To: Boss
From: Tyler Arnott
Date: October 12, 2012
Subject: Cultural Brief Memo
Economic Background
Israel represents an extremely interesting and quickly emerging opportunity for our business. Despite the economic recessions which have hit many countries throughout the world, including our own, Israel has largely been able to avoid many of the devastating effects caused by the recession due to the conservative nature of their country. According to Raveh and Ravid, "the current crisis has shown that business in Israel is safe and firm - The Shekel has been holding up quite well and no local bank has fallen" (Raveh). Additionally, Raveh and Ravid assert, "Israel has a very conservative mortgage policy, which leads many Israeli's to complain on the one hand, yet on the other hand - this policy definitely saved business in Israel and the Israeli market from being exposed to the subprime crisis" (Raveh). Finally, according to the CIA World FactBook, "The global financial crisis of 2008-09 spurred a brief recession in Israel, but the country entered the crisis with solid fundamentals - following years of prudent fiscal policy and a resilient banking sector.
English: Wailing Wall from the Tankizyya
English: Jerusalem, Dome of the rock, in the backg...
English: Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem...The economy has recovered better than most advanced, comparably sized economies" (Israel). Conflating these statements leads me to believe that Israel represents an excellent opportunity for our business. The Israeli banking and mortgage policies may lead to some frustration amongst the Israeli people, but they are very appealing policies to business leaders because create a very stable environment with much less risk than many of the countries that were hit harder by the global recession. Israel has shown it is capable of withstanding some of the most difficult economic times in history and thus could become a vital part of our business.
Religious Culture
Understanding the Israeli culture, and being able...