Company Visits Day Two

Today was a really enjoyable day as both the companies we visited were very interesting. We started off today at Vina Indomita, a winery. It was really neat to learn about how they make their wine and see their bodega, however I really wish we could have learned more about their company itself and its business practices. For instance I would have liked to learn about how they do their pricing, marketing, and things they are looking to do in the future. Yet the lady taking us around did not address anything similar to this and I wasn’t able to ask the questions I had hoped to. She did give us a little bit of information relating to their business practices, although it wasn’t much. We learned that they export 95% of their wine and prefer to export. On top of that they informed us that they do not make sparkling wine and will not in the future as it would require a whole other production system. This was a concept that we had addressed in our MCE class and is one that businesses often have to face. What is produced is limited by the company’s production system. It was really nice to see the winery as it was gorgeous.

          

                 After Vina Indomita we went to LAN Airlines which I found fascinating. It was interesting to learn about their expansion and how they have successfully managed to make a profit while American airlines have been struggling in the past decade. While there they allowed us to view a plane they were prepping for Madrid. By looking at the plane you could tell that they take pride in their high quality. I personally thought that their planes were nicer than the U.S. airlines’ planes for international flights. I asked the man showing us around if this happened for all international flights, and his response was “with our company yes.” I found this very interesting. I wonder if the quality of their service has something to do with their profitability in the past few years. In Marcoeconomics I learned that people prefer lower prices to quality, but I personally don’t know if I believe this is always true. I’m guessing that their quality is a feature that differentiates them from other airlines. It was really neat to see how they maintenance their planes and to learn about their company. It was really awesome to be able to see the airplanes up close as well.