ABSTRACT
In November 2001, Jim ONeill wrote a succinct 11-page report that focused on the size and growth rates of what he termed emerging market economies. This chapter traces the rise of the BRIC states and BRIC transnational corporations. It shows how BRIC growth is tied up with emerging economic relations with established economies and what implications the growing importance of the BRICs has for transcultural contact in business and management. As the BRIC economies are becoming more important in the world economy and their citizens are getting wealthier, it necessary to expect a growth in transcultural contact. If the case studies of Brazil's Vale in Canada and China's Chinalco in Australia tell us something about the future, the interactions between the new kids on the block and the stalwarts of the old world order might often end badly in the absence of a large measure of mutual understanding as well as adaptation.
