The Seven S Framework

Who designed it?

McKinsey’s Business Consultants Robert H. Waterman and Thomas J Peters featured this framework in the book “In search of Excellence” during the late 1970s.

What is it used for?

It is used for identifying and analysing the internal strengths of a company. The 7S together form a network which serves as a competitive advantage to the company.

The logic behind 7S is that your competitor may replicate any one or more of the 7S attributes but it is near to impossible for the competitor to replicate all the 7S.

Visual Representation of the model:

As seen above it is a complex web of inter-relationships between the 7S. It helps you visualize the effects of the changes in either of the S attributes to the other S attributes.

 

Why do consultants use it?

It helps them to diagnose how organizations are created.

It also helps them to understand the ability of an organization to change after taking into account the relationship between the 7S and its effect on one another. It gives them an idea about what changes to suggest to the organization in a way that all the 7S are aligned.

Explaining each of the 7S

1.     Skills

It comprises of institutional skills as well as individual skills. It is about how the staff works.

Due to globalization, size and complexity of the organizations increased and the need of employees possessing specialized skills has increased. Organizations nowadays outsource the work that requires specialized skills.

E.g.: A textile company planning to upgrade its technology should have skilled workers to handle the same.

2.     System

System means the processes of the company. It gives you an idea about how work is done. It helps you to identify loopholes and take preventive action to prevent damage/losses.

E.g.: Risk management processes, HR processes etc.

3.     Structure

Structure refers to the Organization Structure. It aim to make the employees working in an organization understand the authority-responsibility relationship and what each employee is accountable for. It gives the clarity and scope of their role in the organization.

E.g.: Line Structure versus Team Structure.

4.     Staff

Staff refers to the people in the company. The intrinsic quality of the company. It is the talent pool. Nowadays the importance is given to diversity and thinking ability of the staff.

5.     Strategy

Strategy is straight-forward. What is the company doing to gain a competitive advantage? Strategy is dynamic and it should be adaptive.

6.     Style

It means culture of the organization. It is about how we do things in the organization. It includes the informal rules of conduct at the company. The characteristic or the style that the employees working in the company possess.

7.     Shared Values

What is the organization trying to achieve? This question usually doesn’t change overtime and is applicable for a prolonged period of time. The standards may increase. The social missions are added to “Shared Values” as it affects the organization’s reputation.

E.g.: An organization may be profit organized or not profit organized.