Dov Elizur

Job Insecurity: Correlates, Moderators and Measurement

Examines the relations between feelings of job insecurity (JI) and various attitudes and opinions of employees towards their work and the organization. Analyses survey data from 11 European high‐tech organizations with a total of 8,483 respondents. Shows that JI is associated with more negative evaluations of all aspects of the company and the job, including more objective variables such as the quality of products and services. Particularly high correlations are observed between JI and negative judgements on management and the company in general. Further presents the development of a questionnaire to assess JI. The questionnaire is then used to study differential effects of JI on persons with internal and external locus of control, and with high and low social support.

Values and organizational commitment

The main objective of the present study was to examine the relationship between work values, gender, and organizational commitment. Research on the relationship between work values, in general, and commitment, in particular, has not identified clear trends. As recent work has shown that gender may be a moderator in predicting outcomes from work values, a model combining these variables was examined. The 24‐item Work Values Questionnaire, constructed by Elizur in previous research and an abbreviated version of the Porter et al., nine‐item organizational commitment questionnaire were used in the study. Data were collected from 204 students, all of whom work outside school. A moderated regression analysis showed that work values, especially cognitive ones, are positively related with commitment and the interaction of values with gender was also found to be a significant predictor of commitment. Some implications of the results were discussed.

The Structure of Attitudes Toward Work and Technological Change Within an Organization.

This study is part of a larger research project on the responses of employees in administrative organizations in Israel and Holland to the introduction of automatic data processing through electronic computers. For a more detailed analysis, see Elizur (1970) and Elizur and Ushpiz (1973). The authors thank Aaron Antonovsky, Howard Fromkin, and Ben Schneider for their valuable comments on an earlier draft.

Achievement motive and entrepreneurial orientation: A structural analysis.

In this study we have attempted to assess the achievement motive of students of small business, considered as having high entrepreneurial orientations, and students of business and economics, considered as having lower entrepreneurial orientations. Based on a facet definition of achievement motive we analyzed the structure of achievement motive for both samples. As hypothesized, results reflected the three facets of achievement motive: type of confrontation, time perspective related to task performance, and behavior modality. As hypothesized, small business students were found to score higher than their business and economics colleagues on most of the achievement items. Considerable differences between the samples were found on four achievement components: the readiness to face uncertainty, calculating risk, undertaking personal responsibility, and solving problems. The discussion focused on the advantages of the multifaceted approach to achievement motive and implications for assessing it in various settings. Copyright

Gender and Work Values: A Comparative Analysis

The results of recent investigations on work values suggest that the contradictory findings in regard to gender differences may be rooted in variations in the underlying structure of the work-values domain. In the present study a definitional framework for work values was proposed and tested. Smallest space analysis (SSA; Guttman, 1968) was performed on the ratings of 24 work-value items by samples of men and women from Hungary, Israel, and the Netherlands. A double-ordered conceptual system, a radex structure, was obtained in each of the samples, reflecting two hypothesized facets: modality of outcome (cognitive, affective, and instrumental) and type of system performance contingency. Essentially the same structure was obtained for women and men. However, women ranked affective outcomes as well as some of the instrumental and cognitive values higher than men did, whereas men ranked some other cognitive (influence, independence, responsibility) and instrumental (pay) items higher than women did. Personal growth and use of abilities were ranked higher by men in some samples and by women in others.

The structure and strength of achievement motivation: A cross‐cultural comparison

An intercultural research project on achievement motivation was originated based on a multifaceted approach. The objective of this study was to analyze the structure of the achievement motive domain for samples from five countries: the United States, the Netherlands, Israel, Hungary, and Japan. We hypothesized that data collected from the various samples will reflect the basic facets suggested by the definitional framework of achievement motivation. In addition, it was hypothesized that the individualistic and collectivistic cultural orientations will have an effect on motive strength. Results from 1868 respondents supported the hypotheses. The three basic facets of the definition of achievement motive: behavior modality (instrumental, affective, or cognitive), type of confrontation (confronting oneself or matching solutions to challenges), and time perspective relative to task performance (before, during, or after performance), were reflected as major determinants of the data. Achievement tendencies were highest for U.S.A. respondents (individualistic culture) and lowest for the Japanese and the Hungarian respondents (collectivistic societies). Theoretical implications as well as suggestions for further research were outlined.

The structure of personal values: a conical representation of multiple life areas

Summary The objective of the present study was to analyze the structure of personal values. Based on previous investigations, we proposed a multifaceted definition of values from various life areas (or domains). Structural hypotheses concerning the relationships between the definitional framework and empirical observations were formulated. Using data obtained from two samples of Israeli respondents (153 business students and 146 computer personnel), the hypotheses were examined and supported. Two basic sets of components: life areas (work, religion, culture, sports, politics, and life in general which primarily concerns home and family) and modalities (material, affective, and cognitive), were distinguished and confirmed by means of factor analysis and facet analysis. A three-dimensional conical representation of the personal values domain was revealed. The structural analysis reflected several differences among the attributes of life areas, such as the obligatory or optional nature of their activities. Theoretical implications as well as suggestions for further research are outlined.

Effect of Participation in Strategic and Tactical Decisions on Acceptance of Planned Change.

Participation of workers or clients in decision-making has been suggested as a critical method for achieving acceptance and effectiveness of planned change (Blumberg, 1976). The literature does not provide full support for this suggestion (Locke & Schweiger, 1979; Wagner & Gooding, 1987). The present study investigated the type of change decision and change certainty, which may moderate the effect of participation on change acceptance. A battery of psychological ability tests was administered to 222 Israeli subjects participating in a laboratory experiment. Subjects in three experimental groups were offered an opportunity to participate in strategic and/or tactical decisions regarding a change in type of test. The fourth group was not given any chance for participation. The effect of participation upon acceptance of change was consistent with the proposed hypotheses.

Work values and commitment

The main objective of the present study was to examine the relationship between work values and commitment. Suggests at the first stage a systematic definition of the work values domain based on two content facets: modality of outcome and system‐performance contingency. Based on this definitional framework, the 24‐item Work Values Questionnaire, constructed by Elizur and his colleagues in previous research, was applied. Included in the questionnaire was a non‐item measure of commitment. It was expected that commitment would be more strongly correlated with cognitive work value items than with instrumental ones. The results generally support the hypotheses. Moderate positive correlations were observed between commitment and independence, job interest, use of abilities and achievement. A positive correlation was also found, however, with pay, which was classified as an instrumental work value item. The meaning of the results and their implications for future research were discussed.

Decision type, participative decision making (PDM), and organizational behavior: An experimental simulation

The present study tested hypotheses derived from the path‐goal theory of leadership concerning attitudes and behavior in an organizational change situation. Using an experimental simulation, the method of payment for 199 coding workers was changed from hourly to piece‐rate, either by participation or initiating structure (i.e., direction). Results supported the influence of the type of change decision on change acceptance. Initiating structure in the strategic change decision (whether or not to implement a planned change) and participation in tactical decisions (how to implement the change) both increased change acceptance. An interaction effect was also observed with subjects in the directive strategy with participation tactics combination showing the largest change acceptance mean. However, initiating structure or participation in both decision types had minimal effect on performance. Theoretical and practical implications of the results were discussed.