"The Chinese don’t like saying 'No' directly, preferring to equivocate. Patience and consistency are therefore required, and it sometimes seems that Israelis lack patience," said Professor Larry Franklin of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKST) yesterday at a lecture on business with China at Tel Aviv University.
Franklin, a guest lecturer of the Kellogg-Recanati International Executive MBA program, said more Israeli businesspeople now understand that if a deal is good for both parties, it will ultimately take place, even if it takes time. "The Chinese believe that speed makes things more expensive. Israelis initially had the opposite belief. They didn’t understand that the Chinese timetable is different and they tried to speed things up. But the Israelis slowly internalized the fact that you shouldn’t try to rush a Chinese businessman."
Franklin said Israelis have made an impressive leap into the Chinese business world. "As a man who has followed the attempts and successes of Israeli companies and businesspeople in the Chinese market for years, I can state that they deserve very high marks for fitting in with the Chinese business culture. No Israeli businessperson has any reason for feeling inferior to businesspeople from other Western countries doing business with China. The Israelis' learning curve is absolutely amazing."
Franklin went on to say that Israeli businesspeople understand that the Chinese do most of their business in person, rather than by remote control. "Israelis have an impressive capacity for flexibility when dealing with the Chinese character, and Israeli businesspeople learned to understand the importance of building long-term relations with the Chinese. In China, building confidence is more important than legal contracts, and Israelis grasped the point well."
He added that Israelis have much to offer China. "Many companies have thoroughly studied the Chinese market and its needs. They realized that China needs advanced agrotechnologies developed in Israel, as well as high-tech that has been successfully developed and produced in Israel."
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on August 17, 2004