View from the American SideExperiences and Challenges of an American Manager in an Israeli Company

Rebecca Steinberg Herson

Commtouch Software

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Professional Background Over a decade in technology & NGO marketing in

Israel and the USA

Currently VP Marketing at Commtouch (NASDAQ:

CTCH)

Previously VP Marketing at Redmatch

Head of Marketing at Whale (to be acquired by

Microsoft)

Marcom at Orckit (NASDAQ: ORCT)

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Human Resource Issues

Prefer Structure• Organization Chart

• Clear definition of

who reports to

whom

• Where does my

responsibility end

& someone else’s

begin?

Typically amorphous• “Big Head”

• Flat organizations

• Lots of “dotted lines”

• “Can-do” attitude

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Human Resource Issues – cont. Clear distinction

between work & family time

Accustomed to working 8-hour days, with 1 hour for lunch (9am-5pm)

Used to social distance

Insurance• This is a must

Live, breathe & eat career

Accustomed to 9 - 9.5+ hour days (this is the minimum)

Used to almost zero social distance

Accustomed to socialized health care

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Logistics Mon-Fri Work Week

• 2-day backlog of emails on Monday morning

• 2 business days of no one to talk to starting Thursday

7-10 hour time difference – means early mornings

Used to short business trips

Sun-Thurs work week• Urgent phone calls

interrupt family time on Fridays

• Quiet Sundays & Mondays

• Sh*t hits the fan Monday 4 pm

7-10 hour time difference – means late nights

Used to looooong business trips

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Logistics

Letter paper

(“Quarto”)

Illustrator &

Photoshop

Designers use Mac

Left-to-Right

A4 paper Freehand Designers use PC Right-to-Left (!)

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Logistics

Costs = higher

Market =

enormous, spread

out, fragmented

Accustomed to lower costs

Used to Israeli/European markets (these markets work completely differently)

8

Management Issues

Strong

Management

Culture• Gurus include: Jack

Welch, Peter Drucker,

Michael Dell, etc.

• B-schools globally use

Harvard case studies

Emergent Management Culture

• Most Israeli successes have been due to innovation or timing or both, not great management

• Tendency to allow inexperienced managers to “learn on the job” (think 20-year-olds running major army units)

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Management Issues Product

Management Centered• Silicon Valley: very

customer-needs oriented

• Sales & marketing feel they have valid input into the product direction

R&D Centered• Ideas are often

technology driven

• Developed nearly to launch phase, before ever speaking with a customer

• Pre-launch customer calls are handled by technical people, not marketing

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“The Wrapping”

Polite

Criticism is

“constructive”

Appearance is

everything

Aggressive Criticism is direct Genuineness is

prized over appearance

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“The Wrapping” – cont.

Dear Moshe,

The report you prepared looks great. If it’s not too much trouble, it would be helpful if you could expand the section on manufacturing a bit. Let’s talk today about how to move forward. We’ll need the final version to send out to the customer by Friday.

Thanks,Rebecca

Need more on manufacturing by Friday.

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“The Wrapping” – cont.

Dear Yossi,

This customer really needs the install done by June 15. Please let me know how you are progressing with this!

Thanks,Rebecca

What she meant:

Customer will throw us out if installation is not completed by June 15. Get your act together or we will lose this account.

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Bridging the Gap Build personal relationships

• Visit regularly (2-3 times a quarter)• Visit customers, participate in sales calls• Bring US employees to Israel• The cost is worth it

Share Israeli warmth • Invite people to your home (don’t necessarily expect this favor

returned when you are in the USA :) • Tour with them in Israel

Use all technology at your disposal• Email, IM, Skype, video conferencing• Technology does not replace actual human contact

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Bridging the Gap – cont. Expect to work unusual hours, and be available equally to your whole

team, regardless of their location Be clear about your expectations when you hire people; if you are

expecting them to work off-hours, be up-front about it Make English the official language of written correspondence

• Speak only English when you are in the US office or at US customers• Teach US employees some basic Hebrew (if they are interested), or run

cultural understanding workshops• Make sure your Israeli team can read, speak and understand English

fluently Learn to read carefully between the lines; an exclamation point is

serious. A customer complaint is super-serious. Relocate some key Israeli personnel to the USA

THANK YOU!!

rebeccah@commtouch.com