The central aim of the present study was to assess the predictive value of affective disposition and meaningful work on employee engagement. Specifically, it was proposed that meaningful work moderates the relationship between affective disposition and engagement. Questionnaires were completed by 252 white-collar employees, working in a variety of organizations and jobs across Israel, recruited from community-based samples on a voluntary basis. As hypothesized, work engagement, affective disposition, and meaningful work were positively correlated. Additionally, a significant interaction between affective disposition and meaningful work was found. The relationship between affective disposition and work engagement was found to differ by the extent to which individuals perceived their work as meaningful. Specifically, when work was not perceived as meaningful, employees characterized by high scores on affective disposition were more strongly engaged compared to employees who were characterized by low scores on affective disposition. However, when work was perceived as meaningful, there was no difference in level of engagement found between those with high or low scores on affective disposition. The implications of these results are discussed.

Private technological incubators began operating in Israel in 2000, and developed thanks to the rapidly growing private (venture) capital (VC) sector, which traditionally had not funded such projects. The present study examines the differences and similarities between two types of technological incubators-public and private. It addresses the question whether the need still exists for the Public Technological Incubators Programme (PTIP). Based on our empirical analysis and findings, the main conclusion is that private incubators cannot fully replace public incubators; even after the entry of the private sector into the area of technological incubator activity, there is still justification for the continuation of the PTIP. Private incubators tend to concentrate in selected fields, whereas public incubators sponsor a large variety of activities. The PTIP was found to provide answers to advancing national objectives, such promoting peripheral regions and providing special incentives to selected population groups (e.g. new immigrants) for whom such activities would otherwise be out of reach.