Municipalities and Councils - Australians for Palestine

The Last Word
Business Attitude
The setting is a small private-sector company working in Ramallah in 1986.
“Business as usual” then meant easy access to work; easy access to customers –
whether in Jerusalem, Gaza, or even Dabburiya in the Galilee; being on the waiting
list for almost a year for approval from the Israeli civil administration to get a phone;
no fax, no cellular phones, and surely no Facebook or even Internet!
Yet for exactly those reasons, life was simpler, slower in pace, and far less stressful.
Twenty-five years later, access to work is difficult – particularly from out of town;
access to customers is, at best, not easy, even within Ramallah because of road
congestion and, at worst, almost impossible, if customers are in Jerusalem, Gaza, or
Dabburiya. On the positive side, if this is positive, telephone lines are easily obtained;
electronic communication gadgets abound and are rather inexpensive; and access
to information about anything and anyone is at your fingertips via the Internet.
Having witnessed all these transformations, I believe that yet another stark
difference exists between these two eras: the change in attitude of institutions towards
their customers – unfortunately, for the worse. I dare say the downturn covers the
terms of engagement not only of businesses towards their clients but within the
businesses themselves.
The experience of our software development firm, conceived in 1985 to offer
turn-key computer solutions to businesses, shows that the bilateral and reciprocal
relationships with those we had contracts with at the time were representative across
the board. Serop Ohannessian and the late Anwar Aqel immediately come to mind
when I remember the times we engaged with their two businesses. The least I can
say about our business relationship – apart from its being professional – is that it
was extremely courteous, respectful, straightforward, and gentlemanly. There must
have been misunderstandings and differences along the way, but the fact that I still
look back positively and warmly at how we conducted business twenty-odd years
ago is, in itself, a statement.
Business attitude today is unfortunately not so. Good or bad, the current business
environment in Palestine is similar to that in Amman, Cairo, Istanbul, Madrid, and
possibly even Atlanta. Irrespective of the reasons why we’ve become rather harsh
and often rude to one another, I wish we would all consciously work on having more
(or at least some) compassion as well as a personal touch and a commitment to
customer care when we conduct business. I wish people would return phone calls. I
long for the day when a bank employee picks up the phone when a client calls. It would
be good if people would reply to e-mails marked “urgent” and lovely if bureaucrats
would remember that those who seek a service need to get back to work or to their
families rather than get tangled up in a complex set of knots.
Finally, it would be wonderful if we would treat individuals or institutions smaller
in size and stature with respect rather than giving the impression that they are not
important and that we have bigger and more important things to do.
Sani P. Meo
Publisher
Exotic jewels decorate a traditional Nablus
hammam. Photo from Palestine Image Bank.