Book details how the company from Caxias do Sul became the world’s largest bus manufacturer
Very few companies around the world have exceeded 60 years of activity. Fewer still are focused on the perpetuation and dissemination of their culture, on the recognition of people and what this represents and represented in reinventing itself, internationalizing and growing. With this objective and to pay tribute to all those who built and continue to help build Marcopolo, an idea arose to tell the story of the company, its people, its challenges and the most important moments over these initial 63 years.
“These are memories and stories that reveal a peculiar corporate culture, with which we naturally coexist, without even realizing its decisive importance, created by many who, in one way or another, are related to Marcopolo”, stated Paulo Bellini, author of the book and the company’s emeritus president.
With over 300 pages, the book “Marcopolo, the journey begins here” with interviews and anecdotes related by over 90 participants, reveals the trajectory of the company in transforming itself into one of the major international manufacturers. These ”passages”, told by people who accompanied each moment, gathered and transcribed by journalist Suzana Naiditch, show just how this peculiar culture was forged and what its values are through situations experienced at the company.
“My goal was to record the experiences that help to explain this culture and pay tribute to all those involved, the participants in this story. Many don’t even know about this. They are those that I meet by chance, when wandering through the factory, and who treat me with uncommon kindness. The spontaneous gestures of appreciation of these employees and the insistence of friends led me to conclude that there really is a peculiar culture and that it is what has kept Marcopolo growing for over six decades, taking us to the five continents, with a dimension I could never even have imagined”, reiterates Bellini.
There are many ways to tell a story. And the manner chosen to tell the tale of Marcopolo’s journey couldn’t be the biography of its founder or simply his point of view. “That was when I decided to revive those moments that help explain what the company does and, thus, honor this legacy that only occurred because essential partners became engaged in the project, working with dedication and spontaneity.
The initial idea was to produce material for internal publication, which, besides showing how Marcopolo was forged, served to reinforce the management model first structured in the 1980s, following a visit by executives to Japan. Later, other subjects were added and the project gained new dimensions, with coordination picked up by psychologist and consultant Marilda Vendrame, “transcending” the limits of the company.
Publisher Campus/Elsevier believed in the project and understood it would hold content found relevant, interesting and enriching by other publics, such as business executives, entrepreneurs, university students and society in general. Furthermore, there aren’t many bibliographies with cases on national companies.
Teamwork and highly relevant participation
“Marcopolo, the journey begins here” has characteristics that reiterate the vision and values of the author concerning the importance of teamwork, commitment, motivation and ethical values. The preface is authored by Marcus Vinícius Pratini de Moraes, economist and ex-minster. The book also includes an essay by anthropologist Roberto DaMatta – A bus outing – in which he discusses the presence of these vehicles in public transport and our lives and history, along with their influences and characteristics.
According to Roberto DaMatta, today’s buses, modern and in line with clients’ tastes, invite all, like Marcopolo, to enjoy the pleasure of traveling by land once again. “A journey across this land that witnessed our birth and where, one day, we will be laid to rest”.
The fourth page of the publication includes the participation of important national and international business people, with highlighted statements. Jorge Gerdau Johannpeter, president of the Managing Board of Gerdau; Ratan Tata, chairman of Tata Sons; José Galló, CEO of Lojas Renner; José Antonio Fernandes Martins, president of Fabus (Brazilian Association of Bus Manufacturers), and Jamie Lerner, architect and ex-mayor of Curitiba, where he pioneeringly implemented one of the most modern public transport systems in the world, all comment on the role and importance of Marcopolo.
The first edition of the book “Marcopolo, the journey begins here” will be launched on December 12, at Livraria Cultura, in Conjunto Nacional, in São Paulo, followed by nationwide distribution.
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Roberto DaMatta - Author, columnist for the newspapers O Estado de S. Paulo, O Globo and Diário do Nordeste de Fortaleza, professor of social anthropology at Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro and emeritus professor of University of Notre Dame du Lac, Indiana, United States, is the author of a number of books about Brazil seen as a system of social values and practices.