by Dr. Dov Reichman, Spectra Analytics Ltd.
The Prime Minister’s Conference for Export and International Cooperation was held in Jerusalem in November 2008 marking 60 years of Independence and Economic Achievements.
The Prime Minister’s Conference is organized by the four leading economic organizations of Israel: the Manufacturers’ Association of Israel, the Israel Export and International Cooperation Institute, the Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce and the Israel Federation of Bi-National Chambers of Commerce and Industry, in cooperation with the Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry of Industry, Trade & Labor, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Prime Minister’s Conference for 2008 is the 7th consecutive conference. Attended by 1,500 business persons annually, it is considered to be Israel’s leading economic Conference.
The 1st session of the life science industry panel focused on "Benchmarking & Best Practices in Leadership & in Building Alliances through Case Studies”.
Mr. Israel Makov, chairman of Given Imaging and former president & CEO of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., said in his presentation at the session that, in the pharmaceuticals business, forming strategic partnerships is an essential stage in the process of expanding into international markets.
Statistically, 75% of these partnerships will be re-structured during the partnership period and 80% will end up merging into one, central company.
He went on to say that strong leadership is the basic pre-requisite for achieving a strategic partnership beneficial to both sides.
The guest speakers, Dr. Sol J. Barer (CEO, Celgene) and Dr. Michael Heuer, President of Europe, Middle-East, Africa & Latin America, Roche Diagnostics emphasized the success factors in the forming of international alliances.
Celgene is focused on developing new drugs for the treatment of serious and debilitating diseases and is currently the world’s 4th largest biotechnology company with a market capitalization of over $30 Billion.
Dr. Sol J. Barer highlighted the need for mutual cultural understanding. He outlined a number of points essential for a successful partnership:
- Understand your partner's mission and culture and ensure that they understand yours.
- Do all that is necessary to develop and maintain an atmosphere of trust between the partners.
- A partnership is a collaborative effort; take steps to ensure that collaboration is real and that successes are acknowledged.
- Honor all your commitments to your partner.
Dr. Michael Heuer shared some of the lessons learned from his experience:
- Respect and maintain the culture and philosophy of the new partner.
- New members of the group must be treated as partners with equal rights from the outset.
- Take steps to quickly integrate the administrative and financial processes.
- Tightly monitor all steps taken in the integration process.
- Communicate openly and honestly with all parties involved.
