Explanation of the 7-S Framework of McKinsey.
I found the following good explanation of the McKinsey 7-S Framework. It would be good to further consolidate the strategy knowledge we gained during the Nobel Mantrich "Strategy in Practice" workshop with some additional information. Here goes: Regards to all, Phil Cooper (Participant in the "Strategy in Practice" workshop:
What is the 7-S Framework? Description
The 7-S Framework of McKinsey is a management model that describes 7 factors to organize a company in an holistic and effective way. Together these factors determine the way in which a corporation operates. Managers should take into account all seven of these factors, to be sure of successful implementation of a strategy. Large or small. They're all interdependent, so if you fail to pay proper attention to one of them, this may effect all others as well. On top of that, the relative importance of each factor may vary over time.
Origin of the 7-S Framework. History
The 7-S Framework was first mentioned in "The Art Of Japanese Management" by Richard Pascale and Anthony Athos in 1981. They had been investigating how Japanese industry had been so successful. At around the same time that Tom Peters and Robert Waterman were exploring what made a company excellent. The Seven S model was born at a meeting of these four authors in 1978. It appeared also in "In Search of Excellence" by Peters and Waterman, and was taken up as a basic tool by the global management consultancy company McKinsey. Since then it is known as their 7-S model.
The meaning of the 7 Ss
McKinsey 7-S frameworkShared Values (also called Superordinate Goals).
The interconnecting center of McKinsey's model is: Shared Values. What does the organization stands for and what it believes in. Central beliefs and attitudes. Compare: Strategic Intent
Strategy
Plans for the allocation of a firms scarce resources, over time, to reach identified goals. Environment, competition, customers.
Structure
The way in which the organization's units relate to each other: centralized, functional divisions (top-down); decentralized; a matrix, a network, a holding, etc.
Systems
The procedures, processes and routines that characterize how the work should be done: financial systems; recruiting, promotion and performance appraisal systems; information systems.
Staff
Numbers and types of personnel within the organization.
Style
Cultural style of the organization and how key managers behave in achieving the organization's goals. Compare: Management Styles.
Skills
Distinctive capabilities of personnel or of the organization as a whole. Compare: Core Competences.
Strengths of the 7-S Model. Benefits
* Diagnostic tool for understanding organizations that are ineffective.
* Guides organizational change.
* Combines rational and hard elements with emotional and soft elements.
* Managers must act on all Ss in parallel and all Ss are interrelated.