This model was developed in the 1980's by Robert Waterman, Tom Peters and Julien Philips whilst working for McKinsey and originally presented in their article " Structure is not Organisation". To quote them:
"Intellectually all managers and consultants know that much more goes on in the process of organizing than the charts, boxes, dotted lines, position descriptions, and matrices can possibly depict. But all too often we behave as though we didn’t know it - if we want change we change the structure.
Diagnosing and solving organizational problems means looking not merely to structural reorganization for answers but to a framework that includes structure and several related factors."
The 7S Model which they developed and presented became extensively used by mangers and consultants and is one of the cornerstones of organizational analysis.
[pic]
Essentially the model says that any organisation can be best described by the seven interrelated elements shown above:
Strategy
Plans for the allocation of a firm's scarce resources, over time, to reach identified goals. Environment, competition, customers.
Structure
The way the organization's units relate to each other: centralized, functional divisions (top-down); decentralized (the trend in larger organizations); matrix, network, holding, etc.
Systems
The procedures, processes and routines that characterize how important work is to be done: financial systems; hiring, promotion and performance appraisal systems; information systems.
Skills
Distinctive capabilities of personnel or of the organization as a whole.
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.
Shared Value
The interconnecting centre of McKinsey's model is: Shared Values. What the organization stands for and what it believes in. Central beliefs and attitudes. However the model is more than simply