Business in Portugal – Mckayla Young

Howdy! During my time spent in Portugal, I learned so much about the country, culture, and business environment. Visiting companies and learning about various industries in Portugal allowed me to really spot the differences between how Europeans conduct business versus Americans. While we were in Europe, we learned more about the porcelain, wine, cork, textiles, and olive oil industries. The main difference to me was that Americans tend to create products that are produced quickly while maximizing their profits at the same time. I noticed that some of the industries in Portugal take more time to produce goods. For example, while learning more about the cork industry, I discovered that it takes about twenty-five years for a tree to be able to produce cork. Not only that, but after the trees are finally profitable, it takes another nine years until they can be stripped again. Learning that was pretty hard for me to wrap my mind around because I cannot imagine waiting that long for just one tree to produce cork. Another difference I noticed was that Portuguese businesses tend to be focused on going ?more green? or remaining environment-friendly. Quite a few companies we visited discussed the idea of staying sustainable multiple times while simultaneously aiming for high profits. Overall, I learned that the business environments in Portugal and America have some similarities, but are quite different when looking at the big picture. I would love to go back to Europe and dive deeper into the many industries across the continent!?