11
setting up the tables that were ordered on the Net, and
the Technology Officer travels to present the product at
exhibitions. It is natural that the development person will
do the marketing work; after all, it is possible to overcome
all the difficulties with hard work and with a vision!
Mix-up of formality
Behind this kind of attitude lies the Israeli experience:
a culture that is born out of the years that the Jewish
people spent in various countries with being involved in
any of them, a culture that is born out of being placed
in the Middle East, in trying conditions, either because of
shortages or on account of the defence threat, and in the
background of a cooperative socialistic settlement from
the beginning.
All these situations have had an effect on the psyche of
the person and impels him to believe that formality and
hierarchy are not for him – they are viewed negatively by
him; in the view of the Israeli entrepreneur, importance
is to be given to content and not to form, and that it is
important to concentrate on results and not on the
way they are achieved. The Israeli, who lives and was
brought up in an environment of migrants is used to a
mix of behavioral patterns – he will not get stuck to any
particular one of them and will also find the one pattern
that will bring him results, as it's not important that the
cat is black or white - the important thing is that it brings
results!
Focus on content and not on form
The difficulty is that in order to bring results, it is important
to build a bridge in front of the person who faces you,
the investor, a partner or a client, as it is possible that
he comes from a different cultural background, and it is
possible that he places importance on attire and behavior,
and, as we saw, on shoes!
An Indian businessman who is interested in establishing
contact with an Israeli technology company, especially if
it is small and just starting out should make adjustments
and accept all these features, even though they may
not appear easy for him. It will take time for the same
company to build an elegant office that can match
international standards, recruit suitable marketing people
who can provide appropriate service. For a representative
of an Indian company who is nurtured in a background in
which hierarchy and ceremony that Israeli businessmen
are not used to, it is recommended that he takes a deep
breath, expect informality and not interpret it, God forbid,
as derogatory to himself, and to try, as much as is possible,
to focus on content and not on form, and the content is
modern technology that has been put to one side.
If this is difficult, then it is always possible to turn to the
contact person who will freely offer advice and even
frank criticism expressed with sincerity and in good faith.
The author is an expert in business between Israel and East Asia.
Business culture
