Introduction
Transportation and the associated issues are of especial concern in the present-day world. Since in the modern environment, developmental processes in practically every field have taken up a much faster pace due to the faster information processing and delivery, the speed with which the services are rendered to the customers nowadays matters incredibly. In many respects, this speed is defined by the transportation issues, which, in their turn, depend on fuel production and delivery. Israel Corp., the organization ranked in the top 25 most successful companies of 2013, manages to stay afloat in the realm of chemicals and energy despite extremely high competition rates.
Main body
The history of the Israel Corp. is not that complicated; starting out as a relatively risky project, it turned to be one of the world’s most famous companies ever, and for a good reason – with the help of the Israel Corp., the world has seen how a private company can have a tangible impact not only on the economical life of the state but also on its political affairs, including both domestic and foreign policy. An impressive foot forward into the area where business, economy, technology, and politics cross, Israel Corp. definitely deserves being mentioned among the most influential firms of the XXI century.
It is quite peculiar that the Israeli market system does not seem favorable enough for the development of a company that deals with the issues related to fuel production, selling, and delivery. Israel Corporation never even started out as a major holding company that specializes in fuel and fertilizers production and delivery. According to the existing records of the company’s history and productivity, however, Israel Corp. was bound to succeed, since it was founded by one of the most successful people of the time, Shaul Eisenberg. When Eisenberg died, however, the company passed to Michael Tzur. Nowadays, Israel Corporation is a part of the Ofer Brothers Group: “The bitter family feud after his death only demonstrated that there was no one to carry business forward. Eisenberg’s 53 per cent of Israel Corporation was therefore put on the bloc, and in January 1999 was sold to the Ofer Brothers for a mere $330 000 million” (Nitzan & Bichler, 2002).
When it comes to talking about the most impressive things about the Israel Corporation, one inevitably mentions the fact that the company’s reputation is far from being perfect. For instance, it has been accused several times of abusing its power and exercising its influence on the Israeli politicians a few too many times. Moreover, its CEO, Michael Tzur, was accused of bribery and fraud:
Michael Tzur, the CEO of the Israel Corp., was convicted in 1974 of fraud and bribery – taking advantage of his position and professional connections with various financial bodies, including the International Credit Bank in Geneva. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison. (Galnoor, 2010, 171)
Yet, miraculously enough, the aforementioned spots on the company’s reputation never became an obstacle on the company’s way to its triumph. The given phenomenon can be explained in several ways. The first and the most obvious one is that people are by far more interested in the quality of the provided services, no matter what source they come from. Another reason can be the fact that the incredible risks taken by the company foreshadowed a less than stellar reputation of its CEO. Anyway, it is also worth adding that the minister of France himself, Pinchas Sapir, gave his blessing and a major investment to the company.
With an impressive history like this, the Israel Corporation was literally made for success. However, as it has been stressed above, the realm of the Israeli market does not seem to offer much to the people specializing in fuel and fertilizers. In addition, it is worth noting that there are quite a few companies specializing in the fuel and chemistry field apart from Israel Corp., which means that the competition must have been very tough. There are several types of markets in Israel, where the company is located, as one can easily guess. However, by far the largest and the most influential one is the agricultural market. Relying considerably on the given branch, Israel needs the supplies that can possibly make its agricultural progress even more impressive.
Hence the need for chemicals, e.g., fertilizers, and the fuel to deliver these chemicals on time to the required location emerges. Called “kibbutz,” the so-called agricultural communities shape the Israeli market to a considerable extent. One must mention that over the past few years, Israel has been working on developing new types of markets and letting industry evolve in order to keep in pace with the rapidly changing world of technology. Titled “the new kibbutz,” the given type of market in Israel is gaining popularity slowly but surely: “A comparison between the past kibbutz experience of economic activity on the market in Israel and abroad and the New Kibbutz concept illustrates the difference between the two types of such coexistence” (Samuel & Harpaz, 2004, 212). Therefore, it can be assumed that the agricultural nature of the Israeli market mixed with the introduction of the recent technological advances predetermines Israel Corp.’s success since the latter puts a stake in encouraging agriculture by using the latest technological achievements in the company’s production processes.
Because of the controversies around the company’s CEO and the firm’s reputation, the Israel Corp. can possibly face certain political issues. Since the company was founded and funded by the Israeli government initially, it can be assumed that Israel is the first country in the risk group, seeing how it can easily lose its reputation in case the company does badly (History – Israel Corp., n. d.).
The stakeholders of the company are rather easy to define. In the given case, the internal stakeholders include the employees of the company, its managers and CEO, and the shareholders. As for the external stakeholders, those include suppliers, customers, society, and government (Egypt ends gas deal with Israel, stakeholder says, 2012).
It is noteworthy that the company has a very peculiar code of conduct. According to the corporate values of Israel Corp., the staff is the priority of the company. As the company’s CEO explains, as long as the managers and the staff maintain satisfactory relationships and the climate in the company is inviting, the company will prosper.
Conclusion
When it comes to defining the company’s future plans, one can claim with certainty that the Israeli Corp. is not going to rest on its laurels. As the provided data says, the company is going to guide its actions to the future. Israeli Corp. is currently trying to create ties with foreign companies like Better Days. Thus, it can be assumed that Israeli Corp. is going to expand.
Reference List
Egypt ends gas deal with Israel, stakeholder says(2012). Web.
Galnoor, I. (2010). Public management in Israel: Development, structure, functions and reforms. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis.
History – Israel Corp.(n. d.). Web.
Nitzan, J. & Bichler, S. (2002). The global political economy of Israel: From war profits to peace dividends. Sterling, VA: Pluto Press.
Samuel, Y. & Harpaz, I. (2004). Work and organizations in Israel. Piscataway, NJ: Transaction Publishers.