Abstract
The association between economic success and adherence to communal values in Israeli kibbutz communes is analyzed over a thirty year period. Adherence to four communal objectives, as independent variables, is considered: Settling the land and absorbing settlers, farming as a way of life, refraining from financial speculation and minimizing consumption. Economic performance was used as the criterion variable. The findings show that the federation of religious kibbutzim (plural of kibbutz) adhered most closely to the social objectives and achieved better economic/financial performance than other kubbutz federations. The economic success of the religious kibbutzim is attributed to a religious rational ethic that was developed during their formative years and maintained consistently over time.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aupperle, K., A. Carroll, and J. Hatfield (1985) ‘An empirical examination of the relationship between corporate social responsibility and profitability’. Academy of Management Journal 28 (2), 446–463.
Beresford, D. (1976) Social Responsibility Disclosure — 1975 Survey of Fortune 500 Annual Reports. New York: Ernst and Ernst.
Chrisman, J. and A. Carroll (1984) ‘Corporate responsibility: Reconciling economic and social goals’. Sloan Management Review (Winter), 59–65.
Cochran, P. and R. Wood (1984) ‘Corporate social responsibility and financial performance’. Academy of Management Journal 27, (1), 42–56.
Fishman, A. (1983) ‘Judaism and modernization: The case of the religious kibbutzim’. Social Forces 62, 9–31.
Fishman, A. (1989) ‘The religious kibbutz: A note on the theories of Marx, Sombart, and Weber on judaism and economic success’. Sociological Analysis 50 (3), 281–290.
Frank, R. (1991) ‘Can an honest person survive in the material world?’ Cornell Enterprise (Fall), 29–33.
Goldschmidt, Y., L. Shashua, and Y. Amiel (1975) ‘The impact of industrialization on the profitability of the kibbutzim in the sixties’. The Israel Review of Economics (September), 15–29 [Hebrew].
MacGuire, J., A. Sundgren, and T. Schneeweis (1988) ‘Corporate social responsibility and firm financial performance’. Academy of Management Journal 31 (4), 854–872.
Oved, Y. (1988) Two Hundred Years of American Communes. New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Books.
Parket, R. and H. Eilbirt (1975) ‘Social responsibility: The underlying factors’. Business Horizons 18 (4), 5–10.
Robin, D. and R. Reidenbach (1987) ‘Social responsibility, ethics, and marketing strategy: Closing the gaps between concept and application’. Journal of Marketing 51 (November), 44–58.
Rosner, M. and S. Tannenbaum (1987) ‘Organizational efficiency and egalitarian democracy in an international society’. The British Journal of Sociology 38, 521–545.
Shashua, L. and Y. Goldschmidt (1974) ‘An index for evaluating financial performance’. Journal of Finance 27, 797–814.
Shmueli, S. (1989) Consumption Expenditure in the Kibbutz and in Israel: A Comparison. Givat Haviva: Social Center. [Hebrew].
Singhapakdi, A., K. Kraft, S. Vitell, and K. Rallapalli (1995) ‘The perceived importance of ethics and social responsibility on organizational effectiveness: A survey of marketers’. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 23 (1), 49–56.
Talmon, Y. and C. Stop (1960) ‘Self imposed authority — changes in ideology’. Tel-Aviv: Bussell Books. [Hebrew].
Unna, M. (1956) In the Paths of Thought and Deed. Tel-Aviv: Marasha. [Hebrew].
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Jaffe, E.D., Izraeli, D. & Goldschmidt, Y. Communal values and economic success: A comparison of israeli collective settlements. Int J Value-Based Manage 9, 227–235 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00420439
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00420439