In February 2015, a group of HBA 2 students headed to Israel for the chance to meet with some of the country’s top executives and technology innovators. Israel is often overlooked as a technologically-advanced and innovative country, but the students were given the opportunity to see otherwise.
Assistant Professor Amos Nadler, Director of the Ivey Israel Business Trip, said Israel is known as “the startup nation,” so he was excited to provide his students with a chance to experience, not only a new culture, but a new economic landscape, and learn how Israel’s business mindset differs from North America. The students wrote reflection pieces about their experiences for their year-end class project.
HBA students Tanya Hussar and Connor Boyce shared what they learned about business in Israel and what makes the country unique.
The excerpts below are based on the year-end reflection pieces.
Tanya Hussar, HBA ’15
Travelling to Israel was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Having both friends and family who have travelled to Israel, I had an idea of what to expect, however, the culture of this unique country can only be experienced for oneself. Israelis exhibit a number of characteristics and mentalities that not only define them as a people, but also allow them to flourish in their everyday lives.
When visiting Facebook Israel, we learned there is no single degree or prescribed path of schooling necessary to work at the company or succeed there. Facebook is focused on the impact employees can make and how they utilize concrete data to support their decisions. The company also values the learning experience that comes from an idea that fails, as Facebook believes it makes an employee more knowledgeable in the long term and ultimately more successful. Living in Canada and attending business school has created the perception among many Ivey students that there is a specific formula that leads to success. In Israel, acceptance of failure and diversity in the skillsets of people is embedded in the culture of many firms. Adopting this characteristic could benefit many young Canadians, as business failure often involves a large level of stigma in the Canadian marketplace.
There are numerous lessons business students can learn from Israelis and their mentality regarding both work and personal life. The people we met were leaders in their own respect, and meeting Israelis from a variety of backgrounds and walks of life helped enhance the overall experience. Many people view Israel as the “startup nation,” however, there is much more beyond Israel’s fostering of startups that students can benefit from studying. Each student’s experience on the Israel trip will differ slightly, but I believe everyone can benefit from learning about the Israeli culture and what makes this country so innovative and unique.
Connor Boyce, HBA ’15
The Ivey Israel Business Trip was a fantastic learning opportunity. My greatest takeaway from the course was learning about the Israeli business mentality. We met many entrepreneurs that persevered against heavy odds to become successful. These businesspeople were not afraid to fail and were able to move on to another venture if they did. Compared to Canada, where we struggle with creating startups, Israel has succeeded in building a strong and dynamic startup ecosystem. As business students, meeting people involved in this environment was a powerful motivator for starting our own companies in Canada. The course gave us the tools to help improve the Canadian startup ecosystem.
I was also inspired by Israelis’ view on life. My impression was that Israelis, broadly speaking, derived their satisfaction from doing what they enjoyed, regardless of whether it would make them wealthy. These individuals also seemed to find satisfaction in the path to their goals, rather than solely in the goals themselves. The Israelis also didn’t put off the things that they wanted to do. They built the life they wanted to live. This trip made me reflect on the decisions I’ve made so far in my career and on the type of career path I hope to take. Going forward, I want to continue to be honest with myself when thinking about what I want out of life. I hope that as I progress through my career, I will take time to think about whether what I’m doing actually satisfies me.
Connor Boyce in Israel. Photo courtesy of Connor Boyce.
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