Ayalla Ruvio

A test of a multidimensional model of job insecurity: the case of Israeli teachers

Summary The research reported here adopted a multidimensional approach to studying job insecurity, using Israeli teachers as a case in point. Based on two determinants of job insecurity-unionization and kibbutz affiliation-four distinct employment types were identified: unionized city teachers, unionized kibbutz members, unionized kibbutz hirees, and non-unionized personal contract teachers. The a priori job insecurity status of the four employment types matched the subjective reports of these teachers, supporting the external validity of the job insecurity scale used. The study explored the effect of job insecurity on work attitudes. Results indicated that job insecurity had an adverse effect on organizational commitment, perceived performance, perceived organizational support, intention to quit and resistance to change, supporting predictions in related literature. The results of this study have implications on the management of job insecurity in changing environments.

A Gender-based Framework of the Experience of Job Insecurity and Its Effects on Work Attitudes

Gender effects on job insecurity and other work attitudes (organizational commitment, tendency to quit, resistance to change, perceived performance, and perceived organizational support) were investigated, with Israeli schoolteachers as a case in point. On a multidimensional measure of job insecurity, males and females significantly differed in their level and profile of job insecurity: Males were more insecure and emphasized financial concerns, whereas females expressed concerns about intrinsic facets of their jobs as well as financial concerns. Gender effects on work attitudes exceeded the effects of job insecurity and other demographic characteristics for most of the work attitudes studied. Moreover, job insecurity affected work attitudes differently for men and women: For females, all job attitudes were adversely affected by job insecurity; for males, only organizational commitment, intention to leave, and resistance to change were affected. Gender theories are applied to explain the differences found...

Animosity on the Home Front: The Intifada in Israel and Its Impact on Consumer Behavior

International animosity significantly affects the purchase of foreign products. However, domestic conflicts are also rampant in many countries, giving rise to similar issues. October 2000 marked the beginning of the second Arab Intifada (uprising) in Israel. In contrast to the first Intifada of the late 1980s and early 1990s, this time, Israeli Arabs joined the Palestinians in violent demonstrations in Israeli locations with large Arab concentrations. This research studies Jewish Israelis’ reactions to Arab Israelis in the context of purchases and consumption of products and services produced or marketed by Arab Israelis. It examines animosity, its antecedents, and its consumption consequences within the large Jewish majority of the population in Israel. The authors find that dogmatism, nationalism, and internationalism affect animosity, which in turn predicts willingness to buy and actual changes in purchase behavior for goods and services produced or marketed by Israeli Arabs. In contrast to previous research, animosity also predicts product judgments.

Market Orientations in the Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector: A Meta-Analysis of Their Relationships With Organizational Performance:

In their effort to improve performance, many voluntary and nonorofit organizations (VNPOs) have turned to market mechanisms, hoping to learn and implement innovative ideas and methods that proved useful in the private sector. This article adopts the businesslike concept of “marketing” into the arena of VNPOs by offering a meta-analysis to assess the marketing orientation (MO) in the VNPO sector. The article attempts to answer three questions: (a) What is the theoretical grounding and rationality for using MO strategies in the VNPO sector? (b) Can the VNPO sector benefit from an MO approach? (c) Is the MO perspective applicable for organizations without “profit” as a main goal? The findings were compared with findings in the for-profit sector and were found to be stronger. Finally, using a second, methodological meta-analysis, boundary conditions on the MO-performance link were assessed. The implications for VNPOs are discussed and directions for future research are outlined.

International Standardization of Channel Management and Its Behavioral and Performance Outcomes

Most research on standardization examines it in the context of the marketing mix. In contrast, research on standardization of management processes/characteristics is rare. The authors examine standardization of such processes/characteristics in international management of channels of distribution and its performance consequences. They include characteristics of firms’ relationships with their foreign representatives (coordination, support, autonomy, communications, and control) and their impact on behavioral and performance outcomes. Data generated from a survey in Slovenia mostly support the research hypotheses.

Terrorism, distress and coping: High versus low impact regions and direct versus indirect civilian exposure

Abstract The 2001–2002 terror campaign against Israels heartland was an unprecedented string of deadly bombing attacks against Israeli civilians. The violence touched the lives of countless Israelis and has negatively affected the general mood of many. The objective of this investigation was to assess the level of exposure to terrorism for individuals residing in the affected areas and to examine psychological responses and ways of coping during the peak of the violence. A random sample of 327 adults, purposely over-sampled from the hardest-hit areas, was surveyed. Although citizens residing in the most severely hit locales were also those who suffered most from posttraumatic symptoms, the effects of major national trauma were not limited to those directly exposed to it. These results suggest that objective measures of exposure or loss may not be sensitive predictors of reactive distress. Acceptance of the situation and its uncontrollability was both the most commonly used way of coping employed and the only effective one.

(Un)ethical consumer behavior: Robin Hoods or plain hoods?

Purpose – This paper seeks to assess the impact of consumer ethics and their piracy attitudes on piracy behaviors. The extent of such piracy is difficult to estimate because no worldwide statistics are available, but conservative estimates indicate that it costs manufacturers billions of dollars.Design/methodology/approach – The research was conducted using Israeli consumers through a structured questionnaire. Data were analyzed mostly through regression models.Findings – Attitudes to piracy served as a partial mediator of the impacts of consumer morals and ethics on actual piracy.Research limitations/implications – The major limitation is the use of a convenience sample and future research should replicate and extend this study using random samples.Practical implications – First, firms should advertise piracy as unethical. This would result in recognition of unethical piracy behavior by some part of the population. For piracy reduction, such people should recognize the need to “balance the ethical book” ...

Exploring space and place in marketing research: Excavating the garage

Based on an ethnographic study of American garages, we develop a model of the roles that liminal spaces perform in the management of possessions and their meanings. We find that the garage serves as a transitional space that links the useful and useless, female and male, clean and dirty, sacred and profane, and past, present, and future. We also propose that the garage can be a de facto museum and prosthetic memory device, as well as a link across generations of the family. Based on these findings, we offer a model of liminal household spaces and their dynamic role in making and managing meanings of everyday life.

A multilevel study of nascent social ventures

This article develops a multilevel model to explain social ventures’ organizational outcome. The study examines the relationships between entrepreneurs’ motivations and vision, ventures’ strategy and environment, ventures’ performance, and five-year survival of nascent Israeli firms. The findings suggest that an entrepreneur’s motivation is reflected in their vision, which in turn is transformed into their ventures’ strategies. Additionally, the environment is associated with entrepreneur’s motivations and strategies and success. The results show that the latter was the only predictor of a ventures five-year survival.

Job insecurity among Israeli schoolteachers: Sectoral profiles and organizational implications

In light of environmental and organizational trends toward privatization, and in response to changes in sectoral traditional differences, this paper investigated job insecurity (JI) of secondary schoolteachers in the public and private sectors in Israel. The study sample consisted of 326 Israeli schoolteachers. Using a multi‐dimensional measure of JI, where various job facets were addressed, two distinct JI profiles were found: public‐sector schoolteachers tended to emphasize intrinsic job features, while private‐sector schoolteachers tended to emphasize extrinsic ones. Sectoral differences were also found in regard to the adverse effect of JI on work attitudes: in the public sector JI affected organizational commitment, perceived organizational support, and tendency to quit, and in the private sector only tendency to quit was affected. These findings are partly explained by differences in employment structures, and have implications for human resource strategies regarding the provision of job security.