The McKinsey 7S Framework - Ensuring that all parts of your organization work in harmony
How do you go about analyzing how well your organization is positioned to achieve its intended objective? This is a question that has been asked for many years, and there are many different answers. Some approaches look at internal factors, others look at external ones, some combine these perspectives, and others look for congruence between various aspects of the organization being studied. Ultimately, the issue comes down to which factors to study.
While some models of organizational effectiveness go in and out of fashion, one that has persisted is the McKinsey 7S framework. Developed in the early 1980s by Tom Peters and Robert Waterman, two consultants working at the McKinsey & Company consulting firm, the basic premise of the model is that there are seven internal aspects of an organization that need to be aligned if it is to be successful.
The 7S model can be used in a wide variety of situations where an alignment perspective is useful, for example to help you:
? Improve the performance of a company;
? Examine the likely effects of future changes within a company;
? Align departments and processes during a merger or acquisition; or
? Determine how best to implement a proposed strategy.
The McKinsey 7S model can be applied to elements of a team or a project as well. The alignment issues apply, regardless of how you decide to define the scope of the areas you study.
The Seven Elements
The McKinsey 7S model involves seven interdependent factors which are categorized as either "hard" or "soft" elements:
Hard Elements Soft Elements
Strategy
Structure
Systems Shared Values
Skills
Style
Staff
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