[ad_1]
Iscar is a manufacturer of metalworking tools in Israel that few people had heard of before Omaha Oracle Warren Buffett gave him an investment in 2006. It was the first time Berkshire Hathaway Buffett was investing in a company outside the United States. the largest foreign investment ever made by an Israeli company, amounting to about $ 4 billion and intended for 80% of metallurgical plants.
Buffett bought the rest of Iscar for an additional $ 2 billion in 2013, or $ 10 billion. Although Iscar does not disclose his figures, Haaretz reports that "sources close to the company" say that Iscar has reported about $ 6 billion to Berkshire Hathaway since his initial investment, which means that the bet has at least has been profitable and has eventually yielded about $ 1 billion in profits. The company's sales have exploded and Iscar is now the jewel of the IMC Group, one of the world's largest metal conglomerates owned by Berkshire Hathaway.
When he acquired Iscar, Buffett attributed the success of the company to its exceptional management. Apparently, this is still why this remote manufacturer located in the Upper Galilee region of Israel remains a silent power station. According to Haaretz, the secret of Iscar's appeal and success lies precisely in the reasons why some might have expected him to fail.
Iscar is headquartered in Migdal, not far from the border with Lebanon, where military skirmishes take place. It's far from the hip city of Tel Aviv, where much of Israel's innovation takes place. But it is the second largest employer in the region, after defense contractor Rafael, and its 3,500 employees would be totally devoted to the company, perhaps in part because there are fewer opportunities in the north only in the capital.
However, this is not the only reason why Buffett and Iscar employees love the company. Another reason is that Iscar seems to be as dedicated to the employees as it is to the company. It offers almost total job security and is not posh to know who he is hiring. There is virtually no turnover at Iscar, which recruits local school engineers and recruits management from among its ranks, rather than looking for students from prestigious American universities, for example. Iscar also trains talented local workers with minimal training and places them in production and sales positions. And of the 3,500 employees, more than 1,000 are of Druze or Arab origin, representing an unusually high proportion of non-Jewish workers in an Israeli company.
A source told Haaretz: "When a company like Iscar gives the opportunity to a local resident, including a car, refined meals and a professional interest, he is ready to give his soul. [in return]. People arrive at 5 in the morning and leave at 11 o'clock in the evening. They know they will not have such an opportunity elsewhere. For non-Jewish employees, who can not work in a defense company such as Rafael, this motivation is even stronger. "
Interfaith Employment
Iscar is not the only Israeli company to attract foreign investors with its products and diverse staff. In December, PepsiCo. bought SodaStream, better known as a manufacturer of a carbonation product for individuals. The $ 3.2 billion purchase allows Pepsi to expand its healthy beverage options.
SodaStream employs workers from the entire Israeli population. But the company was caught in international controversy and boycotts in 2014 because its main factory was located in the occupied West Bank. The plant was closed in 2015 and a new facility was opened in the Negev desert.
More recently, SodaStream has sought to position itself as a politically progressive society, which focuses on the equal treatment of its Jewish, Palestinian and Bedouin employees, who work side by side. This year, SodaStream opened a new factory in Gaza. Its managing director, Daniel Birnbaum, said in December: "We want people in Gaza to have jobs, real jobs, because where there is prosperity, there can be peace."
SodaStream also welcomed what he had said at Quartz, at the time, was Israel's largest Iftar celebration on the last day of the Muslim holiday, the month of Ramadan, in May. Nearly 3,000 Israelis and Palestinians joined the rally at its Rahat plant in southern Israel, home to a large Bedouin population, to break bread after a holiday fast.
Birnbaum recently gave a TEDX talk in Tel Aviv, in which he explains how he pulled the company off $ 6 million from the brink of bankruptcy in 2006 to the point of becoming an attractive target for acquisition by focusing not only about the people who work there.
According to Birnbaum, the first day that 150 Palestinians joined 600 SodaStream employees in 2007, three Israeli Jewish employees resigned in protest. "But 597 stayed," notes Birnbaum optimistically. And in a short time, all the workers not only worked together, but also created a tradition of observing each other's holidays.
[ad_2]
Source link