motivational analysis of organizations

❚❘ INTERVENTION-STYLE SURVEY
B. H. Arbes
The Intervention-Style Survey (ISS) was developed to assess how the student personnel
administrator responds to his or her job responsibilities and to assess how others believe
the administrator should respond. People such as vice presidents for student affairs,
deans, and their key assistants ordinarily are faced with decisions like those assessed by
the ISS. The National Association of Student Personnel Administrators stated that the
highest priority in research should be given to inquiries that clarify and delineate the
assumptive basis of the student personnel administrator and the way he or she responds
in fulfilling assigned responsibilities. This report also stressed the need to be aware of
how other members of the academic community think the administrator should respond.
An extensive review of the literature revealed a notable lack of studies attempting to
assess how the student personnel administrator responds to assigned responsibilities, and
no studies have assessed how others believe the administrator should respond to his or
her responsibilities.
The ISS is based on a model of managerial leadership and change originated by
Robert Blake and Jane Mouton. Five definite theories of leadership, with concomitant
sets of assumptions and styles of intervention regarding how individuals orient
themselves to concern for task and concern for people, are explicated by Blake and
Mouton. These five theories, along with Blake and Mouton’s numerical designations,
are briefly described below:
1. Task leader (9, 1)—Being chiefly concerned with the task and viewing people
only in relation to their contributions to the task, this approach defines the
change agent’s role as planning, directing, and controlling the behavior of those
he or she is trying to change. This approach maintains that people are basically
lazy, indifferent, and irresponsible.
2. Impoverished leader (1, 1)—This approach emphasizes neither people nor task
and avoids involvement. As one cannot really change another person, the
impoverished leader sees his or her job as merely telling people the expectations
and letting them decide what to do.
3. Country club leader (1, 9)—With primary emphasis on people and minimal
emphasis on task, this leader’s main concern is with interpersonal relationships.
4. Middle-of-the-road leader (5, 5)—This approach emphasizes finding satisfactory
and workable solutions through balancing and compromising procedures. This
approach values traditions, precedent, and social conventions.
The Pfeiffer Library Volume 19, 2nd Edition. Copyright © 1998 Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer ❚❘ 37