After returning to the United States, I?ve had a lot of time to reflect on my recent study abroad trip. Although touring parts of Portugal, such as Lisbon, Porto, and Sintra, were incredible experiences, I think visiting the companies that we did was the most eye-opening part of the trip. I can return to Portugal in the future and visit the same historical places, but I most likely won?t be going to tour different businesses and learn more about Portugal and European work culture. If I had to choose a favorite company, I think the cork production factory, Amorim, was the most interesting. They not only make cork stoppers for bottles, but also insulation, flooring, and even use any leftover cork for energy for the factories! Every part of the cork is used for something.
Within all the companies, it was also interesting to learn about the family style culture they had. From what we learned, competition between the employees was nonexistent, job security was very high, and people stayed working for the same companies for a long period of time. An important part of business in Portugal is focused on creating a relationship with employees, customers, and suppliers. It’s an ecosystem of everyone trying to make the world a better place through sustainable practices and high-quality products. Another interesting facet of Portuguese business I noticed is the propensity to take on long-term investments. Olive trees for olive oil take around 5 years to grow into a productive harvest, cork trees don?t produce viable cork for around 30 years, and many of the best wines are aged for 20, 30, or even 50+ years! Can you imagine investing money but being told it won?t actually produce any returns for possibly decades? It?s something very interesting to think about.
Overall, if you are able to study abroad, I highly recommend it! Sure, you can travel and visit places on your own, but through CIBS and Texas A&M, you will see and experience so much more than you could ever imagine! Thank you CIBS and Dr. Pace for an incredible experience.
