Howdy,
Overall I found the trip to Portugal to be very rewarding as a whole. It was nice to get a real-world experience of a new culture and understand what life is like in Europe. From a business perspective, I found the biggest difference to be their drive to eliminate waste and use all of the resources they have. Another unique aspect of that is the goal of sustainability, not from the short-term US perspective but from a long-term generational perspective. It was very rewarding to listen to every company and hear about how passionate they are over what they do.
When we got a virtual tour of the cork factory, they discussed all of the new and creative ways that they are able to use cork. One of which was as insulation for space shuttles since they are able to withstand such high variations in temperature. Another unique use of cork is through making food products out of the leftover bark in order to utilize all of the bark. After visiting the textile factory in Porto, it was interesting to see how they were able to balance being a family business with the demands of their product. They were able to become extremely efficient in order to not waste any time when switching between different brands of clothing or material.?
The final nuance of European business culture is keeping everything as natural as it can be in the process. Every farm or vineyard we went to would still use the same process that was used generations before them. It was very insightful to see people generations later still working towards the same goal with the eventual plan to pass this business onto their children. Overall I think there would be a lot of value if you were able to bring a little bit of European culture into the American business model.