Harnessing Globalization: Rio Grande Do Sul’s Successful Effort to Attract Dell Computer Corporation

Abstract

Dell Computer Corporation’s recent site selection process for its manufacturing plant in Brazil involved bargaining with five of Brazil’s 26 states. The state government of Rio Grande do Sul (RS), eager to transform the state into a centre for high technology investment, offered Dell generous incentives and “won” this large investment project. Although the incentives were important, Rio Grande do Sul’s success can also be attributed to the government’s ability to work effectively with a private development agency, Pólo, which provided the state with a domestic embeddedness and a transnational strategic network that facilitated its ability to attract foreign investment.