INSEAD, the business school for the world, held an eminent lecture titled ‘Doing Business in Brazil’ at the INSEAD Europe Campus in Fontainebleau, France. The event featured esteemed guest speaker, Brazil’s Federal Judge Sérgio Moro, who is also the main protagonist in a forthcoming INSEAD case study ‘Doing Business in Brazil after Operation Car Wash (Lava Jato)’ by L. Felipe Monteiro, Affiliate Professor of Strategy at INSEAD.
From left to right: Judge Sérgio Moro and INSEAD Affiliate Professor of Strategy L. Felipe Monteiro
Judge Moro was named among the ‘World’s Greatest Leaders’ by Fortune, The ‘100 Most Influential People’ by Time and the ‘Fifty Most Influential’ list by Bloomberg Magazine. He has also received the 2018 “Person of the Year Award” from the Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce and was the commencement speaker at the University of Notre Dame this year.
Operation Car Wash (Lava Jato) is one of largest anti-corruption investigations in the world, and has inspired an original Netflix series – The Mechanism – launched in March 2018. Operation Car Wash revealed institutionalised corruption in Brazil, and has had profound and lasting impact on politics and business in the country. It forced Brazilian companies to comply with the law, in ways that were virtually non-existent before.
L. Felipe Monteiro, Affiliate Professor of Strategy at INSEAD and the Academic Director of the Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI), says that, “I am very honoured to host Judge Moro at INSEAD, and present the first business case study about Operation Car Wash (Lava Jato). The case explains the immediate consequences of one of the most important corruption probes in the world that has, and will have, profound implications for doing business in Brazil and possibly in other Latin American countries. Federal Judge Sérgio Moro has helped change the public perception of criminal accountability. Our students at INSEAD have been inspired by Federal Judge Moro and more than two thirds think that Brazil will become a better place to do business following Operation Car Wash”.
Brazil’s Federal Judge Sérgio Moro, who takes an uncompromising stance on anti-corruption measures, comments: “When you do the right thing and show the right values, it helps inspire others to do their part. Something is changing in Brazil, not only because of the Operation Car Wash case. When you conduct your own business, you have to think about moral standards and integrity in addition to profits, people and its impact on the planet. There is a feeling that anti-corruption efforts can only improve the Brazilian economy, democracy and public services. Business schools like INSEAD have a great responsibility in displaying probity and can influence how business should be conducted in the future”.
The event featured an in-depth and passionate discussion between Federal Judge Sérgio Moro and Professor Felipe Monteiro. More than 350 guests attended, including INSEAD MBA students and faculty. The topics addressed included pressing questions on Brazil for local business leaders as well as foreign investors. Judge Moro shared his thoughts on four major points:
- How Operation Car Wash could make it easier to do business in Brazil in the future;
- The ways corporate transparency would improve Brazil;
- The changes in the corporate environment and the public sector;
- and how fighting against corruption in Brazil also has an influence worldwide.
The case study will be officially published by INSEAD in English by the end of June and will be available at INSEAD, the Case Centre and the Harvard Business School Publishing websites. The Portuguese translation of the case should follow shortly.
