Bus 249f
Immersion Experience: Israel2018
FRIDAYS
3/9, 3/16, 3/23, ,4/20
4/10 – Israel Cyber Event – Asper Entrepreneur of Year
WED APR 25
2 – 5pm
Lemberg 55
Spring Semester 2018
Charles Reed, Jr.
Senior Lecturer
Faculty Fellow Asper Center
Email:
Office: Lemberg 257
Meetings by appointment
Debbie Berechman
Executive Director, Program Integration & External Relations
Email:
Office: Lemberg 249
Brandeis University
International Business School
Course Description:
Learning Goals and Outcomes:
- To expose and familiarize students to Israel, particularly the unique economic, cultural, political and historical forces that have produced the most prolific, creative, entrepreneurial climate in the world today. We explore why this is so.
- This course is designed to create an academic foundation that will enhance and heighten the immersive experience of being in the country.
- Ultimately, this experience and the others Brandeis University International Business School offers are designed to expose students to the global economy in a profound, personal and highly experiential manner.
Course Requirements:
This course is only for students admitted to the Hassenfeld Israel Immersion Experience 2018.
Course Approach
Classes will be a blend of lecture and case studies. There are a variety of weekly assignments, including books, notes, cases, Internet links and Youtube videos. Please come prepared and ready to participate in lively discussions with our expert speakers, each of whom has extensive experience and knowledge in their field.
Our speakers have been carefully selected to give you a solid foundation in Israel’s economy and entrepreneurial success, as well as the roots that have built and sustain this economic miracle. It is our fervent intention to present every aspect of Israel as accurately and factually as is possible. While we all have our own personal points of view on Israel, we hope to present you with the facts and let you come to your own points of view.
Course Materials
Textbook: Start Up Nation: The Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle by Dan Senor and Saul Singer. In addition, there are readings, cases and Harvard Business School notes and articles, as well as links to a variety of websites and videos. Start Up Nation is widely available from numerous sites online, new and used. The cases, notes and articles are available in the course pack, as described below.
Grading
For the purpose of grading, assignments will be weighted as follows:
Class Participation at IBS33%
Participation in Israel meetings34%
Research Project33%
TOTAL 100%
Disabilities:
If you are a student with a documented disability on record at Brandeis University and wish to have a reasonable accommodation made for you in this class, please see me immediately.
Academic Integrity:
You are expected to be familiar with and to follow the University’s policies on academic integrity (see Instances of alleged dishonesty will be forwarded to the Office of Campus Life for possible referral to the Student Judicial System. Potential sanctions include failure in the course and suspension from the University.
Class Participation. Students are expected to attend and participate in every class. This module is an important component of the educational experience of the Hassenfeld Israel Immersion Experience. Participating in the program is a great honor and privilege. We expect (near) perfect attendance. The module only meets 7 times, once for a mandatory introductory session on February 5, and then on 6 Fridays in March through April. Plan on being present, prepared and ready to participate in a meaningful way for each and everysession. Participation will be graded for each session with an emphasis on the quality of your contributions, not the quantity. To encourage thorough preparation, each class will start with a "cold call" on a student at random.
Absence from one or more class sessions can result in a failing participation grade for this course, and puts your participation in the trip to Israel at risk.
Laptops, cell phones and other electronic devices are NOT allowed in this class. Please print cases and bring them to relevant classes. We’ll need them.
Research Project:
There is no final exam for this course, per se. There is an individual research project!
Each student, individually and without outside help, will research a company in any industry from the student’s home country doing or trying to do business in Israel, or an Israeli company trying to do business in the student’s home country. No two students can research the same company. Please evaluate the following, at a minimum:
-Porter’s 5 Forces
-SWOT analysis and/or 4 Ps/5Cs analysis
-PESTEL
-Customer target segment options and selection
-Evaluation of current efforts, if relevant
-Recommendations for the company moving forward including expected outcomes.
The paper should be no more than 5 double spaced pages or less, not including appendices. Please be as comprehensive and persuasive as you can. But focus the issues in priority to their importance. Papers are due at the start of class on April 21.
Office Hours
I enjoy the opportunity to get to interact with you as much as possible. Email has proven very helpful in this regard. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you need assistance in any manner, or have comments, concerns or words of praise for some aspect of the course. The best way to contact me is by email at:.
All questions about the trip, logistics, travel visas and special travel considerations should be directed to Debbie Berechman. She can be reached at and at (781) 736-8399.
Assignments
MANDATORY Introductory SessionDEAN’S CONF RM
Discussion:Course Introduction and Assignments
Readings:Start Up Nation: The Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle
by Dan Senor and Paul Singer
Start Up Nation is a fun and easy read. The book situates the Israeli economy, particularly its entrepreneurial sector, in Israel’s historical, political and cultural milieu. It will serve as an important foundation to our course and trip. Please read the book prior to the start of our course on Thursday, March 11. Speakers that day will base their presentations on the book.
Speakers:Charles Reed, Senior Lecturer; Co-Dir, Asper Center for Entrepreneurship
Debbie Berechman, Executive Director, Program Integration & External
Relations at IBS, and program co-leader
Class 1A:Overview of the Module
9 MAR
2:00 – 3:20pm
Speaker: Charles Reed – (See bio in LATTE)
Overview of the module. Review of expectations (attendance, participation, etc.). Review of lthe major drivers illustrated in “Start Up Nation”.
Class #1B:Israel’s founding: politics, people, religions, economy
9 MAR
3:30-4:50pm
Readings:Dan Senor & Paul Singer – Start up Nation; see above
Case:None
Speaker:Rabbi Lisa Eiduson
Rabbi Eiduson will describe the history of the area, including the Ottoman Empire and the country division; an overview of Zionism and Herzl’s role in inspiring the founding of Israel in 1948 and conditions leading to that event; a review of the holocaust; the displacement of Palestinians; early settlers and current settler movement.
Rabbi Lisa Eiduson joined Temple Beth Avodah’s congregational family in 2003 as Rabbi/Educator. A native of Shaker Heights, Ohio, Rabbi Eiduson received her BA in Religion and Jewish Studies from Boston University in 1986 where she studied with Elie Wiesel. She graduated Summa Cum Laude with Distinction and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.Following rabbinic ordination in 1992 from HUC-JIR in Cincinnati, Rabbi Eiduson went on to serve Reform congregations in Cincinnati, Ohio, Buffalo, New York and Cleveland, Ohio. In addition to her synagogue work, Rabbi Eiduson taught at the college level for eight years as an Adjunct Faculty member at Xavier University in Cincinnati and at the State University of New York at Buffalo.
She has traveled to Israel many times, and for the past three years has received grant monies from theCombined Jewish Philanthropy's Boston-Haifa initiative to be part of a unique school-match program between the Grade 10 students at Temple Beth Avodah and the Grade 10 students at the Alliance School in Haifa. Each year, this program includes hosting Israeli students while they are in Boston, travel with the Israeli and American teens together to New York City, and taking the Temple Beth Avodah students to Israel.
Rabbi Eiduson's educational philosophy is built on the foundation that simply gathering Jewish knowledge is not enough; moreover,we are called to find joy and meaning in participating in Jewish life and learning. She is currently enrolled in a doctoral program at Northeastern University and plans to complete her dissertation and receive her degree in Organizational Leadership Studies sometime in 2016. Rabbi Eiduson enjoys reading, gardening and music, and perhaps most of all, spending time at the ocean with her husband, Rabbi Joe Eiduson, their daughters, Rosie and Carly, and their two Labrador retrievers, Maggie and Mason.
Class #2A:Immigration Waves; Israel’s Law of Return; Jewish State vs Democracy?
16 MAR
2:00-3:20pm
Speaker:Rabbi Lisa Eiduson
Rabbi Eiduson will discuss the political, cultural and economic opportunities and challenges created by the many waves of immigration; Israel’s “Law of Return” (vs the right of return) and other issues that challenge the peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
Case:None
Class #2B:MA – ISRAEL ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP
24 MAR
3:30-4:50pm
Class # 2A
16 MAR
2:00-3:20pm
Speaker:Rabbi lisa Eiduson
Rabbi Eiduson will discuss the waves of immigration which gives Israel both its special character and political, bultural and economic opportunities and challenges. Also the “Law of Return”. And the issues challenging the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians.
Class #2B
16 MAR
3:30-5:00
Amitay Kalmar, CEO Lendbuss
Amitay will discuss the founding of a new venture in finance using Fin Tech processes to significantly reduce the costs of auto loans to non US nationals.
CLASS #3AMA- Israel Economic Partnership
23 MAR
2:00=3:20pm
Speaker: Alex Goldstein, CEO Ninetywest
Class # 3BNew England Israel Business Council
16 MAR
3:30-4:50pm
Speaker: Dlan Trajman, President & CEO NEIBC
Day 4 – April 13 sessions will be redirected to the events of the Asper Entrepreneur of the Year awards held on Tuesday, April 10th. We will honor two Israeli entrepreneurs who have started significant companies in cybersecurity. Details will be relayed in class as the event approaches.
CLASS #5A
20 APR
2:00-3:20pmSpeaker: Joel Schwartz; former head global operations EMC
Joel placed 7 different operations in Israel.
How EMC got to Israel. The MA/Israel partnership from the point of view of a major US corporation. How the landscape has changed.
Joel Schwartz was Senior Vice President and General Manager, Global New Business Development at EMC Corporation. With 2014 revenues of $24.4 billion, and approximately 60,000 employees worldwide, EMC is the world's leading developer and provider of information infrastructure technology and solutions that enable organizations of all sizes to transform the way they compete and create value from their information.
Mr. Schwartz was responsible for the overall strategic direction of EMC’s New Business activities around the world. In his global role, he initiated EMC’s R&D efforts in Brazil, Russia, India, China, Singapore and Mexico as well as numerous investments/acquisitions in Israeli companies and joint ventures in China. Included in his responsibilities is EMC’s joint venture with Lenovo Mr. Schwartz joined EMC in 1999 from Data General Corporation where he served as the Senior Vice President and General Manager of the CLARiiON Division as well as Vice President, Worldwide Sales and Marketing. At EMC, under Mr. Schwartz, annual sales for the CLARiiON Division grew from $500M to $2B in five years. Mr. Schwartz was also the senior EMC executive responsible for the Dell/EMC relationship.
Mr. Schwartz is a member of the Board of Trustees of Mass Ventures, a venture capital organization sponsored by the State of Massachusetts. Mr. Schwartz is also a member and treasurer of the Board of Directors of The Finca Vigia Foundation, a non-profit organization working to preserve Ernest Hemingway’s legacy in Cuba. Mr. Schwartz is also a member of the Board of Overseers of the Brandeis International Business School, and recently conceived, developed and is a part-time lecturer for a graduate course in Israeli Entrepreneurship at Worcester Polytech Institute. Additionally, Mr. Schwartz is a member of the Board of Directors of the US Russian Business Council, an advisory board member of the Boston-based Russian Venture Fund, and a member of the Case Western Reserve University International Affairs Advisory Board. Mr. Schwartz is also a member of the advisory board of Long River Ventures.
Mr. Schwartz holds a BSEE and MSEE from Case Western Reserve University and also attended the Executive Management Program at Stanford University. Joel will be meeting with us in Israel to host venture capitalist forums and other business meetings.
CLASS 5B-
APR 20
3:30-4:40
Speaker: Charles Reed
Prepare to discuss the HBS case: The Cheese and the Oligarchs:
The Politics, the Media and Israel’s Dream of a “Start-Up Nation”
CLASS #6ACURRENT EVENTS IN ISRAEL – WHAT IS ON YOUR MIND
25 APR (Wed)
2:00-3:20pm
Discussion Leaders :Debbie
Q&A Conversation about current events in Israel.
CLASS #6BTRIP PREPARATION
25 APR (Wed)
3:30-4:50
Debbie
ATTENDANCE AT THIS SESSION IS ABSOLUTELY MANDATORY!!!
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