Israel-India Business Guide - Agriculture &Water
10
Business culture
Working with an Israeli
Technology Company
For Israelis, the important thing is to bring results. For Indians, the personal
relations are equally important. How can both sides adjust?
Tal Reshef
A
Vice President of Marketing in a small company
related to me a few weeks ago how he missed
out on a major business opportunity because of
shoes – yes, SHOES!
This gentleman was invited to a meeting with a delegation
from India that was seeking a destination for their
investments. When he arrived at the meeting that was
scheduled in at the Federation of Israeli Chambers of
Commerce in Tel Aviv, he already sensed that there was a
sense of imbalance around: he arrived by himself, and in
front of him sat three managers who were formally dressed,
complete with neckties and well-polished shoes, while he
had arrived after a whole day’s activities on the streets of the
city - in clothes that were casual in appearance. He picked
up in the course of the discussion that the executives were
beginning to feel uncomfortable and the item that caught
the attention of the executives were the shoes of the Vice
President of Marketing. Because he had to move around
from one place to another that day, he had decided to wear
sports shoes! “But they were black”he said to me, “these are
the most elegant shoes to wear in a situation in which you
are supposed to go from one place to the next!”.
Get the ‘feel’ of it
Of course, this gentleman does not represent most Israeli
executives today. Most of them of course pay attention
to their appearance, to their attire and know about how
to be prepared for meetings. Perhaps he could not be
held responsible on his own for the mistakes that were
made by him – he was a product development person
in a small technology company: a start-up company
that grew and developed, created a product, needed to
have it marketed and chose to place the responsibility of
marketing on his shoulders; a development person who
perhaps was already well-acquainted with the company
he was working for and familiar with the management.
He had brought to the meeting room with the delegation
the ‘experience’ of an Israeli start-up company and let the
Indian businesspeople get the ‘feel’ of it, and in this case,
the Indian businesspeople did not like what they saw!
If you like, you may compare the experience of the Israeli
start-up as a ‘mix-up of formality’. Everything starts from
there. Firms that start with an idea of two or three crazy
people who feel that they have a concept, they have the
technology and they have a dream: but beyond this they
do not have much – no money, no cooperation in the
workplace and no organization.
Such a company is built around the notion that if you
have a concept that is created and you are able to work
hard around it, then you can overcome anything, and on
this basis they begin to work hard. Everyone acts united,
as a matter of fact everyone prepares breakfast together,
remain until late at night around their computers or in
the laboratory, then order pizza, the CEO participates in
