Clearly, this accounting environment would be highly differenti-
ated, with reasonable consistency and a clear identity. One might
expect the behavior and interactions to be relatively homogeneous,
stable, and predictable. Contrast this accounting environment with
a moderate-sized automobile dealership that contains enterprising
sales personnel, mechanics, and secretaries with different skills,
repertoires of behaviors, and ways of solving problems.
Work environments can be classified more formally using the
Position Classification Inventory (PCI; Gottfredson & Holland,
1991)—an eighty-four-item assessment of the job requirements,
skills, perspectives, values, personal characteristics, talents, and key
behaviors performed in a particular job. The PCI yields nine vari-
ables. Differentiation and consistency are also calculable from the
PCI. The PCI grid or profile for counselor, based on twenty-two
counselors in a variety of settings, is depicted in Figure 9.2. Although
HOLLAND’S THEORY 387FIGURE9.2. PCI Profile Grid for a Counselor
Score13
12
11
10
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0R I A S E CScore13
12
11
10
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0Note: N = 22; differentiation = 2.84.