Doing Business in Israel
Entrepreneurship and Innovation: The Israeli model
©2011 Tel Aviv University - Faculty of Management, The Leon Recanati Graduate School of Business Administration 1
Doing Business in Israel
Entrepreneurship and Innovation: The Israeli model
Academic director
Udi Aharoni
Tel: 00972-3-6407314
e-mail: udia@post.tau.ac.il
Course coordinator
Sharon Shaked
Tel: 00972-3-6408069
e-mail: shakeds@tauex.tau.ac.il
Operational coordinator
Idit Admon
Tel: 00972-54-2222636
e-mail: iditadmon@post.tau.ac.il
Tel: 00972-054-2112341
e-mail: roilavan@gmail.com
Teaching Assistant
Lavan Roi

Program structure: The 10-day program will consist of approximately 40 contact hours of
classes and workshops, company visits, military base visit, a tour in Tel Aviv and a trip to Jerusalem.

Credits: 3 credit units

Language of instruction: English
Background
The dramatic shift to an innovative and entrepreneurial high-tech orientation that the Israeli economy
has undergone in recent decades has not only been acknowledged globally. It has also contributed to
the prosperity of associated areas such as agriculture, pharmaceuticals and the ecology. Many factors
can be said to have led to Israel's high-tech success, some of which have to do with the hostility of the
external environment, the lack of natural resources, and the so-called collective Israeli personality –
ingenious, tough and adaptive. Be that as it may, entrepreneurship and innovation have come to be
regarded as integral parts of the Israeli economic mindset, and the many successful IPOs and M&As of
Israeli start-up companies have turned our small country into a world leader in certain high-tech areas.
Indeed, many of today's global players started their operations in the local Israeli economy.
As with leaders, a predisposition is needed, but there is certainly room for born entrepreneurs to be
nurtured. It is with this in mind that we propose the present program of studies, which, amongst other
things, is designed to provide participants with exposure to the models, theories and practical
approaches to entrepreneurship and innovation that Israeli professionals and academics have
developed over the years.
Program description
The program will frame the central aspects of doing business in Israel within the context of the
country's booming high-tech and bio-tech economy and the emerging of global Israeli companies.
©2011 Tel Aviv University - Faculty of Management, The Leon Recanati Graduate School of Business Administration 2
It will offer a unique synthesis between state of the art academic studies and practical, hands-on
experience with the Israeli high-tech industry and its leaders.
Academically, the connecting thread of the DBI program will be a set of Recanati Business School case
studies on strategy issues of Israeli companies. The cases reflect the Israeli economy, concentrating on
companies different in size, from different industries, and at different lifecycle stages. The study of
each of these cases will be led by a guest lecturer from among the company's executives and will
include a field trip to the company.
Background lectures will focus on the Israeli macroeconomic environment, the banking and finance
system, cultural aspects of doing business in Israel, and the integration of the Arab and ultra-orthodox
population into the Israeli economy the participants will have the opportunity to network with Recanati
MBA and iMBA students.
The students will be accommodate in a beautiful hotel located at the center of Tel Aviv and will enjoy
meals, high class transportation, and tours in Israel.
Program objectives
The emphasis in the program will be on understanding the dynamics of the Israeli entrepreneurial
environment and on analyzing Israeli innovative companies at different lifecycle stages. Students will
be expected to develop a top management perspective of a high-tech company and focus on
formulating a competitive business-level strategy for it.
Course material
 Dan Senor and Saul Singer Start-up Nation: The Story of Israel's Economic Miracle, Twelve
(2009)
 Seven case studies (all cases will be provided to participants)
The seven cases

Applied Cognitive Engineering (ACE), a small Israeli company specializing in computer-
based cognitive simulation training based on a special training method developed for Israeli
combat pilots, was established in the summer of 2003 (Recanati Business School Case)

In 2007, Shai Agassi raised $200 million to launch Better Place. By deploying a network of
charge spots, switch stations and systems that optimised the use of electric vehicles, the company
had the potential to become a major player in the transport industry. To succeed, however, it had
to overcome major implementation challenges, among them the need to achieve a minimum level
of standardisation for the interface between vehicles and the recharging grid, and the continuous
need to finance its market expansion.(Insead case)

Given Imaging is a world leader in developing and marketing patient-friendly solutions for
visualizing and detecting disorders of the gastrointestinal tract (Recanati Business School Case)

Makhteshim-Agan is Israel’s and the world’s leading producer of generic agrochemicals
(Recanati Business School Case)
©2011 Tel Aviv University - Faculty of Management, The Leon Recanati Graduate School of Business Administration 3
Rafael Advanced Defense Systems designs, develops, manufactures and supplies a wide

range of high-tech defense systems for air, land, sea and space applications. Rafael developed a
special "incubator" for internal innovation (Harvard Business School Case)
Tefron is one of Israel's leading exporters of premium fashion apparel. It is also a world leader

and pioneer in the manufacture of seamless apparel (Recanati Business School Case)
Teva is an Israeli pharmaceuticals company that is the world’s biggest producer of generic

drugs.
The company’s generic leadership has been bolstered by an aggressive M&A strategy
(Harvard Business School Case)
Program topics
The cases will allow insights into Israeli companies and corporate strategic culture. Issues that will be
discussed in class are:

The Israeli cultural and macroeconomic environment

The Israeli financial markets

From technology transfer and commercialization to IPO

Venture capital and start-up financing

Innovation and entrepreneurial mindset in biotech, high-tech and cleantech startups

Government support and investment

Positioning for large companies in a small economy
Visits

Companies visits

Military base
Touring Israel

Metropolitan Tel Aviv

Jerusalem – ancient and modern – the essence of Israel.
Course assignments
All students are required to read the course textbook (Start-up Nation) prior to the first class meeting
and the relevant case for each class. At the start of the program students will be assigned to teams
(two or three members in each team). Each team will submit (by mail) two short case analyses
according to the course schedule and each student will submit personal case analyses, by January 29th,
to the course teaching assistant.
Course grade
Two group case analyses
60%
Personal case analysis
40%
©2011 Tel Aviv University - Faculty of Management, The Leon Recanati Graduate School of Business Administration 4
Case study preparation

Group case analyses should be submitted by mail to the course teaching assistant roilavan@gmail.com before the beginning of the class in which they are to be discussed.

A group case analysis should not exceed four pages.

A personal case analysis should not exceed six pages.
The DBI team wishes you a pleasant stay in Israel and an enjoyable program
Course Schedule
Sunday
Hour
Topic
Lecturer
Assignment
©2011 Tel Aviv University - Faculty of Management, The Leon Recanati Graduate School of Business Administration 5
10:30-11:00
Opening session
11:00-12:00
Start up Nation
Pro. Moshe Zviran
Joanna Landau, Founder &
Executive Director- KINETI'S
12:00-13:00
13:00-13:45
Lunch
Networking
Dr. Yuval Kalish
ACE
13:45-14:30
14:30-14:45
14:45-15:30
Break
Networking
Dr. Yuval Kalish
15:30-16:15
19:30-21:00
Welcome dinner
Monday
Hour
09:00-09:45
Topic
The VC industry
Lecturer
Assignment
Ronen Nir
09:45-10:30
10:30-10:45
Break
10:45-11:30
Social Entrepreneurship
Dr. Gil Winch
11:30-12:15
The VC industry in Israel
Eden Shochat
12:15-13:00
Lunch
13:00-13:45
Better Place
National policy on innovation
Dr. Suki Glietman
13:45-14:30
14:30-14:45
Break
14:45-15:30
New Media Entrepreneurship
Liad Agmon
15:30-16:15
16:15-16:30
Break
16:45-17:30
New Media Entrepreneurship
Liad Agmon
17:30-18:30
ACE
Danny Dankner, CEO
20:00
Dinner
Tuesday
Hour
Topic
Lecturer
Assignment
©2011 Tel Aviv University - Faculty of Management, The Leon Recanati Graduate School of Business Administration 6
Reading:
08:30-12:30
Military Base visit
Rafael
Advanced
Defense
Systems,
13:30-16:00
Better Place visit
16:00-17:00
Early dinner
Given
Imaging,
Visiting a winery- Joined evening with TAU
17:00-20:00
students
Wednesday
Hour
Topic
09:00-09:45
Case analysis: RDC
09:45-10:30
Technology entrepreneurship
10:30-10:45
Break
10:45-11:30
Case analysis: Given Imaging
11:30-12:15
Growing a technology company
12:15-13:00
Lunch
Lecturer
Assignment
Dr. Nir Brueller
Dr. Nir Brueller
13:00-13:45
The Israeli macroeconomic environment
Prof. Asher Tishler
13:45-14:30
14:30-14:45
Break
14:45-15:30
The Israeli macroeconomic environment
15:30-16:15
The Israeli defense sector
18:00-20:00
Tour in Tel-Aviv & dinner
Prof. Asher Tishler
Thursday– Company visits
©2011 Tel Aviv University - Faculty of Management, The Leon Recanati Graduate School of Business Administration 7
Hour
Topic
09:30-11:00
Given Imaging
11:30-13:00
Tefron
13:00-14:00
Lunch
15:00-16:30
Galil Software
16:30-20:00
Lecturer
Assignment
Reading:
Teva,
Dr. Nir Bruller
MakhteshimAgan
Tour in Nazareth & Dinner
Friday- Saturday
Free weekend in Tel-Aviv
Sunday
Hour
Topic
09:00-09:45
The
09:45-10:30
perspective
10:30-10:45
Break
10:45-11:30
Cleantech in Israel: From scarcity to
11:30-12:15
healthcare
industry
Lecturer
from
the
VC
entrepreneurship
12:15-13:00
Lunch
13:00-13:45
Case analysis: Teva
13:45-14:30
Corporate strategy out of Israel
14:30-14:45
Break
Assignment
Dr. Benny Zeevi
Dr. David Katz
Dr. Nir Brueller
Case analysis: Makhteshim-Agan
14:45-16:15
Dr. Nir Brueller
Emerging giants
18:00-20:00
Dinner at Ein Carem, Overnight in Jerusalem
Monday
Visiting Jerusalem
Tuesday
Back home
Appendix A- Faculty short bios
Academic director
©2011 Tel Aviv University - Faculty of Management, The Leon Recanati Graduate School of Business Administration 8
Udi Aharoni
Udi Aharoni is the CEO of LAHAV Executive Education at the Recanati School of Business and a lecturer
of the School's MBA and executive MBA strategy courses. He also manages the activities of the Eli
Hurvitz Institute of Strategic Management at the School.
Course coordinators
Sharon Shaked
Sharon Shaked is the head of International Exchange Programs at the Recanati School of Business.
She holds an MA in Resource Management from Tel Aviv University.
Idit Admon
Idit Admon is the operational coordinator of all international activities at the Recanati School of
Business. She holds an undergraduate degree in political science from the Hebrew University of
Jerusalem.
Faculty (in alphabetical order)
Liad Agmon
Liad Agmon is a serial entrepreneur with rich experience as a startup founder and as a Fortune 500
executive. He founded information security vendor Onigma (acquired by McAfee) and social search
company Delver (acquired by Sears Holdings). Following Delver's acquisition, Liad served as a VP of
New Services and GM of Social Commerce at Sears Holdings and was a board member of its $2B+
business units of Home Electronics and Outlets. Liad serves as an entrepreneur-in-residence at
Bessemer Venture Capital, heads a new AdTech startup and is teaching at the Entrepreneurship MBA
program in Tel-Aviv University . He holds a BA Cum Laude from Tel-Aviv university in Computer
Sciences and Film Studies.
Dr. Nir Brueller
Nir Brueller joined the Recanati School, after serving as Affiliated Senior Research Fellow and Adjunct
Professor of Strategy at INSEAD, Fontainebleau and Singapore. He holds a Ph.D. in Management
(Strategy) from Tel Aviv University, an MBA with Distinction from INSEAD, and an M.Sc. and B.Sc.
(Cum Laude) in Electrical Engineering from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology.
Dr Brueller’s research interests revolve around corporate strategy, with a special focus on high-tech
industries, mergers and acquisitions, and technology entrepreneurship and strategy. His Ph.D.
dissertation on value creation and capture in technology-grafting acquisitions won the Yoram Rosenfeld
Best Doctoral Dissertation Prize (2006). In addition to his academic research and teaching, Dr. Brueller
has worked with top management teams of international high-tech firms on corporate development,
M&A strategy and implementation.
Danny Dankner
©2011 Tel Aviv University - Faculty of Management, The Leon Recanati Graduate School of Business Administration 9
Danny is a long time entrepreneur, with vast experience in various managerial roles. In 1995 he was
on the founding team of Kinetica Internetting Solutions (start up sold to Israel's largest ISP). He
directed the Project Management activities at MobileSpear (a developer of a mobile services platform),
leading projects in Singapore, Spain and Israel. Danny had a key role in the merger of G-sites and Box
Interactive, leading to the creation of Scepia Internet Solutions - Israel’s largest solution provider.
Danny Dankner has lead ACE since its inception in 2003. He is responsible for overlooking the
company's activities – from strategic planning and R&D to operations and customer service.
Danny is a founding member of two entrepreneur forums: young entrepreneurs forum and recently the
Tel Aviv University Entrepreneurship SIG.
Danny holds an MBA in Marketing & IT and LL.B, both from Tel Aviv University and an Israeli Bar
Diploma.
Dr. Yuval Kalish
Yuval Kalish has a Ph.D. in Social/Mathematical Psychology from the University of Melbourne. As a
consultant, he has worked with large international firms such as AXA, Boeing, BHP-Billiton, and is
currently working with Israel’s Prime Minister's Office, Department of Education and Police Force. In
addition, he is a member of the management committee and staff of the Evens Program for Conflict
Management at Tel Aviv University. His research has been published in leading journals such as Social
Networks and the Asian Journal of Social Psychology.
Dr. David Katz
David Katz is a specialist in natural resource policy and economics, with a focus on water management.
Currently Executive Director of the Akirov Institute for Business and Environment at Tel Aviv
University, he also teaches courses in environmental economics and corporate environmental strategy
at the Recanati School and the Porter School of Environmental Studies. He has worked as a consultant
on projects dealing with environmental and resource management for a range of international
organizations, including the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the United Nations
Convention on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN), as well as for numerous environmental organizations. Dr. Katz has, in addition, lectured on
the strategic value of water resources in the Middle East at the Israeli Defense Force's National Military
College and has been interviewed and quoted by several national and international news organizations,
including CNN, BBC, and Reuters.
Eden Shochat
Eden Shochat is an early stage investor at Genesis Partners, currently on the board of Any.DO,
JoyTunes & face.com<http://face.com/>. Shochat has over 15 years of experience as the founder and
Chief Technology Officer of a variety of startups, and is an angel investor, serial entrepreneur and
technology specialist. Prior to joining Genesis, Shochat co-founded and was an early investor in
face.com<http://face.com/>, the #1 platform for massive, web-scale face recognition in social
networks, with over 25 billion indexed images. Previously, as the Chief Technology Officer of Aternity,
a leader in user-experience monitoring, Shochat led the strategic product direction, relationships with
©2011 Tel Aviv University - Faculty of Management, The Leon Recanati Graduate School of Business Administration 10
key customers and partners, and intellectual property creation and protection. Before founding
Aternity, Shochat co-founded Delavenne Enterprises, was Director of Engineering at Savantis Systems
and served as the Chief Technology Officer for Shells Interactive. Eden is the co-organizer of the yearly
geekcon conference, mentors high school students as part of the Startup seed program and was
recently selected as one of the 40 promising Israelis under 40 by TheMarker magazine.
Prof. Asher Tishler
Asher Tishler is the Dean of the Recanati School of Business and Director of the Eli Hurvitz Institute of
Strategic Management. He has been consultant to Israel’s Ministry of Defense, the Israel Defense
Forces (IDF), the Israel Electric Corporation, and Israel’s Ministry of National Infrastructures, as well as
several firms in Israel and abroad. Prof. Tishler received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of
Pennsylvania. He has published over 100 academic papers on applied microeconomics, econometrics,
energy economics, and defense-related issues.
Dr. Benny Zeevi
Benny Zeevi is a Managing General Partner at DFJ Tamir Fishman Ventures and leads the company's
initiatives in the life sciences sector. He is a physician specializing in interventional cardiology and
pediatric cardiology. Prior to joining DFJ Tamir Fishman Ventures, Dr. Zeevi was Vice President –
Business Development & Medical Director of Card Guard AG (CARDG, SWX), a position he held from
1998.
©2011 Tel Aviv University - Faculty of Management, The Leon Recanati Graduate School of Business Administration 11
Appendix B- Why the Recanati School at Tel Aviv University?
With its world-class teaching and research, its international reputation, connections and achievements,
Recanati is not only the largest and most prestigious business school in Israel, but also ranks amongst
the top institutions globally (http://recanati.tau.ac.il/Eng/ ). A full member of the global research
community, closely attuned to the constantly changing local and global environment, it encourages and
initiates international research, programs of study, and other activities. It also makes excellent use of
its strong ties with the local and international business community in the social involvement activities
in which it engages. The School has recently developed a state of the art MBA program dedicated to
the study of management in technological markets and focusing on start-up companies and innovation.
Since its establishment in 1966, the School has developed a wide range of programs and options that
have consistently attracted large numbers of students. Currently it has an enrollment of over 3,400
students, taught by 48 tenure-track and 140 adjunct faculty members, as well as many guest
lecturers. Among the School’s veteran alumni are leaders of Israel’s business community and public
sector, and its younger alumni are their first recruiting choice. In addition to the Kellogg-Recanati
International Executive MBA Program, inaugurated in 1996, the School also conducts a wide variety of
international activities and strives strategically to further develop and broaden its international scope.
To prepare its students to deal with the complexities of an increasingly competitive global business
environment, the School has expanded their exposure to and interaction with the international
business community through cooperative agreements and student exchange programs with more than
50 business schools around the globe.
©2011 Tel Aviv University - Faculty of Management, The Leon Recanati Graduate School of Business Administration 12
Doing Business in Israel-Final Assignment
Teaching Assistant
Lavan Roi
Tel: 00972-054-2112341
e-mail: roilavan@gmail.com
Course assignments
Each student will submit personal case analyses, by January 29th , to the course teaching assistant.
Course grade
Two group case analyses
60%
Personal case analysis
40%
Case study preparation
The personal case analyses should be submitted by mail to the course teaching assistant roilavan@gmail.com

The personal case analysis should not exceed six pages.
Final Assignment questions
1.
What are the strengths and weaknesses of Israel?
2.
What is the competitive advantage of Israel and is it sustainable for the next ten years?
3.
What are the pros and cons to develop Israeli giants companies (Teva, Makhteshim-Agan) vs.
developing small start ups companies (Ace) from two perspectives: entrepreneurs' perspective,
Israeli macroeconomic perspective?
©2011 Tel Aviv University - Faculty of Management, The Leon Recanati Graduate School of Business Administration 13