The kibbutz is the equivalent of a laboratory for organization science. Its
scope of activities, which includes agricultural and industrial production
, the socialization and education of children, management of communal consu
mption, and national defense, is broader than any other organization. It th
erefore demonstrates the potential to extend organization to areas of life
traditionally governed by other institutions. The kibbutz has also experime
nted with a number of practices aimed at balancing equality with progress.
The success of the kibbutz by paying all participants the same, regularly r
otating managers out of their posts, and eschewing hierarchy challenges wid
ely held beliefs about motivation, control and coordination in organization
s. Some efforts at equality failed, notably those regarding gender but even
the kibbutz's failures are informative about organizations. We analyze and
integrate research on kibbutz structure, practices and external relationsh
ips in order to distill lessons for organization behavior.