Producing, storing and sharing the Organization’s most essential resource
KNOWLEDGE
# 160 VOL. XXXIX may/junE 2012 EnGLISH EDITIOn
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Online edition Online archive
>Braskem’s physical libraries house integrated systems that enable them to lend reference materials to partners and members wherever they may be
>The Odebrecht Sustainable Development Award encourages young college students to develop innovative projects
>When refurbishing Maracanã stadium, some of the waste materials from the old stadium are reused to make bricks and reforest urban areas
>Construction of a solar power plant will enable the Pernambuco Arena to consume renewable, eco-friendly energy
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>Odebrecht Realizações Imobiliárias (OR) sponsors the creation of the Pelé Museum in Santos, São Paulo
>Visit Mussolo Island, one of Angola’s loveliest tourist destinations
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>The Odebrecht Culture Center (NCO) is a tool for preserving and sharing the experiences of Odebrecht teams in Brazil and worldwide
>Julio Lopes Ramos, the officer Responsible for the Curundú Project in Panama, is the fifth member interviewed for the Savvy Project
>The Program for Developing Entrepreneurs (PDE) enables members to hone their knowledge and understand the values of the Odebrecht Entrepreneurial Technology (TEO)
>LOGISTICS OF EFFICIENCY
From the cane fields to the industrial unit: see how ETH Bioenergy guarantees fast, reliable delivery of sugarcane
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#160
The PDE enables different generations of entrepreneurs to engage in motivating and productive interaction
Professor Moises Swirski addresses (and celebrates) the first 10 years of the Program for Developing Entrepreneurs
Highlight Awards: an instrument at the service of valuing collective intelligence
Knowledge Communities provide a forum for sharing experiences and finding support
Olindina Dominguez discusses the challenges of the Organization’s growth and the importance of the knowledge network for meeting them
A journey through the Organization’s past, present and future in the Odebrecht Culture Center
The Child Cancer Treatment Institute (Itaci) expands its service capacity
Braskem finds innovative solutions to consolidate, centralize and store information
At Odebrecht Engenharia Industrial, advanced technology projects confirm its talent for innovation
Passionate about sharing knowledge during day-to-day operations at the jobsites, Zé Bodinho marks 50 years of work at Odebrecht
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knowledge52
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In Angola, an initiative is marked by a combination of technology transfer and streamlined public services
The ongoing exchange of information and experiences involving all members of ETH Bioenergy
Workers in Panama bolster health and safety training with the support of Odebrecht’s teams in that country
Yuri Tomina: the story of a young man who personifies Braskem’s confidence and dynamism
OOG: lessons that inspire diligence and appreciation for knowledge and prevention
OR’s communication system encourages discipline, reflection and transversality
The Program for Developing Young Entrepreneurs gives the Southern Bahia Lowlands a new reason to believe in the future
Savvy: Julio Lopes Ramos helps rehabilitate citizens in Panama City
The map shows the countries and Brazilian states (in white) where the projects and programs featured in this issue of Odebrecht Informa are located. These wide-ranging initiatives are linked to all the countries where the Organization’s companies are active.
COVER: Participants in the first module of the 2012 edition of the Program for Developing Entrepreneurs (PDE) meet in Atibaia, São Paulo. Photo by Bruna Romaro
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EDITORIAL
Intangible achievements
nowledge is always the result of a collective process.
Even when it apparently springs from the efforts of a
lone individual, what actually happened was that that
person, at any given time, arrived at a discovery, confir-
mation or extension of an achievement by using a storehouse of data
that was initially generated long before they (or their parents and
grandparents) came into the world. Knowledge is a magnificent opus
to which all of us, like those who came before us, contribute every
day of our lives.
Today – and this is increasingly evident in the business world, but
not just there – creating the conditions for the no less crucial shar-
ing of accumulated knowledge is just as essential as stimulating the
generation of knowledge in the first place. After all, what good is
knowledge if it cannot be used by everyone for the common good? It
would be like writing and publishing wonderful books that can’t be
read, or building beautiful homes that stand unoccupied.
In this issue of Odebrecht Informa, you will find features that also
contain stories about the love of knowledge – and sharing. You will
see how initiatives like the Highlight Awards, the Program for De-
veloping Entrepreneurs (PDE), Knowledge Communities and the
Odebrecht Culture Center have contributed and are still contributing
to the formation of a knowledge network that enables Odebrecht’s
teams to energize their spirit to serve and help make their clients’
dreams come true.
Through the reports in the following pages, you will see how
each edition of the Highlight Awards, every meeting of the Knowl-
edge Communities, each module of the PDE, all the data added to
the Organization’s Intranet portals, every visit to the Culture Cen-
ter, and every Thematic Café adds a new chord to this transcen-
dent opus called knowledge in a never-ending symphony, contrib-
uting to our happiness, fulfillment and the ongoing reaffirmation
of faith in humankind.
“Creating the conditions for
the no less crucial sharing of accumulated
knowledge is just as essential
as stimulating the generation of knowledge in the
first place”
K
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THE FACTS OF
lifewritten by Edilson lima photos by Bruna romaro
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THE FACTS OF Program for Developing Entrepreneurs enables participants to engage in a rich and productive exchange of experiences through informal contact between different generations
Moises Swirski and Renato Baiardi (wearing dark jacket) conversing with the PDE participants: sharing lessons learned
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etermined to dream the Organization’s
future together, 88 members met with
Odebrecht leaders in Atibaia, São Paulo,
during a five-day seminar. The event was
the first module of the 10th edition of the
Program for Developing Entrepreneurs (PDE). For the
first time, the initial module of the program was con-
ducted jointly, involving members of Braskem and the
Organization’s Engineering & Construction companies.
Odebrecht Informa was present and got an up-close and
personal look at every step of their experience.
At the opening session on the afternoon of April 15,
participants received a warm welcome and heard a pre-
sentation of the PDE program’s first module. That eve-
ning, they enjoyed a classical music concert, and went
on to dinner.
The next day started with a lecture by Felipe Jens, the
officer Responsible for Finance at Odebrecht S.A., who
gave a general assessment of the consolidated assets
of the Organization’s companies and their investments.
Then, Marcelo Odebrecht, President and CEO of Ode-
brecht S.A., gave a presentation on the Organization’s Vi-
sion for 2020, highlighting the leaders’ challenge of con-
veying the principles of the Odebrecht Entrepreneurial
Technology (TEO) to new members.
In his talk, Renato Baiardi, a Member of the Board
of Odebrecht S.A. and one of the mentors of the PDE,
stressed the importance of leader-team member rela-
tions to the smooth conduct of business activities and
people’s growth. After their meeting with Baiardi, the
participants formed small groups to discuss and reflect
on his presentation.
On the third day, Entrepreneurial Leaders (CEOs) Luiz
Mameri, from Odebrecht América Latina e Angola, and
Fernando Reis, from Foz do Brasil, spoke about their
businesses. Mameri emphasized the challenge of work-
ing in countries with different political situations in Latin
America. Fernando Reis pointed out Foz do Brazil’s ex-
cellent performance in the field of water and sanitation,
an area historically dominated by state companies.
In the afternoon, participants attended a panel dis-
cussion on sustainability, with the participation of Sér-
gio Leão, Carla Pires and Jorge Soto, the officers Re-
sponsible for that area at Odebrecht, ETH Bioenergy and
Braskem, respectively. The mediator was Sergio Foguel,
a Member of the Board of Odebrecht S.A.
Paul Altit, Entrepreneurial Leader of Odebrecht Re-
alizações Imobiliárias (OR), started the fourth day’s ac-
tivities with an overview of the current real estate boom
in Brazil. He underscored one of the main challenges
OR has taken on: helping prepare Rio de Janeiro for the
2016 Olympics, including the construction of residential
villages for athletes.
Then the participants saw a presentation on the case
of Aquapolo Ambiental, a sewage treatment plant that
produces reused water for industrial use in the São
Paulo metropolitan region. The project involves three
Odebrecht companies: Foz do Brasil, Braskem and Ode-
brecht Infraestrutura. Led by Pedro Novis, a member of
the Board of Odebrecht S.A., the presentation aimed to
encourage reflection on the implementation of the con-
cept of transversality in the Organization.
Hits and missesIn the evening, the young participants once again
divided into groups, and had the opportunity to interact
with graduates of previous editions of the PDE. Marcus
Vinícius Dias participated in the first edition of the pro-
gram in 2003. Today he is a Project Director at Odebrecht
Oil & Gas (OOG). “There were less than 30 students in
our class. We heard the stories of our leaders, their hits
and misses. It made a lasting impression on us.” Antonio
Augusto Santos was in the class of 2004. He is currently
the Project Director for the Teles Pires Hydroelectric
Plant project in Mato Grosso. “I learned that Odebrecht’s
future depends on us,” he says.
Juliana Monteiro and Ana Carolina Farias respec-
tively attended the 2008 and 2009 editions. In 2010,
Juliana became the first woman Project Director at
OR. “It’s an honor,” she says. In 2011, Ana Carolina be-
came the first woman Project Director at Odebrecht In-
fraestrutura: “The PDE taught me to focus on people’s
growth. Today I try to convey positive inspiration to my
team members.”
The fifth and final day began with a lecture by the En-
trepreneurial Leader of Braskem, Carlos Fadigas, who
emphasized the acquisition of assets of Quattor and Su-
noco Chemicals in 2010, and Dow Chemical in 2011.
Respect for cultural differences was one of the points
Emílio Odebrecht, Chairman of the Board of Directors of
Odebrecht S.A., underscored in his talk. He stressed that
TEO must be conveyed to all members of the Organiza-
tion while respecting their local customs and habits.
After lunch, Márcio Polidoro, the Odebrecht officer
Responsible for Corporate Communications, and Board
Member Luiz Villar gave a talk on “Representativeness
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and Image Building.” After a presentation of case stud-
ies, the participants were encouraged to reflect on im-
age building within the sphere of their own businesses.
In the evening, there was a farewell social event and
the presentation of a “video-overview” of the five-day
seminar. Throughout the coming year, the two groups
of participants (members of Braskem and Odebrecht’s
Engineering & Construction companies) will separately
take part in three more program modules.
Open hearts and soulsSome participants reported their impressions to
Odebrecht Informa. “The PDE gives us a comprehen-
sive view of the Organization businesses,” said Marcelo
Nunes, from OOG. “The PDE gives us an opportunity to
be face to face with people who have lived and are liv-
ing the history of Odebrecht,” observed Alaíde Barbosa,
from Foz. Fernando Cervera, from Odebrecht Peru, said:
“I’m leaving here with a tremendous desire to be a better
person.” The issue of sustainability drew the attention of
Manuel Kai, from Angola: “When I came here I had few
ideas on that subject, but now it’s as if several lights have
gone on in my head.” Becoming an educational leader
is one of the goals of Warren Springer, from the USA,
a member of Braskem in the United States. “Odebrecht
has a culture of always giving the best possible service.”
According to the academic coordinator of the PDE,
Moises Swirski (see his article in this issue), the pro-
gram is in its 10th edition, and is staying true to its
original purpose: “Being a space for reflection on TEO
involving interactions between the generations of Nor-
berto Odebrecht, Emílio Odebrecht and the youth of to-
day, led by Marcelo Odebrecht.” Renato Baiardi adds:
“Over these 10 years, many participants have proved
themselves to be excellent entrepreneurs. This means
that the PDE is on the right track. The practice of TEO
should be intensified in all of the Organization’s small
businesses.”
According to Antonio Rezende, the officer Respon-
sible for the People and Development Team of the Vice
President for Engineering & Construction Operations,
the PDE’s greatest legacy is encouraging a feeling of
belonging to Odebrecht among the participants. “They
leave here motivated to preserve the Organization’s cul-
ture and convey it to their team members.”
One of the high points of each edition of the PDE has
been the participation of Norberto Odebrecht since the
program’s inception. “Norberto Odebrecht always amaz-
es us with his stories. Young people have the opportunity
to interact directly with him,” says Moises Swirski. You
could say they have the opportunity to dream the Organi-
zation’s future together.
Marcelo Odebrecht: conveying the principles of TEO to new members
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ARGUMENT
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The PDE marks its 10th anniversary
Moises Swirskiis the academic coordinator of the Odebrecht Organization’s Program for Developing Entrepreneurs (PDE) [email protected]
he PDE [Program for Developing Entre-
preneurs] is celebrating the 10th anni-
versary of its mission to accelerate the
education of entrepreneurs in line with
the Odebrecht Culture, contributing syn-
ergistically to Education through Work.
The PDE is at the service of the Organization’s lead-
ers in the effort to overcome the challenge of grooming
future generations of leaders in the art of conducting
the Entrepreneurial Task, keeping pace with the rate of
growth of their businesses.
By the end of 2012, 10 classes will have taken the
Engineering PDE, which includes Foz do Brasil, Ode-
brecht Realizações Imobiliárias [Real Estate Develop-
ments], Odebrecht Oil & Gas and OCS, and six will have
taken the Braskem PDE, making a total of more than
700 participants.
The program provides a break in the participants’ dai-
ly lives that enables them to reflect on their own experi-
ences and engage in self-assessment. We learn through
the application of TEO and lessons taught by leaders from
the three generations that have built the Organization.
Reflection inspires the possibilities of each individual
and increases their drive to achieve. Dialogue strength-
ens their sense of mission and the freedom to pursue
personal fulfillment within the Organization. The PDE
does not create entrepreneurs; the talent for becoming
an entrepreneur is already innate.
The educational program is geared to broadening
perspectives, thereby enhancing people’s capacity to
conceptualize, focus, plan and evaluate the implementa-
tion of their Action Program. We do not develop the skills
required to perform specific tasks. The PDE prioritizes
developing the sensitivity required to be an entrepreneur.
Our values emerge from our actions, and it is those val-
ues which make us stand out. As Rubem Alves tells us:
“Knowledge gives us the means to live, but it is our sensi-
bilities that give us our reason for living.”
As the Academic Coordinator of the PDE, I have
three reminders for our participants. The first is that
each individual brings their own truth, because there
is no one answer in business. Furthermore, it is our
differences that make us stronger and will allow us
to review the way we perceive things. When everyone
thinks alike, it is more than likely that no one is think-
ing at all.
The second is that each individual must be fully
committed to the program. Bring all of yourself to the
plenary session, along with everything you represent.
And, finally, each individual is responsible for building
an environment of trust for their peers.
I have a PhD in Finance from the Stern School of
Business at New York University and am a partner in
a company focused on Valuation and M&A. However,
I have always been involved in education. I helped to
found the UFRJ Coppead (Federal University at Rio de
Janeiro Graduate Institute of Business Administra-
tion), and went on to help create the PDE, a pioneer-
ing project in Brazil for grooming senior executives.
I like people and enjoy helping them, so I am fully
committed to the PDE’s journey. And for the last ten
years, I have been learning important lessons from the
art of grooming entrepreneurs, from the participants,
from the Organization’s leaders who share their art
and lives, from the entrepreneurial coordinators (An-
tonio Rezende, Olindina Dominguez, Carlos Hupsel
and Ciro Barbosa), teachers Nilton Ricardino and Ro-
berto Vargas, and my colleagues at MSW.
T
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CREATORS OF AN
archivewritten by EmanuElla somBra photos by FrEd ChaluB
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ESSENTIAL
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CREATORS OF AN
archive
Braskem’s Highlight Awards gain
strength as a tool for supporting the company’s growth
ESSENTIAL
Camila Dantas (center) with Felipe Yukio Matsumoto and Carolina Mirabeli: increasing productivity by encouraging creativity
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t all started the way good ideas often arise
in the workplace: a practical obstacle led to
strategic planning that resulted in short- and
long-term gains for the client. “We needed to
provide them with support, which meant re-
ducing their costs and ensuring our competitive-
ness in the current scenario for the petrochemical
industry,” says Braskem Energy Manager Gustavo
Checcucci. “In other words, we were strengthen-
ing the entire supply chain,” he summarizes.
The characters in this story were members
of Braskem, which produces polypropylene, and
their client Borealis, a company that makes auto
parts from the polymer after adding other chemi-
cal components. Based on observations of how
Borealis’s power consumption was impacting its
competitiveness in the market, Gustavo and his
colleagues Octavio Pimenta Neto, Lucas Nishioka
and Fabio Yanaguita came up with an alternative
way to reduce the costs of inputs used to make
plastic products - in this case, auto parts.
That is how the winner in the Adding Value
for the Client category of the 2011 edition of the
Braskem Highlight Awards came about. The pro-
posal was to mediate the energy purchased on
the Free Power Market and manage it so Borealis
could save 17% of its annual consumption. “Ne-
gotiating cheaper energy required expertise that
midsize companies such as Borealis do not pos-
sess. Not to mention that Braskem has been in
this market a long time, which made negotiating
the purchase easier,” explains Checcucci.
After the initial stage of the project, in which
the partners studied several legal and economic
variables, they began applying the idea in prac-
tice. The bond of trust between the two companies
grew stronger, and the client is enjoying a savings
of BRL 600,000 annually. Furthermore, Braskem’s
entrepreneurial legacy had gained yet another ex-
ample of how shared knowledge and experiences
result in an archive of solutions that can be ap-
plied and replicated over the years.
Encouraging creativity“In addition to encouraging the emergence of
innovative ideas that can be applied in our own
Organization, the awards ensure that our mem-
bers share their acquired knowledge within the
company, which helps improve the work done in
all spheres of activity,” says Camila Dantas, the
Braskem officer Responsible for Education and
Careers. “The Braskem Highlight Awards rec-
ognize professionals by valuing their knowledge.
This helps increase productivity while encourag-
ing creativity,” she adds.
At the Braskem unit in São Paulo, Camila and
the other organizers of the awards keep track
of entries for the next edition, which are due by
July. At this stage, the routine will gradually cre-
ate a climate in which creativity and the exchange
of ideas predominate - in many cases, ideas that
have already been tried and tested within the Or-
ganization. “People begin to form groups, which
ends up creating pools of expertise. With each
passing year, we have seen the awards make a
contribution in this regard,” she says.
According to Camila, the number of entries
in 2012 is expected to exceed the milestones
reached in previous years. And this expectation
is justified. In 2011, the competition totaled 194
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Gustavo Checucci, Fabio Yanaguita and Octavio Pimenta: reducing the costs of inputs used to make plastic products
17informa
entries, 20% more than 2007, the first year the
awards were held. During that period, the pro-
gram made adjustments aligned with Braskem’s
Vision for 2020, such as the number of partici-
pants per group and the inclusion of new cat-
egories. Other categories have been eliminated
for strategic reasons. Now in its sixth edition,
Braskem offers Highlight Awards in four catego-
ries: Innovative Solutions, HSE (Health, Safety
and Environment), Adding Value for the Client
and Continuous Improvement.
Conceived as a tool for recording and sharing
knowledge, the Braskem Highlight Awards are held
annually. All company members can participate, as
long as each group has at least two members. En-
tries must be original and unpublished, and imple-
mented the same year or the year before each edi-
tion. Criteria such as sustainability, originality and
impact on the company’s development are taken
into account when selecting the best entries.
From team member to leaderMost members who submit winning projects
share the feeling that this is a form of recognition
and are encouraged to participate in other edi-
tions. The resulting exchange of experiences and
knowledge also ends up having a positive impact
on their professional careers. “I can safely say this
award has directly influenced my career, because
I’ve gone from being a team member to a leader,”
says Braskem Product Development Manager
Alessandro Lima. Alessandro and his group won
the 2010 Braskem Highlight Awards in the Adding
Value for the Client category.
Along with colleagues Nicolai Duboc Natal, Fer-
nando Cruz and João Caiado (the latter two are
former company members), Alessandro developed
a new alternative for the Brazilian offshore indus-
try’s logistics: producing and supplying a type of
polypropylene that Petrobras had previously im-
ported to coat oil pipelines. “Our direct client was
not Petrobras, but the suppliers of that polymer.
And it was much more advantageous for them to
have a Brazilian product and technical assistance
in this country.”
Used as an insulator, the polypropylene main-
tains the temperature at which oil is extracted from
the earth. Furthermore, the polymer protects steel
pipelines from seawater corrosion. Braskem un-
derwent a lengthy approval process to be accred-
ited as a supplier of the raw material for Petrobras.
“It is Petrobras’s policy to promote the national
oil industry, and we were able to contribute to
that effort,” says an exultant Nicolai Duboc Natal,
Braskem’s Polypropylene Marketing Coordinator.
“Better yet, we can use this technical track record
in other applications, now that Braskem already
has the know-how,” he adds.
Nicolai Natal: boosting the Brazilian oil industry
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written by rEnata mEyEr
18An initiative created to showcase and reward collective intelligence and encourage members to seek and reuse creative solutions, the Engineering & Construction business’s Highlight Awards mark 20 years
good ideas THE PATH TO
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good ideas n 1992, the Odebrecht Knowledge Network
gained an important tool for recording and
sharing innovative ideas developed in the tech-
nical and social fields of the Organization’s
companies’ operational areas. The Highlight
Awards, as it became known, have helped recognize
knowledgeable people, while capturing synergies
and enhancing Odebrecht’s collective intelligence,
providing a stimulus for the pursuit, dissemination
and reuse of creative solutions.
Any Odebrecht member in Brazil and other coun-
tries can compete for the awards, individually or in
groups. There is no limit to the number of entries
per author or the number of participants per group.
All the entries submitted become part of the Orga-
nization’s archives and are available in full for con-
sultation on the Highlight Awards website and the
Engineering & Construction Business’s Corporate
Portal.
Over the course of 20 years, more than 4,000
members have shared the knowledge acquired
through day-to-day activities, forming a rich trove of
over 2,000 innovations. These projects reduce costs
and time, minimize social and environmental im-
pacts, and improve productivity, among many other
benefits. During those two decades, the awards
have evolved, adapting to new market needs and the
growth of the Organization, adding new categories
and means of delivery, consultation and access.
“At first, we would call members on the phone to
encourage them to submit their work. Today, people
participate spontaneously. Every year, more people
realize the importance of sharing knowledge,” says
Olindina Perez Dominguez, the officer Responsible
for Ciaden (Knowledge and Information to Support
IIIRSA South Highway in Peru: the project’s team used an innovative solution born at the construction site for another route in that country – the Tingo María-Aguaytía Highway
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hiv
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Business Development), who is in charge of orga-
nizing the Highlight Awards. Over the years, the
number of members taking part has steadily in-
creased: between 2010 and 2011 alone, it jumped
from 227 entries to 367.
Hosted annually, the awards are presented to
members whose work has been selected in each
of the six categories evaluated: Innovation, Young
Partner, Knowledge Reuse, Environment, Commu-
nity Relations, and Health and Workplace Safety.
The selection process takes place in two stages.
First, an international panel of judges composed
of multidisciplinary technical teams from the Ode-
brecht Organization assesses the entries. All Ode-
brecht members can also vote for their favorites
through the Corporate Portal (Intranet). The 10
highest-scoring entries are pre-screened and un-
dergo another round of evaluations by an outside
panel of judges - in the case of the Environment
and Community Relations categories - and a sec-
ond internal committee for the others. At the end
of this process, the winning project in each cat-
egory is chosen.
Reusing knowledgeCreativity, dedication and persistence were the
tools the management team for the Tingo María-
Aguaytía Highway rehabilitation project in Peru
used to overcome the challenges posed by the
weather and climate and ensure productivity. To
avoid demobilizing the workforce during the rainy
season, which made it impossible to carry out
some procedures, the team created a paving tent,
a movable metal frame shaped like an arch and
covered with a plastic tarp that was high enough
to allow the work fronts to operate normally un-
derneath it.
The idea was submitted to the Highlight Awards
in 2005 and became a benchmark for other projects
the Organization is building in similar situations.
This was true for the IIRSA South Project, where
the harsh temperatures limited the work of plac-
ing the asphalt mixture to a total of five hours per
day. By using the tent, they were able to ensure a
temperature-controlled environment and increase
productivity during construction of the road system
linking Brazil and Peru.
The Odebrecht Angola team has also been in-
spired by an existing initiative to promote the pro-
fessional education of Angolan workers. Originally
deployed in Santo Antônio, Brazil, the Acreditar (Be-
lieve) program has been replicated in Angola, and,
since 2010, it has graduated more than 2,000 skilled
workers in various construction trades and related
areas in three provinces.
The Angolan version of the program won the
2011 Highlights Award in the Knowledge Reuse
category, which this year received the record num-
ber of 70 entries. “Winning the Award gives us the
certainty that we made the right choices when we
decided to create a program based on the local
realities, using an educational technology aligned
with TEO and the most advanced trends in mod-
ern education,” says Adriana Bezerra, who co-
authored the project along with Diana Ortiz and
Paloma Alencar.
Grooming new entrepreneursThe award ceremony for the last edition, which
marked the 20th anniversary of the Highlight
Awards, took place in December during the An-
nual Meeting in Costa do Sauípe, Bahia. The oc-
casion was also marked by a tribute to Mauro
Martins, the officer Responsible for Engineering
on the Manuel Piar (Tocoma) Hydroelectric Plant
project in Venezuela. Mauro is the Organization
member who has submitted the most entries
throughout the history of the awards: a total of
38 projects.
Mauro Martins: record holdero
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2012 HIGHLIGHT AWARDS
Registration and submissions due by September 28. Don’t miss out! www.premiodestaque.com
For more information on the Highlight Awards, write to [email protected]
Mauro is acclaimed within the Organization as one
of the greatest promoters of the Awards. “Through
the Highlight Awards, we have been able to ‘contage’
and influence colleagues from different generations
to engage in joint projects focused on important is-
sues related to the different challenges that arise in
our business environments. This promotes the con-
tinuous pursuit of scientific and technical knowledge
while always valuing the spirit of innovation,” says
Mauro.
Under his leadership, Robinson Areaza won the
Award in 2011 in the Young Partner category for
“Breaking Paradigms on the Road to Success. Us-
ing Postcooling in High-Altitude Paving.” Created
in 1997, this category recognizes younger members
who see opportunities for innovation in their day-to-
day work. “I am convinced that each and every one
of us can find solutions to overcome obstacles and
forge ahead, becoming increasingly efficient and ef-
fective in the execution of any project we are build-
ing,” says Robinson.
According to Olindina Dominguez, for young peo-
ple, participating in the Highlight Awards is primarily
a learning opportunity. “Whether they are reporting
an innovation developed in conjunction with their
team or recording the knowledge of experienced su-
pervisors, these young people will grow and develop
because they have to find the technical data to sup-
port the idea they are presenting,” she says.
Whether they are Young Partners or seasoned
professionals, all Odebrecht members have the
transformative potential to innovate, renew and con-
stantly improve their work and themselves. This is
the essence of the Highlight Awards, which symbol-
ize the entire Organization’s recognition of the spirit
of service of people who share their knowledge to
serve the future.
Aida Yolanda José da Silva (foreground) and other Acreditar Program students in Angola: professional education
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Engineering & Construction Knowledge Communities provide support for any situation anywhere. Just give them a call
written by João marcondes
22 Danilo Abdanur (right) and Venezuelan engineer José Gonçalves: reinforcing Education through Work
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THE PLEASuRE OF FINDING YOuR
informa24 informa
n 2009, engineer Manuel Ximenes arrived in Co-
lombia. The challenge he faced was verging on
impossible: putting together a bid for the Ruta
del Sol Highway contract in just four months.
The scope: building a 500-km roadway in a re-
gion with heavy rainfall in the extremely short period
of five years. A month had gone by since the tender
announcement was published. They were not even
100% sure they would win. There were technical gaps
to overcome. Then, in the course of a conversation, his
leader, Odebrecht Colombia CEO Luiz Bueno, sug-
gested that Ximenes attend the meeting of the Road-
ways Community that would soon be held in Panama.
“I didn’t belong to that Community, and I wasn’t even
sure what it was. I wondered whether it would be
worthwhile missing a week of work on the bid to make
the trip,” he admits.
Ximenes went, and his time wasn’t wasted. In fact,
he won the contract. “I told them my troubles and ev-
eryone offered to help,” he says, highlighting the com-
munity’s willingness to pitch in and work together to
find solutions. “It was like opening a book and finding
almost all the answers you needed.” Never had the
spirit of service seemed so clear to Ximenes, who im-
mediately became one of the community’s most active
members. He called in colleagues from similar proj-
ects in Peru, Brazil and Panama to help him with his
mission. They held a mini-community meeting in Bo-
gota, where they produced the winning bid in record
time. Manuel Ximenes says the support of “Maurão”
was crucial. “Maurão” is Mauro Hueb, the Roadways
Community Leader and a Project Director at Odebrecht
América Latina e Angola (Latin America and Angola).
InceptionAugusto Roque Dias Fernandes was one of the
founders of the first Odebrecht Knowledge Community
- Power Plants and Dams, created in 2001. “When you
have a question, someone comes up with an idea. Then
another member contributes a second idea about the
same problem. When they get together, they come up
with a third idea. That one is usually the best, and the
one that gets used,” he explains.
The concept of Knowledge Communities began to
take shape at Odebrecht in the 1990s to address the
following question: how to manage, focus and qualify
the new knowledge generated in hundreds of con-
struction sites around the world in an organization
where decentralization is part of its cultural and philo-
sophical essence? It started off in 1996 as a modest
Intranet network through which people exchanged
information, but soon took on the form of an “archi-
pelago of excellence linking islands of competence” (a
concept devised by geologist José Carlos Leal Bezerra,
a former member of the Organization).
In 2001, the first community meeting took place at
the Itapebi Hydroelectric Plant project in Bahia. Roque,
now Engineering Director at Odebrecht Energia, became
the leader. Since then, the communities have multiplied
quickly. Today, there are 12 for Odebrecht’s Engineering
& Construction business, totaling over 4,000 members,
and more communities are expected to start up later this
year.
One person who has played a key role in this story
is Olindina Perez Dominguez (see interview in this is-
sue). The officer Responsible for Ciaden (Knowledge
and Information to Support Business Development),
she observes: “In a company where Education through
Work is part of our philosophy, we had to think of a
way to design processes and methods to further en-
hance knowledge transfer. One challenge was figuring
out how to motivate people to structure and share this
knowledge.”
To accomplish this, she turned to Nilton Vargas,
from the Neolabor company, an Odebrecht partner
for two decades. “First, we redirected the focus of
the network (Intranet), which used to be on process-
es and technology. The target became people, which
was more in tune with the Odebrecht Entrepreneurial
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Manuel Ximenes: “I told them my troubles and everyone offered to help”
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Technology (TEO),” she explains. “Then we established
three strategies: bringing together professionals with
the same interests; recording video testimonials, in-
stead of just written texts and data, because we wanted
to see the players in action, face and soul, and, not least,
for everything to be done from the bottom up - that is,
forming communities and electing their leaders should
go beyond the structure and prioritize the desire to par-
ticipate.”
The environment of these communities is a kind of
“social network” (“predating the famous social networks
we have today,” says Vargas). There, members can send
out technical questions to their community. Members like
Pedro Paiva, who had a question about how to develop
the planning for Solid Waste Management on a project in
Venezuela, and received prompt support from the Sustain-
ability Community Forum. In this environment, community
members also share journal articles, progress reports on
projects, video testimonials and other information. Face-
to-face meetings are another important tool for encourag-
ing interaction and fostering the exchange of knowledge
among community members. Also acting as Technical
Missions, the communities visit benchmark jobsites and
institutes. At the end of each meeting, recommendations
on the main topics discussed at the event are published
on the Corporate Portal so all Organization members can
consult them.
Another product of the communities’ work is their
Best Practices compendiums, which deal with critical
issues that require further consideration. They are orga-
nized by knowledgeable people who compare the prac-
tices used in various areas of the company and draw up
best practices with the help of contributions from other
members.
Enthusiasts of knowledgeDanilo Abdanur, the officer Responsible for Produc-
tion on the Line 2 construction project for the Los Teques
Metro in Venezuela, is the Leader of the Rail Transport
Community. He says: “Joining a community is the best way
to get to know the Organization’s philosophy.” An enthu-
siast of knowledge in all its forms, Danilo has innovated
by creating the first theoretical course within a Knowledge
Community - the Tunnel Builders’ Training Program - to
enhance the expertise of company engineers in the field
of NATM (New Austrian Tunneling Method) tunnels and
TBMs (Tunnel Boring (Machines). It brought together 37
people, had various teachers, ranging from consultants
to renowned academics, and included two phases: one in
Venezuela and another in Germany, where Herrenknecht,
a leading TBM manufacturer, is based.
The young Venezuelan engineer José Goncalves, 20,
says: “Participating in the Tunnel Builders’ Training Pro-
gram raised my level of knowledge, which was basically
that of a mechanical engineer. I learned about geology and
the civil engineering side of the work and got to know peo-
ple from all over the world,” he says. Danilo was pleased.
Increased theoretical knowledge fits in perfectly with Edu-
cation through Work.
Augusto Roque stresses that energizing knowledge
is just as important as the energy projects currently in
progress (which will generate 22,000 megawatts in sev-
eral countries in the next few years). “What we’re looking
for is to reach a higher level and climb up steadily from
there,” he says.
The complete list of Odebrecht Engineering & Construction Knowledge Communities and their leaders is available in the online edition of Odebrecht Informa (www.odebrechtonline.com.br).
Augusto Roque: pioneer
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ESCALATING
knowledge
26Worker at a Braskem unit: Knowledge Communities help improve quality, productivity and sustainability
27informa
knowledge
At Braskem, a mosaic of Knowledge Communities provides virtual forums for debate
written by thErEza martins photos by marCos sá
he Braskem Knowledge Communities were developed in line
with the existing model within the Odebrecht Organization. They
provide a place to exchange information, experience and knowl-
edge. Knowledge built by many hands, and incorporated into the
company’s memory and heritage.
By definition, these communities are groups of experts on a particular topic, project,
service or product who interact to form a diversified pool of knowledge, which, in turn,
enables the dissemination of information and experiences. Based on these guidelines,
the communities foster the application of the principle of education through and for
work expressed in the Odebrecht Entrepreneurial Technology (TEO).
In addition to face-to-face meetings, the communities get together in a virtual envi-
ronment that could be compared to special interest or discussion groups on the Internet,
with the possibility of posting files and comments and revisiting the group’s history.
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The goal is to collect the specific knowledge gen-
erated in the company within the same environment,
which is called a digital collaboration platform, to
share that knowledge more easily while preserving
the memory resulting from this process.
”The drive to create a community and be a part of
it is closely linked to the Organization’s culture, be-
cause it involves the spirit of serving the current and
future generations of members, the humility to teach
and learn, and the desire to discover new things and
preserve knowledge built up through work,” says In-
formation and Knowledge Resources (RIC) analyst
Edileni Leão.
The RIC area is responsible for reviewing proposals
and approving new groups, as well as running the com-
munities. Each community has one or more modera-
tors in charge of sending out invitations, encouraging
participation and coordinating collaborations internally.
The most important milestone in the development
of these communities at Braskem dates back to 2009,
when the RIC began discussing the concept. The fol-
lowing year, they developed a pilot project focused on
innovation and technology. By 2011, there were five
communities at different stages of participation and
maturity. By April 2012, another three groups had
been added, and the goal is to have two more by the
end of the year.
The focus topics include the Braskem+ Program,
PP (Polypropylene) Process Engineering, Green Ethyl-
ene Technology, People & Organization, and Sustain-
ability. Altogether, the company’s eight communities
include over 300 people.
Braskem+The Braskem+ Knowledge Community has the
largest number of participants – about 60 – because
of the breadth of the subject, which covers all the
company’s business units and support. Braskem+
is a corporate program designed to provide support
for these units in their drive to improve the quality,
operational productivity and sustainability of their
results.
“Right now, the production teams are working
on building standards for the company’s produc-
tion system, a process that has become more agile
through the exchanges of information, ideas and
experiences made possible by the Braskem+ Com-
munity,” says Vladimir Araújo Ornelas, a specialist
in the Corporate Quality and Productivity (Q&P) area
and one of the community’s moderators.
Vladimir also underscores another benefit of this
tool – the ability to record all the contributions, which
are stored in its archives. “That way, we can identify
the people who made the contributions, when they
were made and their originality,” he stresses. As a
result, if any members want to see how the process
of constructing and establishing standards was car-
ried out, they can do so easily.
The significance of this debate and improvements
in quality, productivity and sustainability for the
company is reflected in the variety of topics on the
agenda: the production and reliability of equipment,
focused improvement, physical organization, and
process systemization. Each topic opens up a range
of more specific subtopics.
Edileni Leão and Backer da Rosa: spirit of cooperation
29informa
“This discussion could be carried out using tradi-
tional methods, such as workshops, file sharing on the
corporate network or videoconferencing, but we real-
ized that it is more productive through the community,”
says engineer Rubem Ede, a Q&P expert who works at
the Camaçari Industrial Complex in Bahia. “We need to
be representative to conclude the debate on the stan-
dardization of the Braskem+ production system, and
we are achieving this through the communities, where
each participant represents their area of activity and
their team, thereby enriching the process,” he adds.
Green Ethylene Technology Innovation is in the DNA of the Green Ethylene
Technology Community, which is completely in line
with Braskem’s Vision for 2020 – being the world
leader in sustainable chemicals. To achieve this, the
company must continue to develop research on alter-
native technologies for renewable raw materials. The
initial and decisive step was the development of the
production technology for green ethylene, and after
that for green polyethylene, both of which are made
from sugarcane ethanol at the Triunfo Petrochemical
Complex in Rio Grande do Sul.
“Our community has 17 participants and is still
in the pilot phase of implementation,” says Roberto
Werneck do Carmo, the officer Responsible for Re-
newable Processes, who does his research at one of
Braskem’s partner labs in Campinas, São Paulo. At
this initial stage, the members being invited to join
the community are technology research and devel-
opment experts working on the Green Ethylene proj-
ect whose knowledge is considered strategic for the
company.
Roberto is one of the community’s moderators,
based on his experience at another company that he
describes as motivating and rewarding. “One of the
challenges of being a moderator is to encourage peo-
ple to participate, showing them the benefits of this
forum for their own work and the company,” he says.
Collaboration platformThe pillars of the digital collaboration platform, the
environment that supports the knowledge communi-
ties and the users’ interactions, are integration, cen-
tralization and stored information, shared workflow
collaboration, knowledge networks, data security and
confidentiality, and access permissions per participant
profile. This information comes from Backer Luis Vie-
ira da Rosa, a systems analyst who helped build the
platform. Based on Microsoft SharePoint technology,
it offers users features to which they are already ac-
customed.
“The access system is similar to the functions avail-
able in Office, with a toolbar. Also, the navigation is sim-
ilar to social networking on the Internet, with panels for
comments and an area for posting files to be shared
in a kind of virtual library,” Backer explains. “Further-
more, participants can customize the alert systems, so
they get an email whenever a new file or comment is
available for consultation. This keeps users updated on
the communities’ recent activities.”
Roberto Werneck do Carmo: encouraging people to participate
30 informa
INTERVIEW
30
written by Karolina GutiEz photo by holanda CavalCanti
A COLLECTIVE OPuS CALLED
knowledgehirty-three years have gone by since
Olindina Perez Dominguez joined
Odebrecht. Her four medals in rec-
ognition of 10, 15, 20 and 25 years of
work at the Organization are framed
and arranged on the cabinet behind her desk
amid stacks of papers, attesting to the acknowl-
edgment she has received for a career that began
on the dam design area team in Salvador, Bahia,
her hometown. With a technical background,
combined with training at the School of Fine Arts,
Dina, as her colleagues call her, has witnessed
many milestones on projects in that segment and
stayed on when her department was consolidat-
ed with the corporate environment to support the
development of bids for the whole of what was
then Construtora Norberto Odebrecht. She went
on to groom the teams conducting studies to bid
for new contracts. “Winning a tender is price-
less. But if you lose, it really gets you down.” In
the process, whenever the construction company
had to prove its technical and commercial ability
to participate in a tender, professionals relied on
previously generated knowledge. “That’s why we
always say that Odebrecht has had a knowledge
network since its inception. It is inherent to the
business.” That’s how Ciaden (Knowledge and
Information to Support Business Development),
which Olindina leads, originated: as part of the
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31informa
knowledgeOlindina Dominguez: “When you submit a project, you improve on your own idea and conceptualize what was done in practice”
informa
bid development area. In this interview with Ode-
brecht Informa at Odebrecht’s São Paulo office,
Olindina discusses the challenges Ciaden faces
to keep pace with the growth of the Organiza-
tion, whose main allies include the knowledge
network.
ODEBRECHT InFORMA – What are Ciaden’s
main focuses today?
Olindina Dominguez – We have three focuses
for our activities, which are both integrated
and dependent: qualification, business security
and the knowledge network. The first has to do
with our support for the bid development teams
so they can participate in tenders. Everything
that is generated at the construction sites and
serves to qualify businesses and members, like
a Construction Certificate, must, in turn, be
fed into our corporate information base so we
can support future bids. To meet this demand,
we’ve created a tool called a checklist, a tally
of the minimum documentation required for the
Organization’s survival in the market, with the
observation that all projects are responsible for
providing the information requested on that list.
This is how we preserve our technical memory
and guarantee our business security. Then we
go on to disseminate the knowledge generated
in all the settings in which we operate, because
our treasure trove of archives is worthless if it’s
not shared. Our challenge is to create the tools
and means to share knowledge and make it
available for use in all our businesses.
OI – And how does a decentralized
Organization like Odebrecht provide that
knowledge to all its members?
Olindina – The Highlight Awards were the first
step, taken in 1992 to encourage members to
exercise increasing productivity and creativity,
reuse the knowledge generated in their work
experiences, and strengthen the culture of
recording and disseminating knowledge. When
you submit a project, you improve on your own
idea. You conceptualize what was done in prac-
tice. In their 20 years of existence, the awards
have built up a collection of 2,900 projects. To-
day there are six categories. In 2011, members
from 15 countries and 10 Organization compa-
nies participated, but the awards are open to
all of them. The Corporate Portal (Intranet) was
the next step. It was created in 1996 to transfer
our team’s memory to an online tool. We use
the site to provide all information necessary
for developing bids, winning tenders, executing
contracts and demobilizing projects. Over time
we realized that, despite the large amount of
content, members weren’t visiting the por-
tal because we had developed solutions that
concentrated more on technology than people.
So the Intranet has changed. We’ve adopted the
taxonomy system used by the Google search en-
gine, but in 2001 we also got to work on another
initiative: the creation of Knowledge Communi-
ties. We've brought together people with com-
mon interests who are willing to share their
knowledge and learnings with each other. The
first community was for dams and hydroelectric
plants. Today there are 12, and all of them have
a large membership.
OI – You mentioned sharing both knowledge
and learnings...
Olindina – Losses occur when you take
the wrong path. The communities don’t
just share success stories. Quite the con-
trary. They realize that the biggest lessons
“Our challenge is
to create the tools
and means to share
knowledge and
make it available
for use in all our
businesses”
32 informa
informa
come from failures. That’s when you learn
the most. And in these settings, whether they
meet face-to-face or via the Internet, there is
a favorable climate for people to speak openly
and plainly and engage in in-house consulting.
Recording these reports on Education through
Work contributes to in-house programs that
are tailored to Education for Work, for example,
the Program for Developing Entrepreneurs
(PDE).
OI – Have members always been willing to
share their expertise and experiences?
Olindina – José Carlos Leal Bezerra, a geologist
who is a former member of the Organization,
once set us the following challenge: “We need to
transform islands of competence into an archi-
pelago of excellence.” People had a tendency to
keep their knowledge to themselves. Once we’ve
overcome that barrier, it’s easy to get them out
of the tacit and make it explicit, because they
are among knowledgeable people. We repeat-
edly invest resources to solve the same issues.
However, the challenges and opportunities are
similar. So the way forward is reusing knowl-
edge. The spirit of service is a pillar of our
Culture that helps us follow that path.
OI – Can you give a successful example of
knowledge reuse that is emblematic for the
Organization?
Olindina – The “Caia na Rede” (Hit the Net)
program. It was initially deployed on the Au-
tonomous Repumping Platform (ARP-1) project
in São Roque do Paraguaçu, Bahia, and won
a Highlight Award in 2005. Today, that digital
inclusion program for workers and communities
in the vicinity of our projects is a reality at many
of the Organization’s jobsites in several coun-
tries. The Acreditar (Believe) Ongoing Profes-
sional Education Program won one edition of
the award, was replicated, and in 2011 it won
again in the Knowledge Reuse category.
OI – After three decades of work in the
Organization, are there any learnings you’d
like to share with us?
Olindina – Being decentralized does not mean
being isolated. Seeking integration and coop-
eration between individuals, businesses and
settings is a constant effort, but it has gratify-
ing results. Transversality, which is already
happening in the Knowledge Communities,
for example, with the involvement of different
businesses, is a cause for celebration. Using
knowledge generated in different contexts is
both productive and wise. We can’t keep going
back to square one. This will enable us to evolve
more and more. We have built more than 320
tunnels and over 280 roads, so we have also
built up extensive knowledge that we need to
share.
“The way forward
is reusing
knowledge.
The spirit of
service is a pillar
of our Culture and
helps us follow
that path”
informa 33
34 informa
SYMBOLIC REPRESENTATION OF A
culture
34
Visitors at the Center in Salvador: opportunities to learn about the people and feats that have made, and are still making Odebrecht what it is today
35informa
SYMBOLIC REPRESENTATION OF A
cultureThe Culture Center in Salvador, Bahia, provides Odebrecht members and partners a historical perspective on the results achieved and inspires them to do even more and better
written by José EnriquE BarrEiro photos by FErnando vivas
he day after reading an ar-
ticle on the Odebrecht Culture
Center in a local newspaper,
Aloísio Procópio Nascimento
headed to the Organization’s
headquarters on Avenida Paralela in Salva-
dor, Bahia, to visit it. “I worked for Odebrecht
my whole life, and I wanted to see the place
that tells my company’s story.” So he intro-
duced himself to Fátima Berbert, the officer
Responsible for the Center, and she took him
on a tour of the exhibition space where visi-
tors can come into contact with the Organi-
zation’s history, from its origins during the
nineteenth-century German immigration to
Brazil, to the present day.
When he reached the display case that con-
tains the work IDs of supervisors who worked
with the Organization’s founder, Norberto
Odebrecht, in the decades between 1940 and
1970, Aloísio Procópio Nascimento didn’t see
his and protested: “Why are Bonifácio’s and
Zé Vital’s IDs here and not mine?” He didn’t
need an answer, and made up his mind on
the spot. “I’ll go home and get it right now.”
And so he did. His ID was shown to Norberto
Odebrecht, which recognized Aloísio as one of
the supervisors who had worked with him and
authorized the Center to put it in the showcase
alongside the documents of Bonifácio Manuel
dos Santos, José Vital da Silva and other su-
pervisors.
Episodes like this are not uncommon in the
history of the Odebrecht Culture Center, which
often receives documents and other items that
contain a piece of the Organization’s 68-year
history. “This Peruvian rug,” says José Rai-
mundo Lima, the officer Responsible for Cor-
porate Communications in Salvador, “portrays
the city of Machu Picchu. It was presented to
Odebrecht by Pedro Huilca, President of the
Peruvian Confederation of Construction Work-
ers, in 1989.” Pointing in another direction,
he explains: “This is the prize that Odebrecht
received from IMD [Institute for Management
Development] in Switzerland in 2010, after be-
ing voted the best family business in the world
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35informa
informa36 informa
that year.” He adds, “Odebrecht was the second Latin
American organization to receive that award.”
José Raimundo also shows his visitors items that
precede the Organization’s history, like a telescope,
which in 1862 belonged to Emil Odebrecht, the grand-
father of the founder, Norberto Odebrecht, that was
donated to the Culture Center in March 2010 by Nor-
berto’s cousin Curt Otto Baumgart, as well as several
documents, including a letter from the late Bahian
nun Sister Dulce, dated January 29, 1983, thanking
Norberto Odebrecht for the construction of new build-
ings for the Santo Antônio Hospital, which she ran
during her lifetime and still provides free healthcare in
Salvador. While showing the Odebrecht Informa team
the exhibition space at the Center, José Raimundo
and Fátima Berbert each pointed out other objects
and documents and told them something about the
history of each one.
Young visitorsA 35-year member of the Organization, José Rai-
mundo has been involved with the Culture Center
since its inception in 1984, when it was called the
Odebrecht Memory Center. He recalls that the initia-
tive came from Renato Martins, Special Advisor to the
President and CEO of Odebrecht S.A.: “He wanted to
bring Odebrecht’s memory and archives together in
one space and give members and visitors an oppor-
tunity to learn more about our history.”
Since then, the Center has undergone several
transformations, expanded and received new func-
tions. One change was its name. In order to express
its essential nature, the word “Memory” has been
replaced with “Culture.” As Márcio Polidoro, the of-
ficer Responsible for Communication at Odebrecht,
explains: “The Center is a symbolic representation of
our culture, which is an entrepreneurial philosophy
based on core principles, values, concepts and be-
liefs. It provides our members and partners a histori-
cal overview of results achieved in the past to inspire
them to get bigger and better results in the future.”
new functionsIn August 1991, the Center took on new functions
through the creation of the CDR (Documentation
and Reference Center), a kind of database for the
Organization that contains over 80,000 documents,
including photos, texts, videos, and in-house and ex-
ternal publications about Odebrecht in newspapers
and magazines (published in Brazil and the other
countries where it operates). All these materials are
available to members via the Organization compa-
nies’ Intranet.
From its creation until February 2012, the CDR was
run by Ulla von Czekus, who is now on the People &
Organization team of Odebrecht S.A. Her successor,
Liana Garrido Fontenelle, observes that there is a huge
demand for CDR materials. She answers 200 requests
per month, on average (239 in March 2012, about 90%
of them via e-mail) and the CDR gets roughly 1,000
hits per month on the Intranet (1,080 in March 2012).
“The biggest demand is for photos and writings about
the Odebrecht Entrepreneurial Technology (TEO),” she
says. “When Odebrecht Informa magazine and the An-
nual Report come out, the demand for photos is much
bigger.”
In recent years, the Culture Center began receiving
an increasing number of young visitors - members of
the Organization and educational and social institu-
tions. This is one of the Center’s main goals: becom-
ing an educational tool for future generations. Out of
the 11,062 people who visited the Center in Salvador
in 2011, 2,492 were either guests invited by the Orga-
nization’s entrepreneur-partners or participants in
internal meetings, including many young people who
were taking part in the PDE (Program for Developing
Entrepreneurs). The other 8,570 visitors came from
schools, universities and social institutions.
37informa
The Culture Center’s new website went online in
April to contribute to its mission of giving members
and partners a historical overview of the results the
Organization’s members have achieved. Visitors can
find a wide range of information there. Among other
content, the site contains a virtual model of the physi-
cal area of the Center (in which visitors can move
about as if they were in the real thing), statements by
leaders, and the complete collection of items on dis-
play in Salvador, with photos and descriptions of each
item. Organization members and anyone else who is
interested can visit this virtual space at www.cultura-
odebrecht.com.br.
Looking for materialsDuring their visit, the Odebrecht Informa team
came across Rafaella Lana Figueiredo, from Ode-
brecht Infraestrutura, in one of the rooms in the Cen-
ter. She joined the Organization three years ago and is
currently working on the Carajás Railroad expansion
project being carried out in Maranhão for Vale. “I came
here to find materials we can use to develop a course
at our project for strategic production people, general
supervisors, young partners and officers responsible
for programs,” said Rafaella, who works in the Accul-
turation program of the project’s People & Organiza-
tion (P&O) area and was making her third visit to the
Culture Center. “I’ve watched videos and researched
information in the CDR that I needed for the course
about the Organization’s history.” She says visiting the
Center is an immersion in the Odebrecht Culture and
an opportunity to learn about special details: “Yes-
terday, when I was watching the video ‘Conversa ao
pé do Núcleo,’ I learned that Mr. Norberto Odebrecht
dreamed of becoming a doctor as a young man. I had
never heard that before.”
Rafaella will take the information she found at the
Culture Center to Açailândia in the northern Brazilian
state of Maranhão, where she works, and may convey
it to the Odebrecht Infraestrutura teams there. But
she knows that many of her colleagues will be dis-
appointed. Whenever she returns to the construction
site after a visit to the Odebrecht Building in Salva-
dor, she always hears the same question: “Did you
see Mr. Norberto Odebrecht?” The second time, when
she attended a lecture by the Organization’s founder,
she was able to satisfy her co-workers’ curiosity. But
Rafaella didn’t get to see him this time around. Mr.
Norberto Odebrecht was out of town.
Exhibition venues worldwideOdebrecht has set up exhibition venues inspired
by the Culture Center outside Brazil, in some of the
countries where its teams are present. In Angola, the
venue created two years ago is in the headquarters of
Odebrecht Angola in the Talatona district of Luanda,
and usually receives visits from Odebrecht members
active in Angola who want to learn more about the
history and achievements of the Organization where
37informa
informa38 informa
they are working. Students, journalists, artists, busi-
nessmen, representatives of government agencies
and members of communities in Luanda and other
Angolan cities also visit to gain a better understand-
ing of the origins and development of Odebrecht’s
work in Brazil, Angola and the world.
“This space helps demonstrate that Odebrecht
has been a constant partner of Angola over the
course of the past 27 years, during the country’s
struggle to develop and improve the quality of life for
its citizens,” said Justino Amaro, Odebrecht’s Insti-
tutional Relations Manager in Angola. Jorge Benge,
the officer Responsible for the Odebrecht Angola
Center, gives each group of visitors special atten-
tion. “Here in this room, you can see Odebrecht’s
philosophical and cultural standards. Visitors are
soon impressed with the scope of the work we do,
the investments made and our work in the field of
corporate social responsibility. “
Adilson Job, who has worked for the company for
four years as a construction technician, says that
when he first visited the space, he gained a new out-
look on and respect for the Organization. “Odebrecht
is like a university, it’s so vast and its operations are
so competent.” Zilpah Figueira, who has worked in
Odebrecht Angola’s People Program for five years,
was impressed with a detail she observed. “I already
knew about most of these important construction
works, but I hadn’t realized the broad scope of Ode-
brecht’s social outreach programs in Angola. Now I
am better informed, and I’m proud of it.”
In Venezuela, an area also modeled on the Ode-
brecht Culture Center opened in the second half of
2011 at the company’s office in Caracas. It tells the
story of the Organization’s 20-year presence in that
country. On a large central table equipped with mul-
timedia and interactive resources, visitors can access
written information and photos of the projects the
company has built and is building in Venezuela, such
as the Orinoco Bridge and Metro lines in Caracas and
Los Teques. The table is surrounded by panels, maps,
objects and documents that help tell the story of the
Odebrecht Venezuela. There are also similar spaces
in Panama and Peru.
Salvador Exhibition Space – A permanent exhi-
bition space portraying the history of the Odebrecht
Organization from its origins to the present day.
CDR - Reference and Documentation Center – An
archive of photos, texts, documents, internal publi-
cations and news about the Odebrecht Organization.
Consulted via the Intranet.
Hertha Odebrecht Library – A collection of books
and publications housed in the Odebrecht Building in
Salvador, open for consultation by members and visitors.
HOW THE ODEBRECHT CuLTuRE CEnTER IS ORGAnIZED
Historic photo of the Castro Alves Theater in Salvador: one of the highlights of the CDR’s archives
informa
Compassionate network Opened 10 years ago, the Child Cancer Treatment Institute (Itaci) in São Paulo undergoes expansion of its service capacity
en years ago, the city of São Paulo re-
ceived a helping hand in the treatment of
young patients with cancer. An extension
of the Institute of the Child (Chr), part
of the University of São Paulo Medical
School’s Teaching Hospital (HCFMUSP), the Child Can-
cer Treatment Institute (Itaci) was officially opened in
September 2002 by Governor Geraldo Alckmin.
“The Itaci was born from a wonderful partnership
conceived by the Child Foundation, which brought to-
gether the community and the private-sector business
world, from which it has received full support,” explains
Aluizio de Araujo, a member of the Board of Odebrecht
S.A. and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Child
Foundation, an organization established in 1994 to sup-
port the ICr.
The hospital is a result of a Public-Private Partner-
ship (PPP) between ICr, the Child Foundation, private-
sector companies and civil society. “The ICr treated all
childhood diseases, but we saw the need for a special
service for children with cancer,” says Aluizio de Araujo.
The construction of the institute began after the
Oncocentro Foundation donated land near the São
Paulo Teaching Hospital to the Child Foundation. The
work was done with materials and services donated by
businesses. Engineer Pedro Boscov, a member of Ode-
brecht, oversaw the project.
“We sought the social support of the community
and resources from private institutions,” says Aluizio
de Araujo. He emphasizes the importance of the PPP:
“This partnership between the government, private en-
terprise and society, was key to building the hospital,
which is now a successful model.”
Currently, the Itaci can treat up to 3,200 in-pa-
tients with cancer and blood disorders. Every month,
it also provides medical consultations for 1,100 out-
patients per month, 550 chemotherapy treatments
and 1,000 consultations with a team of psychologists,
social workers, occupational therapists, physiother-
apists, nutritionists, pharmacists, nurses and nurs-
ing assistants.
The works that will expand the institute’s service ca-
pacity will be completed by June this year, including a
new Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Center,
19 additional beds, seven intensive care unit beds and
six semi-intensive care units.
The Itaci’s facilities: social support for the community and resources from private institutions
Twritten by FaBiana CaBral photo by holanda CavalCanti
COMMUNITY
39informa
40 informa
written by Eliana simonEtti photos by FrEd ChaluB
lookingIN THE RIGHT PLACE
Braskem Thematic Café participants in São Paulo: a mix of lectures, technical debates and informal chats
40
41informa
Braskem’s Knowledge
Base, Expertise
Development Program
and Thematic Cafés
help its teams
in their quest for
information
lookinghaís Beteta is a librarian from São
Paulo. Three years ago, she accept-
ed an invitation to work at Braskem,
and back then, her activities at the
company were not very different
from those to which she had always been ac-
customed: there were libraries in various units
throughout Brazil, each with its own cataloguing
system for publications. To fulfill the research-
ers’ requests, she had to do a full search for each
one of them, which multiplied her work load. But
since 2011, Thaís’s life has changed. She and the
Information Resources and Knowledge team have
taken on the challenge of designing a database
for all the company’s archives, including digital
documents. That is how they created the Braskem
T
42 informa
Knowledge Base (BKB, or BBC in Portuguese),
a specialized search engine available to 7,500
Braskem members.
The BKB started out like other search engines
available on the Internet, except that it is restricted
to publications in the existing archives. Thaís stress-
es: “Our challenge is to optimize the researcher’s
work and Braskem’s results. So soon after the BKB
was up and running, we added improvements, such
as the possibility of carrying out searches on sites
containing information sources and specialized pub-
lications Braskem subscribes to.”
Thaís explains that when someone searches the
word “polymer” on Google, for example, they will
come up with over 2 million hits. “Selecting and
reading all the material available on generic search
engines takes time, doesn’t always get the expected
results and therefore increases research costs,”
she argues. Even if you restrict the search to Google
Scholar, which covers more specialized research
and theses, you will get 26,000 hits in Portuguese
alone. In the BKB collection, the same search got
about 1,500 hits (in Portuguese, English and Span-
ish), because the acquisition of documents is al-
ready pre-filtered.
The Information Resources and Knowledge team
constantly updates the research material, which
has been available online since January. In April,
the database recorded 80 searches daily, and the
demand is growing. Considering that Braskem has
over 300 researchers seeking innovations for prod-
ucts, production processes, sales and marketing,
that amount of interest can be seen as an extremely
positive result.
Members can share the documents retrieved in
their searches with colleagues from Rio Grande
do Sul, São Paulo, Bahia, Rio de Janeiro, Alagoas
and the United States (Pittsburgh). As soon as
they hear of an event, they can publicize it; if they
are participating in the event, they can share the
materials received. The same goes for people who
produce academic studies. They just send in the
paper and pronto, it will be available to their col-
leagues.
Danielle Espósito and Fabio Carneiro: changing the way they see the world
43informa
Developing expertiseFrom the BKB to the EDP – the letters, ac-
tivities and focus may change, but the spirit of
sharing knowledge and experiences is the same.
Journalist Danielle Esposito, 28, used to be on
Braskem’s Corporate Communications team and
took on a fresh challenge at Odebrecht S.A., the
Organization’s holding company, in late April. “I
have a degree in Communications. Now I under-
stand a little more about industrial risk, finance
and toxicology. My way of seeing the world has
changed,” she says, clearly moved. Danielle is
highly motivated by the opportunity to participate,
as one of 31 people chosen to take the Exper-
tise Development Program (EDP) in Sustainable
Development, offered sted by Braskem at the
FIA-USP (the University of São Paulo School of
Economics and Business Administration’s Ad-
ministration Institute Foundation).
“I’ve been questioning my principles and val-
ues, asking what I am and how I can contribute,
realistically, to a viable future,” explains Danielle.
Her coursework completion project, which should
be delivered and evaluated by the end of the year,
will focus on principles of educational communi-
cation about sustainability. And, of course, it will
be posted on the BKB.
Another EDP participant, Fabio Magalhães
Carneiro, has a degree in Business Administra-
tion, including an exchange program in Econom-
ics in Vienna, Austria. He has been promoted from
Performance Leader for Polyethylene to Com-
mercial Leader for Renewable Chemicals. “I’ve
acquired information and expertise that were not
previously required. Now I can talk to our global
clients in the US, Europe and Japan, and pres-
ent the possibilities of using renewable plastic at
events and conferences.” Braskem Sustainable
Development Director Jorge Soto is proud to say
that the course has made a major contribution to
preparing Fabio for this new challenge.
The 2011 EDP covers Strategic Management for
Sustainability. “The demand from our clients, our
clients’ clients and the various actors in society is
increasing. A lot of changes are taking place in the
world and we must continually strengthen our quali-
fications in the sphere of sustainability,” says Jorge
Soto. And he goes on to say: “We must create op-
portunities for new leaders to flourish in this area.”
Soto is not just talking about Braskem mem-
bers. Another EDP participant, Ana Maria Wil-
heim, is the Executive Director of the Akatu Insti-
tute, which disseminates conscious consumption
information and practices. She says: “I’ve entered
the chemical industry and systemized informa-
tion, and without a doubt I’ll leave here with a
heightened awareness. The aim of this course is
to groom leaders,” says the sociologist, who has
been a human rights activist for nearly 35 years.
This year’s EDP participants also include a
representative of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF),
the Bank of Brazil, Oxiteno, Indústrias Tigre and
Construtora Norberto Odebrecht, as well as peo-
ple from various areas of Braskem. The idea of
Screen showing informative materials
available on the BKB: optimizing the
researchers’ work
43informa
44 informainforma
inviting people from outside the Organization to
participate in courses offered by Odebrecht com-
panies is an innovation. “It is completely in synch
with the principles of sustainable development,
which seek to take all stakeholders into account in
the businesses’ strategy,” emphasizes Soto.
“Sometimes the debates get heated, which is good,
and the teachers are excellent, on the same page
pedagogically, and knowledgeable about Braskem.
They know how to work with different viewpoints in a
constructive way,” explains the general coordinator
of the course, Professor Izak Kruglianskas. “We’ve
built up a 460-hour course that is geared directly to
Braskem’s interests and business,” says Annelise
Vendramini, a member of the EDP’s team of coor-
dinators.
Jorge Soto (foreground, wearing jacket) and EDP participants: this initiative includes activities strongly
linked to the principles of sustainable development
44
45informa
The colleague beside youBraskem’s teams are building up knowledge
at an ever-increasing pace. Today, a researcher
at the company has access to information gener-
ated and/or posted in other states and all areas of
the company, but it is also essential to be aware
of what the colleague who is right beside them
is saying and thinking. It is key for people who
share the same work environment to exchange
ideas, because when researchers talk to each
other, even a hallway chat can lead to a success-
ful initiative.
Aline Renz, from the Triunfo RIC, is bring-
ing together people connected to the area to
talk to each other through a mix of lectures,
technical discussions and informal conver-
sations with the goal of enabling knowledge
sharing. That is how the Thematic Cafés were
born in July 2011. These highly informal (and
often productive) events generate Technologi-
cal Memory records that are available in the
database so that other Braskem researchers
can use them.
The first Thematic Café was held in the ca-
talysis area to discuss the book Simetrias de
moléculas e cristais: fundamentos da espec-
troscopia vibracional (Symmetries in molecules
and crystals: fundamentals of vibrational spec-
troscopy), and the participants pitched in to en-
sure that everyone thoroughly understood it. It
is a huge tome that contains a vast amount of
data, so the researchers decided to find a way to
get to topics of specific interest. The discussion
about how to do that led to the creation of the
Thematic Cafés.
On March 23, in Triunfo, 50 members got to-
gether for a Thematic Café on LCB - Long Chain
Branching (long chains of molecules). That event
was replicated on April 17 in São Paulo. The
meetings in Triunfo and São Paulo included pre-
sentations by two researchers in the field of Poly-
mer Science: Ana Moreira and Francisco Paulo
dos Santos.
A big fan of the Thematic Cafés, Suzana Aita
Isaia does not miss a single one. She is an ex-
pert in Polypropylene Process Engineering, pro-
vides support for various Braskem plants, and
has worked at the company for 23 years. “I have
to know everything that’s going on, what is out
there to be explored. The Cafés bring together
people from different areas, so I have access to
different views on topics that interest me,” she
says. Her main challenge? Arriving at new pro-
cesses and technologies that will ensure safe-
ty, increase production and reduce costs while
adding value to new and existing products.
Chemical Engineer Adriane Simanke has a
Master’s degree in Chemistry and a PhD in
Materials Science. She is on the Braskem
Polymer Science research team in Triunfo
and took part in the Café on LCB, a subject
that requires specific knowledge and exper-
tise acquired after a long period of study.
“At the Thematic Cafés, we get together and
discuss the proposed topics through debates
and Q&A sessions in an informal setting,” she
observes.
46 informa
the art OF THINKING DIFFERENTLY
46
informa
Odebrecht Engenharia Industrial’s investments in technological innovation are making the company’s projects benchmarks in Brazil and other countries
Making the final preparations for launching platform P-59 at the
São Roque do Paraguaçu shipyard in Bahia: an innovative idea that
became a milestone in the history of offshore engineering
written by luCiana lana
informa
acques Raigorodsky felt pleased and proud as
he watched platform P-59 glide slowly off the
BLG-2 barge and into the waters of the Para-
guaçu River in June last year. It had taken
over three years of research and development
to find a solution to the challenge of sending a gigantic
structure out to sea after building it at Petrobras’s ship-
yard in São Roque do Paraguaçu, Bahia. It was Jacques
– then the Corporate Engineering Manager at Odebrecht
Engenharia Industrial – who came up with the innovative
idea of using a barge to launch oil rig jackets. It worked,
and has since become a milestone in the history of off-
shore engineering.
But anyone who thought the research for that opera-
tion stopped there would have to think again. It would be
true if all that research had not been documented to serve
as a basis for future discoveries, and if that innovation had
not been duly acknowledged in a way that encouraged
further studies. In addition to these reverberations, the
investment in research had another important outcome:
under the terms of the Brazilian Ministry of Science and
Technology’s Law no. 11.196/2005 – known as the “Good
Law” – it also garnered tax benefits for Odebrecht. Today,
throughout the company, it is self-evident that the impact
of a single innovation goes far beyond its practical appli-
cations. This is the guideline pursued by the Odebrecht
Technological Innovation Program (POIT).
Created in 2008, the program has made significant
progress in recent years. The figures make that clear: in
2009, five Technological Research & Development proj-
ects from three construction ventures were registered
with POIT. By 2010, those numbers had gone up to 40
TR&D projects from nine construction ventures. And by
last year, they had reached 161 from 40 ventures. The in-
novations made in 2009 earned tax incentives on the order
of BRL 490,000 for the Organization. The following year,
that figure rose to BRL 2.6 million. The return on R&D
investments in 2011 was BRL 4.6 million.
However, the POIT’s significance goes far beyond sums
and numbers. It has evolved because it helps consolidate
a culture of innovation. “Innovation is in Odebrecht’s DNA.
The company’s decentralized structure demonstrates
that. Everything is always new because the conditions
that arise on each project are always different. But each
and every innovation must be recorded, shared, and rec-
ognized, and therein lies the most important aspect of
the POIT,” explains Jacques Raigorodsky, who is now the
Manager of the Construction Processes Area (Research,
Development & Innovation – RD&I).
He is involved in a significant amount of the demand for
innovation at Odebrecht, and is sometimes affectionately
called “Professor Pardal” (Gyro Gearloose in English), a
reference to a Walt Disney character, the great inventor
from Duckburg. Jacques explains that the construction
method used has a major impact on the cost and efficien-
cy of each project and, therefore, the R&D program he
leads receives requests not only from the Entrepreneurial
Leader (CEO) of Odebrecht Engenharia Industrial’s team,
but also from those of other CEOs, such as the Entrepre-
neurial Leader of Odebrecht Infraestrutura.
On the computer, Jacques shows photographs of a
long pile fastened by cables at four points, which has been
hoisted by a crane and placed in a vertical position. Then he
shows the prototype made for the studies for that operation.
“We had never lifted a pile that large that way before. So it
was an innovation. They may seem simple, but these inno-
vations represent highly sophisticated engineering studies.
We are working with the state of the art,” he observes.
Before submitting innovations under the terms of the
Good Law, the POIT committee carries out a careful anal-
ysis. “It doesn’t have to be a solution that never existed
before in the world or in Brazil, just something that is new
for the company,” says Tatiana Tourinho, the officer Re-
sponsible for Tax Planning at Construtora Norberto Ode-
brecht. However, she points out that only investments in
technological research and development can be included.
“The moment the innovation is implemented in a produc-
tive activity, the expenditures related to it are no longer tax
deductible,” explains Tatiana.
J
48 informa
informa
Identifying innovations and documenting them as re-
quired by law is a complex task that involves the participa-
tion of entrepreneurial leaders in synergy with the POIT
committee, and advised by the Pieracciani consulting
firm, which has been hired to support the program. “Bit
by bit, everyone is getting more involved with the POIT.
This explains the increase in the number of projects regis-
tered. Thinking about innovations and how to record them
is becoming routine,” says Alfonso Abrami, Managing Di-
rector of Pieracciani.
Transformative ideasAccording to Odebrecht Infraestrutura Engineering
Director Dante Venturini, the POIT’s biggest contribution
is making teams realize the scope of their innovations:
“People often don’t realize the value of their own work
and all the innovative things the company is doing. The
POIT has shown that seemingly trivial ideas can be ex-
tremely transformative and valuable,” he says.
In addition to the solution for launching the P-59
and P-60, Odebrecht members came up with a num-
ber of other innovations in 2011 during studies for
the construction of the Enseada do Paraguaçu Ship-
yard, which will result from a partnership between
Odebrecht Engenharia Industrial, OAS Investimentos
and UTC Participações, who are all partners in the
Estaleiro Enseada do Paraguaçu (EEP) company.
Along with the existing construction site, the ship-
yard will form part of a complex in São Roque do
Paraguaçu.
“The platforms were the stars of the show, but we
also studied the terrain, logistics and other aspects,”
says Jacques. He observes that the Paraguaçu yard is
still producing the biggest demand for research this
year. “We’ve never built a shipyard, never built ships,
never built drill ships before - this is all new to us.
That’s why we are making frequent trips to Japan, Chi-
na and South Korea. We are looking for technologies
around the globe.”
In the field of infrastructure facilities, building the roofs
of soccer stadiums for the 2014 FIFA World Cup has also
required a great deal of research and innovation. “Our ex-
perience of working offshore ended up being utilized in
other areas,” says Jacques, who explains that his depart-
ment was called in to help with the completion of the João
Havelange Olympic Stadium (Engenhão), in Rio de Janei-
ro, where it was necessary to install four arches - metal
structures 170 m long and 2 m in diameter - at a height
of 74 m. Currently, they are providing support for several
ongoing projects in that area: Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro,
Corinthians in São Paulo, Fonte Nova in Salvador, and the
Pernambuco Arena in Recife. “Each of these projects re-
quires different kinds of studies and new technologies,”
says Jacques.
According to Cinthia Blassioli, who works as a POIT
facilitator, providing support for networking between the
sectors that require solutions and the research areas,
the teams’ interaction has been another very positive as-
pect of this program: “Today, the tax benefits are a con-
sequence, because POIT has taken on a different dimen-
sion. Its importance lies in recognizing and encouraging
innovation and creating a body of knowledge that can be
transformed into a slew of new solutions.”
Illustration shows how Maracanã Stadium will look after it is refurbished for the World Cup: building the roof required research and innovation. Below, Jacques Raigorodski: “We are working with the state of the art”
49
informa50 informa
Looking for 100% commitment He is marking 50 years of work at Odebrecht. Congratulations, Zé Bodinho
PROFILE: José Osinair Rodrigues da Silva
written by Flávia tavarEs photo by riCardo dE saGEBin
e is plainspoken and straight-
forward, and his stories are al-
ways accompanied by a friendly
smile. José Osinair Rodrigues da Silva,
better known as “Zé Bodinho,” wel-
comed the Odebrecht Informa team to
his home on a sunny April morning in
Conselheiro Lafaiete, Minas Gerais, the
Brazilian town where his family lives
and where he spends less time than he
would like. Odebrecht Energia’s general
supervisor on the Teles Pires hydro-
electric plant project, underway on the
state border of Mato Grosso and Pará,
he discussed his 50-year career at Ode-
brecht, which began when he was 16.
If he has been one of the people
responsible for grooming fresh talent
at Odebrecht’s jobsites for some time
now, this is because his own education
began right there, in the school of day-
to-day work. The third of 13 children,
born in Conceição de Piancó, Paraíba,
he spent his childhood watching his
father, Manoel Alexandre da Silva,
work as a grader operator for the Na-
tional Department of Works to Com-
bat Drought (DNOCS). “We lived in a
railroad car. My father would drive that
grader and haul it all over the North-
east,” he recalls.
As a boy, he began selling the
treats that his mother, Nina, care-
fully prepared. When Manoel got a
job at the Star paving company, then
an Odebrecht subsidiary (in the early
1960s), to work on the construction of
the road that would connect the towns
of Itajuípe and Coaraci in southern
Bahia, Zé was 16 years old. He fin-
ished high school at that jobsite and
started working there, first as an of-
fice boy, then as a mechanic. “But my
dad advised me to work in the field,
in earthmoving like him, an area that
had a better future. He was right.” It
was then that he got the nickname
Zé Bodinho. Thin as a rail, when he
tried to flirt with a young woman who
worked in the jobsite canteen, he
heard his workmates say he looked
like “a little billy-goat [Bodinho]” mak-
ing moves on the girl.
When he was doing his father’s job,
Zé Bodinho became one of the most
sought-after teachers at the company.
He was promoted to general super-
visor, built his own home, raised five
children - all of whom are college
graduates – and now enjoys spoiling
his three grandchildren. “Odebrecht
gives us a lot of opportunities, and
that’s why I’ve never thought of work-
ing anywhere else. Now I’m happy
to share what I’ve learned,” he says,
while showing pictures of himself re-
ceiving honors from the Organization’s
founder, Norberto Odebrecht, and
Marcelo Odebrecht, President and
CEO of Odebrecht S.A.
Throughout his career, he has lit-
erally laid the groundwork for projects
like Rio International Airport (Galeão),
Avenida Paralela in Salvador, Bahia,
the Pombal-Leiria Highway in Portu-
“Now I’m happy to share what I’ve learned”
H
INFORMA 51INFORMA
gal, the Kikuchi River Aqueduct in An-
gola, and the Irapé hydroelectric plant
in Minas Gerais. “I like the challenge
of construction work. Dams are usu-
ally built in hard-to-reach areas with
complicated topography.”
He does not remember how many
people he has helped educate. “At the
Simplício hydroelectric plant alone
[in Rio de Janeiro State] there were
22,” he recalls. Whether through the
Young Partner Program or by guid-
ing the less-experienced people as-
signed to his direct team, Zé Bodinho
only approves of one type of profes-
sional: “People who are responsible
and committed. There’s an old saying
that you can’t teach if you’re not 100%
committed.”
It is easy to fi nd someone who can
attest to that. Francisco “Chico” Men-
doza is a former pupil of Zé Bodinho
who is now his counterpart on the
Teles Pires Dam project - Zé takes
care of the left bank, Chico, the right.
“His method is more about practice
than theory. He is humane, patient and
thorough. But if you’re not 100% com-
mitted, you don’t stand a chance with
him,” says his friend and former stu-
dent, who has worked with Zé Bodinho
since the late 70s.
Retired since 2000, Zé is starting to
think about slowing down. He wants to
spend more time with his family. When
his wife, Edinalva, talks about how much
she misses her husband, her eyes fill
with tears. But don’t think he wants to
leave Odebrecht. He is talk-
ing about buying
some machines and renting them out to
the company somewhere down the line,
like one of his brothers, Eliomar, now
deceased, used to do. Another brother,
Raimundo, is a general supervisor at
Odebrecht. One of Zé Bodinho’s children,
Manoel Alexandre Neto, is also a mem-
ber of Odebrecht Energia and now works
on the construction of the Santo Antônio
hydroelectric plant in Rondônia. And his
youngest son, Vitor, wants to become an
engineer. His dream is to wear the com-
pany name tag that is part of the life
stories of his father, uncle
and brother.
Zé Bodinho: “I’ve never thought of working anywhere else”
informa
servingne Tuesday in April, hairdresser Filom-
ena Rafael Gomes, 32, arrives at a multi-
colored building in the Talatona district of
Luanda, waits a few minutes to be served,
and leaves with her new ID card (called
a Bilhete de Identidade or BI in Angola). Filomena re-
members that a few years ago, getting that document
was a complicated venture, but the Integrated Citizen
Service Center (SIAC) has made the process much
more practical. “This time, I took a number, was seen
quickly and got my BI just 30 minutes later,” said a re-
lieved Filomena, before going back to work in Kilamba
Kiaxi in the Luanda metropolitan area.
The Talatona unit is the largest and most modern
SIAC outlet in Angola, and soon there will be 12. The
SIAC is an independent agency of the Ministry of Public
Administration, Employment and Social Security. Citi-
zens can not only use it to get their BIs, but also birth
certificates, marriage certificates, driver’s licenses,
auto and property registration, pensions, jobs and nota-
ry’s services. A bank office in the same building receives
payment for services. You can also pay taxes and bills,
take out insurance policies and get in touch with the
water, power and telephone companies, and buy airline
tickets and books.
This efficiency has everything to do with the current
cycle of development in Angola and the Government’s
decision to reduce red tape in all its sectors. Odebrecht
is playing an important role in this process: not only did
it build the Talatona SIAC, which opened in 2007, but
it was also responsible for Assisted Operations and
Transfer of Technology based on training civil servants.
The Director-General of the SIACs, Rosa Micolo, has
a law degree and runs the eight centers from her office
in the Talatona unit. She praises the efficient transfer of
knowledge: “Odebrecht’s international experience was
OCITIZENS
52
written by Luiz carLos ramos photos by GuiLherme afonso
Filomena Gomes: getting her ID card in 30 minutes
informa
The SIACS project helps improve public services and technology transfer in Angola
informa
critical to achieving the current standard of service,” says
Rosa. “The SIACs’ headquarters building, which we call
the ‘Mother SIAC,’ has a pleasant design that makes ev-
eryone happier at work. And the main thing is that the
public is also happy, because getting a BI, which is now
issued the same day, used to take up to two months.”
Besides being the first of the eight existing units to be
built, the Talatona SIAC has served as a model for de-
ploying a unique and revolutionary concept of providing
services to citizens in that country. The success of that
groundbreaking SIAC led the Ministry of Public Admin-
istration, Employment and Social Security to open seven
more units, which are subordinated to the central office
in Talatona under Rosa Micolo’s administration. Two are
located in Luanda Province (Cazenga and Zango) and
the others are in the provinces of Malange, Uíge, Bengo,
Benguela and Huambo. More units are scheduled to
open this year in Cabinda, Cunene and Lunda Sul, and
construction of Luanda’s fourth unit, the Kilamba Kiaxi
SIAC, will also begin in the next few months. The teams
trained by Odebrecht in Talatona have expanded its ser-
vices to other areas.
Odebrecht Angola Director Fábio Januário explains:
“When developing the SIAC, we were not only focused
on building the facilities but mainly on the content of the
program through the transfer of technology based on
the Brazilian experience. This is a successful challenge
of sustainability in a country with which we have a his-
torical relationship and an ongoing commitment to ex-
panding opportunities and expressing national content
in our ventures.”
Grooming workersThese SIAC units, which offer a range of services and
provide them quickly and efficiently, were initially inspired
by two Brazilian initiatives: Poupatempo (Timesaver) in
São Paulo, and the SACs (Citizen Service Centers) in Ba-
hia. Adriana Bezerra arrived in Luanda five years ago to
deploy the SIAC. “Odebrecht started grooming about 250
Angolans and carrying out assisted operations at the Ta-
latona SIAC in 2007,” says Adriana, who holds a business
degree. “A year later, the agency gained its independence
and its members became civil servants.”
Antonieta Kileba, a lawyer who lives in Zango, in the
Luanda metropolitan region, visited the Talatona SIAC
along with her husband, Dorival Kileba, a public of-
ficial who needed to renew his BI. They left satisfied.
Rosa Micolo and Dorival and Antonieta Kileba: a different standard of service
54 informa
informa
“We didn’t wait long,” says Dorival. The couple will be
returning to the SIAC in a few months’ time with a joy-
ful mission: Antonieta is pregnant and will register the
birth of the couple’s first child at the Talatona unit. Have
they thought of a name? “I know it will be a boy... It’ll be
Dorival Júnior,” she says.
From paperwork to portalIf the deployment of SIAC units is a case study for the
application and sharing of knowledge for the public’s
benefit, creating a web portal for Odebrecht Administra-
tive and Financial Managers (GAFs) is a good example
of this practice within the company.
Marcus Vinicius Vianna, the Administrative and
Financial Manager for the PRP (Population Resettle-
ment Program), had been with the Organization for
fourteen years when he swapped Peru for Angola in
2009. In Luanda, he quickly adapted to his new envi-
ronment, but he noticed one detail: “Suddenly, I was
dealing with loads of paperwork. There were internal
documents and numerous laws and regulations gov-
erning the labor sector, administrative guidelines and
other issues,” he recalls. “During a meeting of GAFs
in March 2010, in a conversation with Fernando Car-
neiro, the GAF for the Water and Sanitation Project,
and Fernando Koch, the GAF for the Gove Dam con-
struction project, I proposed creating a virtual space
that we could supply with information and consult on a
regular basis. Both of them approved the idea, and we
developed the project in conjunction with Odebrecht
Angola’s administrative and financial team.”
Angola Odebrecht’s institutional relations area,
which runs the company’s web portals in that country,
helped them create the GAF Portal, a site for the exclu-
sive use of members working in the administrative and
financial area. “It was a huge success,” says Marcus
Vinicius while chatting with the system’s users. Point-
ing to a stack of paper in his office at the Zango jobsite,
he says: “This is a thing of the past. Thanks to technol-
ogy and people endowed with the spirit of service, we
have consolidated an entire history of laws, guidelines
and standards in a single online tool.”
Overall, the GAF Portal is a reliable resource that
is updated with trustworthy information. For example,
on the portal members can find constantly refreshed
data on union agreements and labor laws in Angola
and Brazil. It also provides explanations about how to
get visas for Brazilians in Angola, as well as informa-
tion on relatives. If an expat member or their spouse
needs to take their child with them on a trip outside
the country, the site explains the red tape and lists the
documents required.
However, technology does not prevent the man-
agers from using more traditional forms of contact
to analyze problems and reach solutions – face-to-
face meetings. “We get together every three or four
months,” says Marcus Vinicius.
Marcus Vinicius: colleagues in the Administrative and Financial area share information and experiences
55informa
56 informa
schoolTHE COuNTRYSIDE IS A
56
From left, Marcelo Faria, Lídia Toledo and Américo Ferraz:contributing to the free and productive flow of information at ETH
57informa
written by Cláudio lovato Filho photos by Edu SimõES
schoolTHE COuNTRYSIDE IS A
mérico Ferraz needs to have an-
swers: assessing situations and sug-
gesting solutions is a routine part of
his job. To do so, he can rely on input
from members of his direct team,
such as Maria Thomazini and Douglas Rocha. They
are always traveling from one of ETH’s nine agro-
industrial units to another in four Brazilian states,
taking their highly qualified support and expertise
to people like Marcelo Faria. Marcelo is based at
one of those units, in a town where he has always
wanted to live since his childhood, and, in his turn,
he is keenly aware of the perceptions of partners
like Lídia Toledo, who heads one of the company’s
work fronts. This path of communication, which
goes from Américo to Lídia through Maria, Doug-
las and Marcelo, then back to Lídia and Américo,
is a two-way street, and explains how knowledge
is born and shared at ETH Bioenergy.
ETH’s officer Responsible for Agricultural Tech-
nology, Américo Ferraz graduated in Agricultural
Engineering from the University of Campinas (Uni-
camp) in 1997. He also holds a Master’s degree
in Agricultural Machinery from the same university
and a PhD in Sugarcane Farming Machinery. He
joined ETH in 2008 and now leads the formulation
and management of Agricultural Best Practices at
all of the company’s production hubs.
A
Diversity of expertise and the intense exchange of knowledge are ETH’s strengths on its steady path of growth
58 informa
Best Practices are methods that contribute to cost
reduction, improved process quality, on-time delivery,
and especially the quick and efficient dissemination of
knowledge. “Our company is made up of nine agro-
industrial units that operate like Small Businesses.
They each have their own life, but we need to be on
the same page to get better results.” Américo adds:
“We are interested in anything that can improve our
performance, ranging from the correct management
of sugarcane varieties to identifying the most suitable
parts for our machines, up to and including the most
effective herbicides.”
Based at ETH’s headquarters in São Paulo, Américo
and his team maintain a constant presence at the units.
Maria Thomazini, the officer Responsible for Agricultural
Technology - Geocoding, visits them all the time. She lives
in São José dos Campos, São Paulo, but only goes home
on weekends. She gave this interview to Odebrecht In-
forma in São Paulo - with a suitcase and backpack close
at hand. Right after her conversation with the reporting
team, she headed for Congonhas Airport to catch a 10 pm
flight to Goiás. She had two days of work ahead of her at
the Morro Vermelho Unit.
Maria graduated in Cartographic Engineering from
Júlio de Mesquita Filho São Paulo State University (UN-
ESP) in 1996, holds an MBA from the Getulio Vargas Foun-
dation (FGV), and has taken a specialization course in Sug-
arcane-Related Topics. “Knowledge is increasingly being
shared in the company, and this is the result of increasing
integration between the teams, programs and units.” She
has worked in the bioenergy sector for five years. At the
moment, she is intensely involved in the development of
a GIS (Geographic Information System), a precision farm-
ing tool for remote consultations aimed at making harvest
estimates more accurate. “That’s where the company’s
budget comes from!” says Maria.
During her visits to units, Maria likes to go to the
work fronts in the fields and talk to the people directly
involved in planting and harvesting sugarcane. “I al-
ways show people the biomass map done with sat-
ellite imagery. Those members feel appreciated and
really come to understand the process in which they
are participating.” Maria may be taking information to
the people working in the cane fields, but there is a
trade-off. “That’s where we also go to obtain knowl-
edge. Nobody knows the land better than the people
at the work fronts.”
Lídia Cabrera Toledo, 26, is proof of that. She was born
in Sidrolândia, Mato Grosso do Sul, and has worked for
three and a half years at ETH’s Santa Luzia Unit, which
produces ethanol and electricity in Nova Alvorada do
Sul, 100 km from Campo Grande, the state capital. The
Santa Luzia and Eldorado units comprise ETH’s Mato
Grosso do Sul Hub, one of the company’s five production
hubs. Lídia went through training programs without any
previous experience in the cane fields, and soon began
working in mechanized planting, operating farm equip-
ment for the very first time. After a year, she became a
tractor driver, and after that, she operated a harvester
and reached the position of work front leader, where
she is today.
The leader of a team of 30 people, men and women
aged between 19 and 43, Lídia says: “You’ve got to do
your job well to get ahead.” Based on the knowledge
she has built up about planting sugarcane, she can cal-
culate the yield per hectare. During the crop-year that
Maria Thomazini: valuing people
59informa
began on April 23 and will end in mid-November, Front
36, which Lídia leads, will work on Farm 3 M, cover-
ing a 10,000-hectare area. Their equipment includes
five harvesters, nine tractors, a water truck, a convoy
truck (for supplies) and a mobile repair shop. Lídia and
her team will be responsible for an estimated harvest of
800,000 metric tons of sugarcane.
Diversified knowledge“From the machine operators at the work fronts
to the managing director of the hub, including the ag-
ricultural managers, coordinators, supervisors and
work front leaders, there is a constant flow of infor-
mation and exchange of experiences,” says Marcelo
Lopes Faria, 30, the Agricultural Manager at the Santa
Luzia Unit. “That’s how it should be. We’ve got to make
the most of the diversified knowledge of people at
ETH,” he adds.
Born in Guaimbê, in the interior of São Paulo State,
Marcelo enrolled in Agricultural School at the age of
14 and got his first job opportunity at a sugar mill when
he was 18, working as a quality analyst. Soon, he was
put in charge of agricultural operations, managing the
activities of 90 people. He took on new challenges, and
became a supervisor. He was promoted to plant man-
ager at the age of 24, at the same company. Later on,
he became the mill’s agricultural and technology plan-
ning manager. At the same time, he went to business
school. Then, in August 2011, he joined ETH. “I discov-
ered that the PA (Action Program) was something I’d
always dreamed about! Plan and deliver!”
Marcelo is currently experiencing a time of high ex-
pectations. As of 2012, the Santa Luzia Unit will start
operating at maximum production capacity - 6 million
metric tons of sugarcane. “The dynamics of the unit will
change. We have over 200 machines in the agricultural
area, 1,700 members, and a sphere of operations as big
as 200 km. Some work fronts are up to 100 km apart.
More and more, the performance of our operators in the
field will be decisive. We need to groom people to meet
the new business challenges ahead.”
Douglas Rocha, 51, the officer Responsible for CLT
(Cutting, Loading and Transporting sugarcane), joined
ETH in February 2011. He, too, likes to spend as much
time as possible in the cane fields. One of the first instruc-
tors at the SENAR (National Rural Education Service) in
the early 1980s, he is a specialist in equipment used to
cultivate sugarcane and has a passion for empowering
people through education. He visits all of ETH’s units,
teaching classes and developing professional education
programs on mechanization. Douglas talks to everyone
– from the managing directors at the hubs to the mem-
bers who work in mechanized planting. “In our jobs, we
are liaison officers, we are links,” he says, referring to the
work of his team.
Douglas has vivid memories of his childhood, when
he dreamed of working the land, tinkering with ma-
chines and coming into contact with farmers and
planters. “I like being around people, following up on
the work fronts, showing how you do things and doing
them together. When you teach, you learn. The coun-
tryside is a school.”
Douglas Rocha: “In our work, we are links”
60 informa
preserving
60
Workers and machines in Panama City’s Historic Center: the private and public sectors are working together to ensure construction professionals’ physical safety and well-being
61informa 61informa
preservingOuR MOST PRECIOuS ASSETS
n recent years, the construction industry has
given a significant boost to Panama’s economic
growth. In 2011 alone, that sector registered
18.5% growth over the previous year and it rep-
resents 6% of GDP, according to data from the
Comptroller General of the Republic. But the “boom”
in that market has brought a challenge: ensuring the
physical safety of construction workers. Contractors,
unions, educational institutions and government agen-
cies have started looking for mechanisms to help pre-
vent occupational accidents and illnesses.
“Training programs and awareness campaigns are
being developed in many areas of the company,” says
José Vilar Junior, the officer Responsible for Health,
Safety and Environment (HSE) at Odebrecht Panama.
“We have also set up an educational center in this
country that is strongly focused on safety and health,”
he adds.
Since the Organization began working in that coun-
try in 2006, Odebrecht has undertaken a commitment
to contribute, by whatever means possible, to creating
a culture of prevention regarding occupational acci-
dents and health. The key to this contribution is con-
veying knowledge and experience internally, via Edu-
cation through and for Work, and externally, through
the transfer of technology to partners, suppliers, con-
tractors, unions and government agencies.
I
Panama’s booming construction industry requires special efforts in the area of health and safety
written by eriksa Gómez photos by hoLanda cavaLcanti
62 informa
Educational partnershipWith over 25 years’ experience in occupation-
al safety in Panama, Maribel Coco, the Director
of the Health School at the Specialized Univer-
sity of the Americas (Udelas), has witnessed the
developments in the educational field. Founded
14 years ago, the Health School has become a
leader in occupational health and safety educa-
tion, and offers bachelor’s and master’s degrees
in that field, as well as courses in different areas
of specialization.
Their philosophical affinity and converging
goals led Udelas and Odebrecht to work together
in grooming young professionals to work in the
field of occupational health and safety. “Every year
we organize three events with the support of Ode-
brecht, with an emphasis on training. The compa-
ny facilitates the inclusion of professionals in the
job market, which is very important and helpful for
our students,” says Maribel Coco.
Lectures for students, cooperation on research
projects and visits to Odebrecht construction sites
are measures that form part of the day-to-day
relations between the company and Udelas. Fur-
thermore, a factor Maribel Coco considers crucial
is giving students an opportunity to apply their
knowledge at the company’s projects through in-
ternships.
Spreading a philosophyHowever, Odebrecht HSE Members have de-
cided to expand the scope of their work even fur-
ther. In early 2010, while they were planning the
In-House Workplace Accident Prevention Week
(SIPAT), they came up with the idea of organizing
an event that dealt with the issue outside the Or-
ganization.
That idea resulted in a conference that brought
together local and international experts from Ode-
brecht and other companies and organizations.
This year’s edition devoted three days to training
members, and two to lectures. The participants
included students and members of the health and
safety teams of sub-contractors, public institu-
tions and clients.
The SIPAT grew in 2011, going from two to
five days of lectures, where guests signed up for
each day of activities. The number of participants
has risen to 500. Arquímedes Sosa, the officer Re-
sponsible for Environment on the Panama-Colon
Highway project and an Odebrecht member since
2007, took part in these events as an organizer and
speaker. “We are sharing a vision that consolidates
Maribel Coco, Arquímedes Sosa and (opposite page) Raimunda Valencia: leading players in the effort to improve the health and safety conditions of Panamanian workers
63informa
health and safety in the work environment. I am
very happy to have an opportunity to pass on my
experience,” he says.
Other companies share the objective of pro-
moting a culture of prevention for occupational
accidents and health, especially the members of
the Panamanian Chamber of Construction (CA-
PAC), which has developed professional educa-
tion programs.
“CAPAC is committed to supporting its affili-
ated companies. It carries out inspection visits
to construction sites, organizes lectures and
training programs for workers, and provides
ongoing consulting services,” explains civil en-
gineer Julio Aizprúa, a Director of CAPAC. “Be-
cause construction is an activity that involves
risks, contractors must play a vigilant role in the
implementation of a management system that
ensures the best indicators when it comes to
prevention,” he says.
Panama’s economic forecasts point to con-
tinuing growth in the construction industry in
the next few years, driven by public and private
investments. The country still faces challenges
ahead. It has made major advances in the pre-
vention of workplace accidents, but there is still
a way to go.
This process is being carried out step by
step, with awareness and support, and the re-
sults are becoming increasingly consistent.
“Doctor, it’s time for my hearing test.” This re-
minder makes Raimunda Valencia Jiménez’s day.
She is the physician Responsible for the Health
Program for the Panama-Colon Highway project
(the second phase of a route that connects the
country’s two biggest port cities).
“We need our members to change their cul-
ture and learn to protect their lives and health
with the support of administrative and engineering
methods. They used to ask us why so many tests,
but now they let us know when it’s time to repeat
them.”
Raimunda Valencia and the project’s HSE team
were responsible for the recent achievement of OH-
SAS 18.001:2007 certification in occupational health
and safety, Odebrecht Panama’s second certifica-
tion in that area. The first was granted in 2010, for
the Dos Mares Hydroelectric Plant project.
However, in the opinion of Dr. Valencia, who
joined Odebrecht two years ago, the most impor-
tant thing is that the results of certification will
not end when the project is delivered. “People
now understand that they have a big responsibility
for individual safety, both theirs and other peo-
ple’s, and they are also responsible for everyone’s
safety in general,” she observes.
64 informa
64
Yuri Tomina is playing an active role in
a special time in Braskem’s history:
the company’s international expansion
65informa
written by mayara thomazini photo by GeraLdine di Lucca
uri Tomina is 29. A member of
Braskem America, two years ago he
delved deeply into what he considers
to be one of the biggest opportunities
in his life. “My wife and I moved to the
United States in search of intense learning, fresh
challenges and accomplishments.”
Yuri joined Braskem in 2004 as an intern in the
Corporate Marketing Program, and in early 2010, he
got an invitation to work in the United States from
Ricardo Lyra, who was taking on the challenge of
leading the People & Organization and Communica-
tion program at Braskem America. With his leaders’
encouragement, he took on the challenge of helping
build Braskem’s brand and image in that new envi-
ronment and disseminating the Odebrecht Entrepre-
neurial Technology (TEO) among the company’s new
members. Today, as a member of Kelly Elizardo’s
team, he is Responsible for Corporate Communi-
cation at Braskem America, based in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania.
In February 2010, Braskem announced the acqui-
sition of the polypropylene assets of Sunoco Chemi-
cals in the USA, and in April of that year, it took con-
trol of three manufacturing plants and a technology
and innovation center in the states of Pennsylvania,
Texas and West Virginia. That move marked the be-
ginning of Braskem’s first industrial operations out-
side Brazil.
“When we first arrived in the USA,” recalls Yuri,
“we already had three fully operational plants and
a list of clients that had to continue receiving their
products as usual, despite the company’s change of
management. It was a major challenge.”
He had a lot of questions. The language, market
and local culture were all new to him. “We soon real-
ized that disseminating the principles of TEO would
be key to the successful integration of teams and
processes,” says Yuri. “Bit by bit, we managed to
create an environment that was well suited to the
Organization’s entrepreneurial culture, more open
to creativity, entrepreneurship and focused on our
clients’ needs and dreams,” he adds.
Right at the inception of Braskem America, some
concepts of TEO grabbed the attention of its American
members and especially won them over, “particularly
the model for entrepreneurship, including decentral-
ization and planned delegation, which foster a good
environment for developing creativity,” says Yuri.
The possibility of living different experiences and
absorbing the best of everything each culture has to
offer has been fundamental to Yuri’s growth as an
entrepreneur. He makes a point of stressing that
TEO has been an essential part of that process. “Our
entrepreneurial culture is widely accepted around
the world because its principles are linked to the
creation of wealth through hard work and discipline.”
During the second stage of acquisitions outside
Brazil announced in October 2011, Braskem acquired
four Dow Chemical plants, two in the US and two in
Germany. “The groups that are now being integrated
into the company were welcomed by the team from
the previous acquisition, who already feel they are
spokespersons for TEO,” recalls Yuri, clearly pleased.
Through this second acquisition, Braskem is now
the leading polypropylene producer in the USA and
has bolstered its European operations with the ad-
dition of two units in Germany. “Our members in the
US welcomed Braskem’s new growth plan. They were
all willing to help build Braskem Europe.”
Today, two years after moving to the USA, Yuri is
celebrating his professional and personal growth: “All
these events we are experiencing here have added to
my knowledge and maturity. And we have also had a
joyful event in my family: the birth of my first daughter,
Sophie, who is now three months old.”
YphilosophyON THE WINGS OF A
65informa
66 informa
TO ENHANCE LEARNINGS
66
OOG is systemizing information as a tool for overcoming fresh challenges
timewritten By Edilson lima photo by GEraldo PEstalozzi
67informa
TO ENHANCE LEARNINGStime
Crisis Management Center: technology at the service of safety
informa68 informa
debrecht Oil & Gas (OOG) is focusing its
efforts on improving the quality of its ser-
vices from day to day, optimizing its pro-
cesses, and thereby ensuring the safety
its members, its physical assets, and the
communities it serves. One tool in particular has played
a critical role in this drive: using knowledge derived
from lessons its teams have learned.
A young company, established in 2006, OOG inher-
ited a pioneering history in the offshore industry that
started with OPL (Odebrecht Perfurações Ltda.), es-
tablished in 1979. OPL began its activities with the ac-
quisition of the Norbe I platform. In the 1980s, it car-
ried on investing and acquired more offshore oil rigs:
Norbe II, III, IV and V and Asterie. It was the first pri-
vate-sector Brazilian company to drill at water depths
of over 1,000 meters.
In 2000, OPL left the drilling segment, later return-
ing to the sector with a new brand, OOG. Since 2006, the
new company has built five drilling rigs, and two more
are in final stages of construction. By the end of 2012,
all seven rigs will be operating in Brazilian waters.
“Despite this track record, we felt the need to
systemize knowledge and learn more about building
and operating platforms to be used in ultra-deep wa-
ters. That was when that we got the idea of creating a
system to use, record and share knowledge to make
it a proprietary technology of OOG itself that was
accessible to everyone,” says Herculano Barbosa,
Managing Director of the Engineering & Technology
Business Unit.
OThis system’s starting point will be the company’s
drilling experience. Later on, it will be extended to oth-
er areas, such as subsea engineering and production
platforms. “It’s a pilot project. We’ll structure this area
first and then go on to the others,” says Herculano.
Based on the Odebrecht Organization’s previous
experience and practices, such as Knowledge Com-
munities, the OOG teams are creating their own sys-
tem for applying and sharing knowledge. Other com-
panies’ experiences are also being consulted. For
example, OOG members recently visited the Embraer
(Empresa Brasileira de Aeronáutica) factory in São
José dos Campos, São Paulo, where they got a first-
hand look at the aircraft manufacturing company’s
knowledge management system.
Interacting and sharingThe step-by-step process of creating the system will go
like this: first, workshops will be held where participants
in each of the company’s projects will be invited to report
on their experiences, including successes and failures.
Their experience will be recorded and documented, and
made available for consultation by stakeholders. The sec-
ond step is forming Knowledge Communities made up of
people experienced in specific areas of drilling rig design,
such as electric systems, facilities and oil well equipment,
among others. These communities will be linked through
the OOG Portal (using SharePoint technology), through
which members can interact and share their experiences.
If necessary, they will be invited to take part in face-to-
face meetings as well.
OOG’s Macaé Base on the coast of Rio de Janeiro State: the company wants the knowledge its teams have built up zto become a research source for all its members
69informa
The communities will have the supervision and
encouragement of the members’ leaders through
committees - step three. “The goal of the Knowledge
Communities is to enable interaction between mem-
bers. We will observe and encourage them. We must
promote a culture of knowledge sharing,” argues
Elizeu Leonardo da Silva, the officer Responsible for
People & Organization at the Engineering & Technol-
ogy Business Unit.
According to Herculano, the big challenge is cre-
ating interaction between the generations, as today’s
technology is very advanced compared to some de-
cades ago: “Today’s young partners were born into
a world where almost everything is automated, un-
like 20 or 30 years ago. We will make an effort to
ensure that this exchange of knowledge occurs,” he
observes. As a former member of OPL, he has one
more reason to celebrate this new era: “I’m part of
OOG’s prehistory.”
Among the company’s various experiences in drill
rig construction, the case of the Norbe VI stands out.
Near the main tower of that rig (the towers are used to
raise and lower drilling equipment), another smaller
one was built parallel to it. While the main tower is
drilling the well, the parallel tower helps raise and
lower equipment. “That reduces drilling time and, of
course, saves money,” explains Herculano, who was
one of the mentors of that initiative. “Although this
was already being done on the international market,
we added the parallel tower our way, so as to op-
timize costs for Petrobras. This experience, for ex-
ample, cannot and should not be isolated. It must be
recorded and shared with other members of OOG,”
he emphasizes.
Ready for action While part of the OOG team strives to systemize
the company’s trove of knowledge, the company has
implemented another important measure: the creation
of the Crisis Management and Emergency Response
Center (SGCE).
Characterized by efficient use of communications
resources, the center located in an office on the sec-
ond floor of the building on 370, Praia do Botafogo, Rio
de Janeiro, allows simultaneous communication with
up to four sites at once (onshore facilities and offshore
units) through conference calls and video conferenc-
es. It also has two auxiliary boards used to note down
and record information about the crisis or emergency
at hand, the timeline of the event, blueprints for the
rigs, and clocks showing the time in Brazil, Venezuela,
South Korea and the United Arab Emirates, the coun-
tries where the company has ongoing operations. In an
emergency, the center will be used by members of the
Crisis Management and Emergency Response Com-
mittee (CGCE), chaired by Roberto Ramos, the Entre-
preneurial Leader (CEO) of OOG.
“At the center we also have a contact list of the au-
thorities, clients, business partners and our teams in
all the locations where we operate. In an emergency,
we can’t think twice. We must know how to act effec-
tively, be trained to respond and provide technical and
management support, while always trying to control
and resolve the crisis or emergency,” says Marco Au-
rélio Fonseca, the OOG officer Responsible for Sustain-
ability and one of the creators of the SGCE.
Like Herculano, Marco Aurélio also worked at OPL,
in his case, in the 1990s. In 2000, he returned to his
hometown of Belo Horizonte. Then, in January 2011, he
came back to helm the creation of OOG’s Sustainabil-
ity Program, which includes Health, Workplace Safety
and Environment and Corporate Social Responsibility.
His team is responsible for setting Sustainability poli-
cies and directives in alignment with the Odebrecht Or-
ganization’s policy, and guiding OOG’s activities at the
strategic, tactical and operational levels. He is also
a member of Odebrecht’s Sustainability Knowledge
Community, led by Sérgio Leão. “Our activity involves
constant risks. We must be aware of any possible emer-
gency and take preemptive action to prevent damage to
people, property, the environment and the company’s
image,” underscores Marco Aurélio.
Marco Aurélio Fonseca: “In an emergency, we can’t think twice”
69informa
70 informa
70
written by PerLa Lima photos by andré vaLentim
OR has developed a communication system that enables its members to share knowledge while keeping every project unique
CONTINuALLY BuILDING
identity
71informa
identity The Rio Corporate venture, under construction in Barra da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro: OR is present in 15 cities in eight Brazilian states
72 informa
he figures show significant growth in recent
years. Present in 15 cities in eight Brazilian
states, Odebrecht Realizações Imobiliárias
(OR) nearly tripled its net income between
2010 and 2012, from BRL 1.2 billion to BRL
3 billion. It will increase the value of its launches to BRL 6.5
billion in 2012 (in 2010 they were valued at BRL 2.4 billion),
and estimates are that by the end of this year, it will have
about 5,500 members, including 400 interns and young
partners, which corresponds to approximately 430 profes-
sionals hired monthly.
To achieve sustainable and organic growth, OR provides
its entrepreneurs with a communication system that sets
the Organization’s real estate arm apart in the market while
contributing to the dissemination of knowledge at every step
of their entrepreneurial task – ranging from the identifica-
tion and acquisition of new business to the mobilization of
teams, implementation of projects and client satisfaction.
These tools consist of the following steps, which the teams
have established for each of their projects: Investment Com-
mittee, Product Discussion Forum, Pre-Engineering Module,
Engineering Module and Post-Delivery Module.
Paul Altit, the Entrepreneurial Leader (CEO) of OR, ex-
plains: “This way of working encourages leaders and their
teams to discuss the venture’s main variables, thereby con-
tributing to greater transversality of knowledge. It involves
OR members in several states and, many times, other Or-
ganization companies as well.” And he emphasizes: “This is
how we disseminate knowledge, encourage discipline and
transversality, and above all, the uniqueness of each project.”
Each step is decisiveThe Investment Committee, the first stage of the cycle,
evaluates the project’s impact on the community, its orga-
nizational strategy, the parameters of profitability, capital
structure, the competition’s performance in the region, the
initial engineering analyses, legal risks and aspects related
to sales and image. “Once the purchase of the land is ap-
proved, the leader organizes his or her team to tackle the
new challenge, until they reach the second and final stage
of approval: the launch. During this pre-release stage, the
leader receives various contributions through the Engineer-
ing and Product Forum modules,” Paul observes.
Bairro Novo, the OR company that operates in the low-
income housing segment, recently had five land acquisitions
approved at the last meeting of the Investment Committee.
Daniel Villar, the Leader of Bairro Novo, notes that three of
those properties are in São Paulo and were approved be-
cause of their transversality with the team of Paulo Melo,
Leader of OR’s South Central Regional division, which is re-
sponsible for prospecting and market intelligence. “The team
“We have a huge challenge ahead because we’re a new company”
Paul Altit
T
André Basto (left) and Djean Cruz: the right product for each client
73informa
led the search and choice of properties, which made all the
difference,” says Daniel.
Then there is the Boulevard Side project in Salvador,
Bahia. Three years ago, it got the green light to make that
dream a reality. It has gone through all the steps prior to de-
livery, which is scheduled for May 2012. Djean Cruz, Leader
of the North and Northeast Regional division, says that by
the time the process reaches the Product Forum stage, the
team is thoroughly familiar with the venture. “Since we had
a solid concept for the location, architectural design, layouts
and the sales and marketing strategy, we won over the right
clients for that product.”
According to André Basto, the Construction Director for
the North and Northeast, the steps following the Product
Forum - the Engineering Pre-Module and Engineering Mod-
ule - are like a baton in a relay race: “The better it is passed
on, the better the performance.”
The Engineering Pre-Module involves conducting bud-
get studies and outlining architectural and engineering
solutions. This stage ends with a presentation that covers
all points of the project in the presence of OR’s engineer-
ing teams and guests from other Odebrecht companies.
“We launch the product with the expectation that sales will
be successful, along with construction, which is carried out
with the desired and planned price, schedule and quality,”
observes André.
The Engineering Module takes place after launching
the venture and is an improvement on the Pre-Engineering
Module. According to André Basto, “It is the project’s Action
Plan, which, after some fine tuning, keeps any surprises
during implementation to a minimum and ensures that they
are easily resolved.”
The Post-Delivery Module, which concludes the cycle,
was recently included and consists of analyzing the entire
Entrepreneurial Task. The main objective is to share the
hits and misses of the engineering design and construction
process from the conception stage to providing technical as-
sistance to clients. This boosts the teams’ learning curve.
João Carlos Moog Rodrigues, OR’s Engineering & Con-
struction Director in Rio de Janeiro, highlights the positive
effects of the business management cycle. The officer Re-
sponsible for the Dimension venture, which will be deliv-
ered in December of this year, he says: “Developing and
discussing the modules makes knowledge circulate within
the Small Firm. Furthermore, having upstream engineer-
ing participate in the gestation of the product generates
tremendous synergy between the teams, including our as-
sociates.” And he adds: “We are all on the same page, and
when it comes time to build, we have improved on what was
already agreed.”
Paul Altit points out: “We have a huge challenge ahead
because we are a new company that is still seeking the
best way to reach maturity. It is made up of young and
seasoned professionals with tremendous talent, but little
time with the company. We face the challenges of inte-
gration and growth on a daily basis. Therefore, I believe
that these communication tools are essential to our sur-
vival and growth.”
João Rodrigues: making knowledge go around
74 informa
74
HERE, NOW, IN OUR
hands
André Carlos dos Santos during a PDJE activity: “I’ve learned to manage my time”
75informa
written by GabrieLa vasconceLLos photos by aLmir bindiLatti
An Odebrecht Foundation initiative in northeastern Brazil is helping groom youths to become rural entrepreneurshands
76 informa
t’s before dawn, and André Carlos dos
Santos, 25, is already at the bus station
in Ituberá, Bahia. It is 5 am on a Friday,
but he shows no sign of fatigue. All week
long, he divides his time between a Busi-
ness Administration course, working in the fi-
nancial area of the Institute for the Sustainable
Development of the Southern Bahia Lowlands
(IDES), chairing the community association of
Lagoa Santa, his home town, and conducting
workshops on tourism, sports and reading in
the region.
Once a month, André also takes part in
the educational workshops of the Program
for Developing Young Entrepreneurs (PDJE).
That is why he was waiting for a bus at such
an early hour. Juggling all these activities is
no easy task. Everyone who knows him jokes
that there are more than 24 hours in his day.
André has had to plan his schedule to cope
with it all. “I’ve created a routine. I learned
to manage my time during one of the modules
of the PDJE. That was the subject that most
caught my attention,” says André, who is also
responsible for the logistics of transporting
the other participants.
The PDJE is an initiative of the Odebrecht
Foundation. In line with the Odebrecht Entre-
preneurial Technology, it contributes to the
professional education of 21 young rural entre-
preneurs who are currently working at institu-
tions or projects that are part of the Program
for the Integrated and Sustainable Develop-
ment of the Mosaic of Environmental Protection
Areas in the Southern Bahia Lowlands (PDIS).
The majority are former students of the teach-
ing units linked to the PDIS. André is one of
them. For him, joining the Agroforestry Family
House in 2006 was a life-changing experience
“I always stop to think and analyze what my
life was like in the past. I can’t believe how far
I’ve come today,” says André, who grew up in
a maroon community. He points out that even
his relationship with his family has changed.
“My parents are proud to see me replicating
knowledge in our community. My Mom says I’m
a young role model.”
Ongoing educationIn this second edition of the PDJE, 11 modules
have already been taught and seven others will
be covered by the end of 2012. They address top-
ics such as leadership, personal expression, life
and career plans, globalization, sustainability,
citizenship, project design, communication and
business security.
According to Gilcia Beckel, the coordinator
of the second PDJE class, the essence of the
program is developing entrepreneurship among
young people. “Their enthusiasm and interest
are clearly visible. This ongoing education pro-
gram is contributing to the growth of each indi-
vidual. They had great expectations about how
this process would work. Today they actively
participate in discussions. The lecturers can’t
praise them enough,” says Gilcia, who joined the
Odebrecht Organization 28 years ago and is cur-
rently a human development consultant at the
Odebrecht Foundation.
In addition to receiving follow-up from Gilcia,
during each module the participants interact
with facilitators, including members of the Ode-
brecht Foundation and the PDIS, and specialists.
I
André, Jeane and Ana Paula (clockwise): multiplying the lessons learned
77informa
Maria Celeste Pereira, Executive Director of the
Rights and Citizenship Institute, which is linked
to the PDIS, was one of those people. “The prolif-
eration of learning is the result of a commitment
to the socialization of acquired knowledge. Our
understanding is that knowledge contributes to
the formation of a more just and democratic so-
ciety,” says Maria Celeste, who was one of the
18 young people who took the first edition of the
PDJE and now shares her experiences.
Ana Paula Conceição, a participant in the
second group, underscores this point. “It makes
no sense to keep this knowledge to ourselves.
We need to replicate it, make it available to
the community,” argues the Youth House State
High School alumna, who is currently a mul-
tiplier agent for the Reading Circles project,
which encourages reading and reading com-
prehension to contribute to the development of
new leaders.
Valéria Nakamura, a consultant from Triáde
do Tempo, was the facilitator for a debate on
“Being an Entrepreneur – Strategic Thinking.” “The group was fully engaged with the questions
and arguments. I was very pleased with how the
activities were carried out. The important thing
is the knowledge they take away with them.” Ac-
cording to Jeane Oliveira, a farmer who is also a
member of the Pratigi Environmental Protection
Area Guardians Association, the theme of this
debate made the strongest impression. “What
we have here is an opportunity to improve what
we see in our work and our personal lives. Every-
thing is connected. We are professionalizing the
information,” says Jeane, who is also a graduate
of the Presidente Tancredo Neves Rural Family
House.
André makes the most of this exchange and
doesn’t want to miss a single module. “What I
get most from the speakers is their example,
their experience. These are people who have life
experiences we can use.” He sees all the activi-
ties as a priority. “I’m striving to follow my life
and career plan. I’ve managed to accomplish a
lot. My family used to live in a mud hut, and now
we have better housing. I’ll graduate from col-
lege at the end of the year. Things are happen-
ing. I’m meeting my deadlines.”
78 informa
SAVVY
Julio Lopes Ramos: urban development in a slum with over 1,200 shacks
79informa
Social engineering
enacious and passionate
about his work, Julio Lopes
Ramos is a 36-year Ode-
brecht member who believes that
when you work with love and deter-
mination, a light will shine to show
you the way. It happened when he
was invited to become the officer
Responsible for the Curundú Proj-
ect in Panama. Julio knew it was
not a challenge, but a mission: the
urban development of a slum with
over 1,200 shacks. “Civil engineer-
ing is no challenge for Odebrecht;
social engineering is the hard
part,” explains Julio Lopes Ramos,
the Savvy project’s interviewee for
this issue. The following is a sum-
mary of his interview, which can be
read in full on the Odebrecht Infor-
ma website (www.odebrechtonline.
com.br).
Curundú Project In November 2009, I was pleas-
antly surprised to receive an invita-
tion from the Director of Odebrecht
Panama, André Rabello. He del-
egated responsibility to me for bid-
ding in a tender that was already un-
derway: the Curundú Project.
When I learned more about the
project, I saw that it wasn’t a chal-
lenge, it was a mission.
It involves the urban develop-
ment of a slum with more than 1,200
shacks in a flooded area. The water
is black. Completely unsanitary.
At the stage of mobilizing people
to work on the project, we realized
that there were 12 gangs of young
thugs in that area.
I told the management team and
all my team members: “This will be
tough going. These guys have never
had an opportunity to work in their
lives. They don’t have a work ethic,
and don’t even know what it’s like
to be responsible for keeping to a
schedule. We have to explain and
teach them all this because they’re
rebels. They only obey the gang
leader’s orders, and will not follow
instructions easily.”
We found that there were three
stronger gangs, and if we reached
an agreement with those three lead-
ers, the others would back us up.
All the management team mem-
bers and I went to talk to them. Eye
to eye, face to face, to explain the
project and ask for their support.
The first guy we spoke to was the
leader of the MOM (Kill or Die) gang.
His name was Moisés. I explained to
him that we were going to hire 800 lo-
cal people and 200 from the outside.
And everyone would wear a uniform,
including myself. Also, when hiring
people from other neighborhoods in
Panama, I would work with the po-
lice, who would know the person’s
background.
Then he said: “If that’s how it
is, we’ll back you.” I asked, “What
do you want from us in exchange
for your support?” “Just keep your
promise.” “What promise?” “You
said you would hire the muchachos.
I want them to leave this life and
start their own families with dignity,
instead of going through all the sac-
rifices I’ve been making.”
We identified people with natural
leadership skills and formed a part-
nership with the INADEH, which is
equivalent to the SENAI professional
education institute in Brazil. We got
a teacher dedicated exclusively to
the program and started offering a
course to groom the first 30 foremen
or 30 shift supervisors.
I was surprised to see that 94% of
the class passed. That’s how you get
to see what these young people can
do. All they needed was encourage-
ment.
Change of attitudeIn the beginning, several ladies
went out on the streets of Curundú
to complain about the project. They
called the press and said: “I’ve never
paid for water, power, or rent, and
now the government wants to put
me in an apartment where I’ll have
to pay for all that.”
The first chance I had to meet
with all these women, I said: “La-
dies, you couldn’t be more wrong.
You pay a high price to live here, you
pay with the death of a relative, with
the abuse of a child, with these dark
waters, and these totally inhospita-
Statement given to Valber Carvalho / Edited by Alice Galeffi
In Panama City, Julio Lopes Ramos heads a project where “the protagonist is the family”
79informa
T
informa80
ble conditions where you bring your
children to live. So you can never say
you don’t pay anything.”
I prepared a three-stage action
plan. The first was to relocate the
families. The second step was to
initiate the construction process of
urban development and work for
this community so it would support
the project and let the job get done.
The third step would be bringing the
families back to live in new housing
units and somehow prepare them to
live in a condominium.
Manoel urtado sets an exampleIn the course of the project we got
to know outstanding people. Take
Manoel Urtado, for example. He was
a former outlaw who belonged to the
MOM gang. He had spent many years
in prison and become a pastor.
At the beginning of the proj-
ect, Manoel participated as a social
worker. One day, there was a drive-by
shooting. A gang from another neigh-
borhood gunned down several boys,
and two were killed. One of them was
Manoel’s eldest son.
Committed to the project, to Ode-
brecht, and especially committed to
God, he took the noblest decision I’ve
ever seen in my life: he went to Cabo
Verde to forgive the man who mur-
dered his son.
He saw this as an example to be
followed. He wanted to put an end to
that bloody cycle of revenge.
Luiz Altamirando, known as Wa-
cuco, was also a former leader of the
KrisKros gang. He told me: “Pana-
ma has never seen a project like this.
It changes people.”
LearningFrom the start, I would tell the gov-
ernment minister: “The protagonist of
this project is the family. What we are
doing is social engineering, because
civil engineering is no challenge for
Odebrecht.”
Mr. Norberto [Odebrecht] has al-
ways been a huge inspiration for me
because of everything he has done, his
humility and because he conveys his
philosophy of life and the Odebrecht
Entrepreneurial Technology to us.
But my strongest inspiration comes
from my family. My father was a simple
man, the son of a construction super-
visor and a schoolteacher. My mother
was a teacher too. Her father was an
accountant.
My wife, Maninha, is my main part-
ner who is always by my side. When-
ever I’m at an impasse, she always
comes up with an intelligent solution.
I always carry a piece of advice
with me that I pass on to my team
members, especially to my part-
ners: our client is not just the one
who hires us, but the community to
which we are providing that service.
Whatever you do with passion, with
love and determination, you’ll do well.
A light will always shine to show you
the way.
80 informa
informa
Next issue:Sports
Founded in 1944,
ODEBRECHT is a Brazilian
organization made up of
diversified businesses with
global operations and
world-class standards of
quality. Its 160,000 members
are present in the Americas,
the Caribbean, Africa, Asia
and Europe.
RESPONSIBLE FOR CORPORATE COMMUNICATION AT CONSTRUTORA NORBERTO ODEBRECHT S.A. Márcio Polidoro
RESPONSIBLE FOR PUBLICATIONS PROGRAMS AT CONSTRUTORA NORBERTO ODEBRECHT S.A. Karolina Gutiez
BUSINESS AREA COORDINATORS Nelson Letaif Chemicals & Petrochemicals | Andressa Saurin Ethanol & Sugar | Bárbara Nitto Oil & Gas | Daelcio Freitas Environmental Engineering | Sergio Kertész Real Estate Developments | Coordinator at Odebrecht Foundation Vivian Barbosa
EDITORIAL COORDINATION Versal Editores Editor-in-Chief José Enrique BarreiroExecutive Editor Cláudio Lovato Filho English Translation H. Sabrina GledhillArt and Graphic Production Rogério NunesGraphic Design and Illustrations Rico LinsPhoto Editor Holanda Cavalcanti Electronic Publishing Maria Celia Olivieri
Printing 1,050 copies | Pre-Press and Printing Pancrom
EDITORIAL OFFICES Rio de Janeiro +55 21 2239-4023 | São Paulo +55 11 3641- 4743email: [email protected]
Originally published in Portuguese. Also available in Spanish.
82 informa
“An entrepreneur must be a person who is
endowed with experiential knowledge, which combines education and practice, and who makes things happen
instead of just wanting them to happen”
TEO (Odebrecht Entrepreneurial Technology)
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