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7-S Model A Managerial Tool for Analyzing and Improving Organizations |
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By Vadim Kotelnikov, Founder, Ten3 BUSINESS e-COACH – Innovation Unlimited, 1000ventures.com
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"Institutional excellence is the greatest legacy I can leave to my company." – Roy Richards |
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What is 7-S Model? The Seven-Ss is a framework for analyzing organizations and their effectiveness. It looks at the seven key elements that make the organizations successful, or not: strategy; structure; systems; style; skills; staff; and shared values. Consultants at McKinsey & Company developed the 7S model in the late 1970s to help managers address the difficulties of organizational change. The model shows that organizational immune systems and the many interconnected variables involved make change complex, and that an effective change effort must address many of these issues simultaneously. 7-S Model – A Systemic Approach to Improving Organizations
The 7-S diagram illustrates the multiplicity interconnectedness of elements that define an organization's ability to change. The theory helped to change manager's thinking about how companies could be improved. It says that it is not just a matter of devising a new strategy and following it through. Nor is it a matter of setting up new systems and letting them generate improvements. To be effective, your organization must have a high degree of fit, or internal alignment among all the seven Ss. Each S must be consistent with and reinforce the other Ss. All Ss are interrelated, so a change in one has a ripple effect on all the others. It is impossible to make progress on one without making progress on all. Thus, to improve your organization, you have to master systems thinking and pay attention to all of the seven elements at the same time. There is no starting point or implied hierarchy - different factors may drive the business in any one organization. Shared Values
Structure Structure is the organizational chart and associated information that shows who reports to whom and how tasks are both divided up and integrated. In other words, structures describe the hierarchy of authority and accountability in an organization, 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. These relationships are frequently diagrammed in organizational charts. Most organizations use some mix of structures - pyramidal, matrix or networked ones - to accomplish their goals. Strategy Strategy are plans an organization formulates to reach identified goals, and a set of decisions and actions aimed at gaining a sustainable advantage over the competition... More Systems define the flow of activities involved in the daily operation of business, including its core processes and its support systems. They refer to the procedures, processes and routines that are used to manage the organization and characterize how important work is to be done. Systems include:
Style "Style" refers to the cultural style of the organization, how key managers behave in achieving the organization's goals, how managers collectively spend their time and attention, and how they use symbolic behavior. How management acts is more important that what management says. Staff "Staff" refers to the number and types of personnel within the organization and how companies develop employees and shape basic values. Skills "Skills" refer to the dominant distinctive capabilities and competencies of the personnel or of the organization as a whole.
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