2016 - Working Papers: Organizational Behavior and Human Resources

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על כף המאזניים: איזון עבודה חיים בישראל, 57 עמ'
.Managers’ and employees’ perceptions of work-life balance, 57 pp
ש. טוקר ו- נ. בר הלל
S. Toker and N. Bar Hillel
(Working Paper no. 6/2016)
00250100:.Research no

ישנה חשיבות רבה עבור ארגונים להכיר את שלל הגורמים המשפיעים על התנהגות העובדים שלהם על מנת להפיק מהם את המיטב. אחד הגורמים שמשפיעים על התנהגות העובדים בארגונים הוא הציפיות שלהם בנוגע לאיזון עבודה חיים, מונח המוכר בספרות כ – work-life balance . (WLB) המטרה המרכזית של המחקר הנוכחי היא לתת מענה לפער הקיים בספרות לגבי התפקיד של ציפיות שונות של מנהלים ועובדים בנוגע לפרקטיקות ופעילויות שארגונים נוקטים בהקשר של איזון עבודה חיים. במחקר זה, התבצעה בחינה מחדש של המונח איזון עבודה חיים בשיטה איכותנית, המתמקדת בנקודת המבט של המשיבים. במסגרת המחקר נערכו 46 צמדי ראיונות מובנים של עובדים ומנהליהם הישירים. במסגרת הראיונות נבחנו הציפיות האישיות של עובדים ומנהלים מארגונם, וגם התפיסות שלהם לגבי המסרים והפרקטיקות הארגוניות. מניתוח הראיונות עלו 5 תימות עיקריות המאפיינות את מושג איזון בית עבודה: זמן המוקדש לפנאי, כבוד לזמנו הפרטי של העובד, איזון בין שעות הבית לשעות העבודה, זמן המוקדש למשפחה ותימת גמישות בבחירות המיקום בו מתבצעת העבודה. עוד עולה כי יותר ממחצית העובדים והמנהלים מצפים ממקום העבודה שיאפשר להם ליצור איזון בין העבודה וחייהם הפרטיים. נקודות בולטות נוספות שעלו מן המחקר הן שעובדים ומנהלים מעלים את הצורך בזמן פנוי לתחביבים ומצפים להקדיש זמן למשפחתם גם באמצע השבוע. הפער העיקרי בין ציפיות העובדים לציפיות המנהלים הוא שעובדים מבקשים ששעות העבודה שנקבעו בחוזה יהיו זהות לשעות העבודה בפועל ואינם מעוניינים להישאר בעבודתם לצורך מראית עין בלבד, ואילו מנהלים אינם שותפים לציפייה זו. כמו כן, מן המחקר עולה כי הפרקטיקות הארגוניות שנועדו לאפשר איזון עבודה חיים אינן נגישות באופן זהה לעובדים ומנהלים. מן המחקר עולה כי חשוב להתאים את הפרקטיקות הארגוניות בנוגע לאיזון עבודה חיים לסוג העובדים בארגון ובעיקר חשוב לתקשר אותן בצורה ברורה ונגישה לכלל העובדים שהינם נכס אסטרטגי בסביבה העסקית התחרותית המודרנית.

Understanding the host of factors that affect the behavior of their employees is of great importance to organizations if they are to derive the best out of them. One of these factors is the employees’ expectations concerning their work-life balance (WLB). The main purpose of the present study is to fill the gap in the literature on the role of various expectations of managers and employees concerning the practices that organizations institute and the actions they take to ensure the work-life balance. In this study, we re-examined the term work-life balance, using a qualitative method that focuses on the perspective of the respondents. We conducted 46 pairs of structured interviews of employees and their direct supervisors designed to examine the personal expectations of the employees and the supervisors from their organization, as well as their perceptions concerning the organizational messages and practices. Analysis of the interviews elicited five main themes characterizing the concept of work-life balance: time dedicated to leisure activities; respect for the personal time of the employee; balance between home hours and work hours; time spent with family; and flexibility in the choice of the place in which the work is performed. Furthermore, over half of the employees and supervisors expected the organization to enable them to create a work-life balance. The employees and supervisors also expressed the need for leisure time for hobbies and expected to have time for their families during the working week too. The main difference between the expectations of the employees and those of the supervisors is that the employees want the work hours set in the contract to be identical to the work hours in practice and are not interested in overtime pay or staying at work when it is not necessary for them to do so, while the supervisors do not accept this expectation. Moreover, the study shows that the organizational practices that are intended to enable a work-life balance are not the same for employees and supervisors. It shows the importance of adapting the organizational practices concerning work-life balance to the employee types and in particular to ensure that they all connect easily and clearly with each other. They are after all a strategic asset to the organization in today’s competitive business environment.

On the Spearman's hypothesis and the relationship between the complexity of mental-ability tests and General Mental Ability, 18 pp.
Y. Ganzach
(Working Paper no. 10/2016)
Research no.: 01660100

In a classic paper in intelligence research, Jensen and Figueroa (1975) examined differences between Digit Span Forward (DSF), Digit Span Backward (DSB), both between groups and between individuals within groups. This paper was the basis for the later development of the Spearman's hypothesis, which states that the stronger the association between General Mental Ability (GMA) and a test, the larger the between-groups differences in test scores. In the current study we re-examine Jensen and Figueroa's results on the basis of a large, nationally representative database. One of our results replicates Jensen and Figueroa earlier results: Consistent with Spearman's hypothesis, we find that the difference between Blacks and White is larger in DSB than in DSF. However, in contrast to the Spearman's hypothesis, we find that the Hispanic-White difference is larger in DSF than in DSB. In addition, in contrast to Jensen and Figueroa (1975), we find that within groups proxies of GMA tend to be more strongly associated with DSF than DSB.

The effect of employee intelligence on job modification: A longitudinal exploratory analysis, 15 pp.
Y. Fried and Y. Ganzach
(Working Paper no. 11/2016)
Research no.: 01640100

The study examined in a large and diverse sample the effect of individual intelligence on changes in reported job characteristics over a three year time period. The results supported our hypothesis, indicating that intelligence is positively related to modification of job characteristics over time, such as that the higher the job incumbent’s intelligence, the greater the degree of job modification toward increased job complexity. The contribution and implications of the results are discussed.

The work/nonwork spillover: The enrichment role of work engagement, 14 pp. (Forthcoming in Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies)
L. Eldor, I. Harpaz and M. Westman
(Working Paper no. 16/2016)

This study examines whether work engagement enriches employees beyond the contribution of the domain of work, focusing on satisfaction with life and community involvement. Moreover, the ambivalence of scholars about the added value of the work engagement concept compared with similar work-related attitudes prompted us to assess the benefits that work engagement offers with regard to improving one’s satisfaction with life and community involvement compared with the benefits of other, similar work-related attitudes such as job involvement and job satisfaction. Furthermore, given the studies indicating the impact of sector of employment (public vs. business) on understanding the work/nonwork nexus, the current study also investigates the effect of the sector of employment on this enrichment process. Utilizing multilevel modeling analysis techniques on data from 554 employees in public and business sector organizations, we obtained results consistent with our hypotheses. Work engagement and employees’ outcomes beyond work had positive and significant relationships. Moreover, the relationship between work engagement and community involvement was stronger in public sector employees than in business sector employees. The implications for organizational theory, research, and practice are discussed as possible leverage points for creating conditions that promote engagement at work and beyond.

Distant determination and near determinism: The role of temporal distance in prospective attributions to will, 10 pp. (Forthcoming in Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 113-121, 2017; http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2016.06.006)
E. Stephan, D. Shidlovski and D. Heller
(Working Paper no. 20/2016)
Research no.: 01060100

People hold different beliefs about the causal role of will in shaping future life outcomes. We examine how temporal distance from a predicted event influences such beliefs, or attributions to will. Laypersons conceptualize will as acting according to one’s goals, being free from constraints. We reasoned that construal of a future event or action in terms of individual’s superordinate goals (rather than in terms of concrete aspects of the situation) would be associated with enhanced attributions to will. Drawing from Construal Level Theory, we proposed that predictions about temporally distant events rely more on high-level aspects (e.g., superordinate goals) than low-level aspects (e.g., contextual factors) and thus will result in greater attributions to will compared to predictions about near events. We show that an increase in temporal distance enhances beliefs in the causal impact of will in shaping outcomes of the self (Study 1) and others (Study 3). We also show that the individual tendency to construe actions in terms of goals (as assessed by the Behavior Identification Form) is associated with greater attributions to will (Study 2). We conclude that construal of an event in terms of superordinate goals (due to the manipulation of psychological distance or to individual differences) enhances attributions to will.