

- Gathering information about Brazil concerning the research questions and specific

sector

- Already making contact with Brazilian companies.

Furthermore, if necessary, interviews with Dutch companies can be conducted in the

Netherlands, and if possible, interviews with Brazilian people or companies could also be

done already through Skype or telephone.

Field research:

During the five weeks in Brazil, students will make contacts with companies or people

which need to be interviewed. They will also conduct the interviews and process the

information. A big part of the final research report will also be written already in Brazil.

Many companies need to know specifics about doing business in Brazil and legislation

concerning export, import or other manners of doing business. Furthermore, many

companies are looking for a partner in Brazil or need to know about customer behavior or

would like to have a competitor analysis conducted.

Organization

IBR consists out of an Executive Board (5 members), a Board of Recommendation (23

members), an Advisory Board (27 members), students of the Faculty of Economics and

Business (20 members) and two supervising professors.

Executive Board

The Executive Board of IBR 2012 Brazil consists of five senior students of the Faculty of

Economics and Business of the University of Groningen.

Pieter and Tim are responsible for contracting 11 Dutch companies to conduct research

for. Kim is responsible for PR towards students and companies. Furthermore, she is

responsible for organizing the journey to Brazil. Karin is responsible for all finance

matters, as well as for the research classes, contact with student participants and contact

with professors. Janine is responsible for the overall organization of the project and

assisting Pieter and Tim in their job in contracting 11 Dutch companies.

Board of Recommendation

The Board of Recommendation consists of 23 senior business relations which like to add

a dimension of professionalism to our project by linking their name to it. The ambassador

of Brazil in the Netherlands, J.A. Denot Medeiros, is also a member of this board.

Advisory Board

The Advisory Board of IBR 2012 Brazil consists of 27 people. All these people have a

link with Brazil. Either they are employed in sectors which are booming in Brazil or they

are experts of the Brazilian market and know where to find chances for Dutch companies.

Furthermore, the Advisory Board helps us with our travel coordination and acquisition

task. As the Executive Board we keep close contact with all Advisory Board members in

order to ensure a good relation which benefits IBR as a project.

Students of the Faculty of Economics and Business

Twenty students (together with the Executive Board) will conduct research for 11

companies in Brazil. They have been selected in October 2011 and in November they

will start with the specialization courses on research. All are in the age of 20-26 and they

are either in their final year of their bachelor or in their master program.

Supervising Professors

Two professors of the FEB supervise the research project from the beginning till the end.

They will help with the research set up and framework and give specialization courses on

how to conduct research. Furthermore, they will join the students on their journey to

Brazil in order to also supervise the field research.

Buddy Project

As mentioned, the Buddy Project is a new project intended to enhance the quality of the

researches which IBR will conduct. In this part of the document the specifics, for you as a

Brazilian student, will be explained.

Why to participate as a buddy in IBR 2012 Brazil

Participating in the Buddy Project of IBR 2012 Brazil means that you will work together

with 2 or more Dutch students in conducting a research for a Dutch company which is

interested in the Brazilian market. You learn to look at the Brazilian market from an

international perspective and focus on a specific Brazilian sector. You will keep close

contact with the Dutch students concerning the research and will help in answering the

research questions. Furthermore, you will interview people and companies in Brazil,

together with the Dutch students.

What we offer you is the following:

- Compensation for all expenses that are on behalf of IBR (bus tickets etc.)

- A great intercultural experience!

- Gaining international business research experience

- Learning to view the Brazilian market from an international perspective

- Interview experience

- Working together with motivated Dutch senior students

- Certificate signed by our supervising professors as proof of your participation

and help

- Certificate with the final grade of the research (the researches will be graded by

our professors in August 2012)

- Goodbye Activity and/or Dinner

What IBR 2012 Brazil is looking for

In order to participate as a buddy in IBR 2012 Brazil, we look for students who are, in the

first place, enthusiastic about the project. We hope to create a close group of Brazilian

and Dutch students whereby everybody participates actively and enjoys the process of

doing research. Furthermore, we are looking for Brazilian students who like to make

contact with Brazilian companies to arrange interviews or get information. Next to that,

during the field research in Brazil we are looking for students who have the time to go to

interviews and make contacts with companies. During this period of 5 weeks field

research, your participation as a buddy will probably be more active than during the desk

research, as in this period the actual personal contacts need to take place. Finally, we look

for Brazilian students who can act as interpreters during interviews with people who do

not speak English.

In summary, you:

- Are enthusiastic

- Have good English skills

- Make contacts with companies

- Have the possibility to go to interviews in Brazil together with the Dutch students

(focusing on time)

- Act as interpreter

Two cities, two Brazilian students, two Dutch students, one research

As mentioned, we will conduct 11 researches. 10 pairs of students will conduct a research

and the Executive Board will also conduct a research, which makes a total of 11.

Furthermore, the field research will take place in São Paulo for a couple of weeks, and in

Rio de Janeiro for the other weeks. Therefore, for each research we are looking for a

Brazilian student in both cities; São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, who would like to

participate in the Buddy Project. In this manner the research can be conducted in the

same qualitative manner in both cities. The Dutch students will contact the Brazilian

students and from that moment on you will work together with 4 students in total: two

Dutch students, one student in Rio de Janeiro and one student in São Paulo.

Participation in the research

The Buddy Project will start when the Dutch student couples are assigned to a research.

Then they will contact you, as a buddy, via telephone or email. The Dutch students will

inform you about the research and when you would like to work on this research you will

become the buddy for this research. During the desk research phase you will keep contact

with the Dutch students via email, Skype and telephone.

First the Dutch students will, together with the professors, refine the research questions.

When these are approved, the desk research can really start. Together with the Dutch

students you are going to look for information, coming from Brazilian sources, which

would be useful for this research. The Dutch students will do the same in the Netherlands

and they will also focus on the specific company and its needs. Furthermore, you and the

Dutch students will look for possible people and companies to interview during the 5

weeks of research in Brazil. The ideal situation is when appointments could already be

made in advance.

In Brazil, you and the Dutch students will meet personally. For these upcoming five

weeks the contact will be more intense. All students have a good idea of what kind of

field research should be conducted and together you search for appointments with

companies and conduct the companies. The Dutch students will stay responsible for the

final research report, and thus during this phase a close contact is very important. In the

end, the company has to be satisfied with the research which is conducted. The main

tasks for both Brazilian and Dutch students are; keeping close contact with one another,

search for companies to interview and actually interview them, refine interview

questionnaires and work on the final research.

Thus, participation in the desk research phase entails:

- Searching for sector specific information in line with the researches (general

information, customer behavior, competitors, possible agents, etc.)

- Mail or Skype contact with Dutch students to stay informed and exchange

information

- Search for companies to interview and try to make appointments with companies

to interview

- Search for companies or institutions which might provide useful information

Participation in the field research includes:

- Personal contact with Dutch students

- Information gathering

- Arranging interviews with companies or people

- Writing parts of the final research report

- Interview companies and/or people

- Act as interpreter

Contact with the Dutch students

As mentioned, the contact with the Dutch students during the desk research phase will

take place via email, Skype and if necessary, telephone.

During the field research phase, you will meet personally with the Dutch students.

Contact will take place via e-mail, telephone and of course via personal contact. At the

end of the research period, a Goodbye Activity and/or Dinner with all Dutch and

Brazilian students will be organized by us.

Workload During the desk research phase, the workload will start from the moment that you have

agreed to work with the Dutch students on a specific research. From that moment on, you

will keep contact via mail or Skype and perform the tasks mentioned above. This will

cost you about 1-2 hours a week.

During the field research phase, the workload depends on what has already been

performed during the desk research phase, the amount of interviews with companies and

people, the need for further information gathering and the specific agreements you have

made with the Dutch students. The most important and time consuming activity is

personal interviews. These take up the most time and are an important and big part of the

field research. Some interviews will be conducted by the Dutch students themselves,

others will be conducted by yourself, but the most you will conduct together. It is hard to

say in advance what the workload is during the field research phase, because it is

dependent upon so many factors, but we estimate that it will cost about 10 hours a week.