Exploring the Interpersonal Transaction of the Brazilian Jeitinho in Bureaucratic Contexts

Abstract

This paper is a contribution to the existing body of literature on the Brazilian jeitinho (pronounced jaytcheenyoo) as an informal problem-solving strategy in organizations. The jeitinho is a social mechanism that entails bending or breaking the rules in order to deal with difficult or forbidding situations. It is a particularly useful informal strategy to ‘get things done’ in work organizations. The paper focuses on what is involved in the interpersonal transaction of the jeitinho in work settings, acknowledging in particular the role of informal social capital and a highly valued interpersonal attribute in Brazilian society known as simpatia. The first part of the paper explores the defining features and historical roots of the Brazilian jeitinho; the second part provides a theoretical contextualization of the discussion through a brief review of academic works on bureaucratic dysfunctions and informal strategies to deal with these problems; and the third part illustrates the operation of the jeitinho with data from a qualitative study of a partnership sustainability program based in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.