This study explores the nature of informal helping processes in Israeli
organizations. Results are compatible with earlier findings on informal
helping relations in North American organizations, although certain dif
ferences between the two studies are noted. Informal help as described by
Israeli and North American respondents is closely tied to formal organi
zational structures and processes. Israeli managers perceived the helping
interactions in their organizations to be more active and directive than
did the American managers in the American organizations. Implications
of and possible dysfunctions caused by training programs designed to
improve informal helping are discussed, and considerations for defining
informal help are suggested.
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