Can the Manager’s Mind Be Nationalized?

The “raison d’etre” of nationalization of enterprises is usually the achievement of national and collective goals. Adherence to such goals by the executives of the publicly owned enterprises is a key to their achievement. Yet, in many cases, the executive’s adherence to public sector goals is taken for granted. This study examines the existence of expected differences in goal perceptions and attitudes among top executives of industrial enterprises affiliated with the public and private sectors in Israel. Almost no differences were found between the perceptions of these two groups of executives. The lack of differences indicates that mere affiliation with nationalized enterprises does not secure “nationalization” of the executives’ goal commitments and goal pursuit, and that the achievement of the nationalization objectives may be hindered.