The 7 S Model

As a business leader, you would likely utilize a variety of theories, models, and
applications in order to create a comprehensive approach to business strategy
planning. Consider the following scenario:

You are working with a department that has decided to incorporate the 7 S Model to enact change within the
organization. As a business leader, you are to evaluate this model within a proposal, including potential benefits
and examples of effective implementation.

To prepare for this Discussion, review the section entitled “Alignment: The 7 S

Model” on pages 217-221 in Dyer, Godfrey, Jensen, and Bryce (2020) and
consider which components of the model might be the most beneficial in
executing change within an organization. You may also want to utilize the
Walden Library to identify scholarly examples of implementing the 7 S Model in
professional contexts.

Task a

Create anevaluation of the 7 S Model as a tool for planning and executing change

with an organization. Your evaluation should include the following:
 A description of the value of each step within the 7 S model to implementing change with the
organization, including at least one supportive example
 An analysis of which one or two specific component(s) of the 7 S Model could be most helpful from a
change management perspective, including at least one supportive example
 An explanation for which specific component(s) of the 7 S Model could be most challenging when
implementing organizational change, including at least one supportive example
Be sure to support your work with a minimum of two specific APA citations from this
week’s Learning Resources and at least one additional scholarly source.
Refer to the Week 4 Discussion Rubric for specific grading elements and criteria.
Your Instructor will use this rubric to assess your work.

Task 2
Respond to at least two of your colleagues’ postings in one or more of the following
ways:
 Compare your initial posting with that of your colleague, including insights on the 7 S Model’s use for
executing change within an organization.
 In what ways do you agree or disagree with your colleague on the value of the 7 S Model components,
and how can this enhance or expand on your understanding of strategic planning?
 Provide a suggestion for an additional alternative for using the 7 S Model to execute change to better
support your colleague’s posting, including a rationale for your suggestion.
Please note that, for each response, you must include a minimum of
one appropriately cited scholarly reference.
Colleague post 1
C OL LA PS E
Week 4 Discussion
     The McKinsey 7S Framework is a tool or model that analyzes the structure of
an organization. The model uses seven elements to measure the effectiveness of an
organization (Baishya, 2015). The 7S’s are divided into two sections beginning
with the hard elements, strategy, structure, and systems. Strategy is the
organization's mission statement and plan, while the structure is how the business
is setup or organized. The systems are simply the information systems or databases
that facilitate the network for the organization. The remaining four elements are
soft, and they are skills, shared values, staff, and style. Skills are the abilities and
knowledge of the workforce, and shared values are what the company stands for or
its ethical base. Staff involves the entire workforce, including their training, and
style is the organizations leadership style (Salem Press, 2021). At the center of the
S’s is shared values, as this is the foundation of the organization and will play a
very important role in aligning the other elements (CFI, 2022).
     With the 7S aspect defined there are five steps to use the tool effectively. To
begin with interviews or surveys should be completed to identify the state of the
current organization. With the picture painted, the next step is to look at the
misalignments, and from there prioritize those problems. The third step is to
develop a plan to fix the alignments, followed by looking at the plan and ensuring
it doesn’t ruin other aspects of the elements. The last or final step is to adjust plans
as necessary; this is where managers need to look at timing and effectiveness (Dyer
et al., 2019).  While there are success stories with this approach, it can also be
applied to show why a company failed. Take Nokia for example, during their peak
they manufactured 40% of the mobile phones sold globally. Their demise came
from several factors starting with their leadership style lacked basic competencies
to initiate change. Secondly, they didn’t allow for tech talent to contribute to any of
the strategies. The company ultimately chose the wrong strategy with no
implementation tools, and this fostered the company failing (Uta, 2021).
      From a change management perspective, shared values serve as the nexus or
center of the 7S Model. This refers to the values, priorities, and virtues of the
organization. Also referred to as superordinate goals, they are also high live goals
that all management and stakeholders agree upon (Dyer et al., 2019). Starbucks is
one of those companies that applies the 7S model and its one of the factors that has
led to their success. Starbucks has embraced the shared values aspect as they
clearly post their mission and values, prominently, in their stores and on their
website (Munyavi, 2016). The most difficult part of the 7S implementation is style.
Style can be difficult due to its personal nature and changing the managerial style
of individuals can be very difficult. Coca-Cola divided style into two categories
organizational culture and management style. Coca-Cola adopted the one attitude,
with one business, one team etc. and it has been embraced by employees. It starts
with the individual who are given learning opportunities for the betterment of the
company, and goes into sustainability, security, and community support. Coca-
Cola’s choice of tackling one of the harder aspects of the 7S Model head-on, is one
of the many factors leading to its success (Weerasundara, 2021).
     The usage of McKinsey 7S Framework begin with improving the performance
of a company. It can help align departments and determine how to best implement
strategy. One of the best aspects is that it can examine the likely effects of future
changes within a organization or business (Baishya, 2015). The value of internal
analysis cannot be overstated and the 7S Framework is one of the tools.
 
References
Baishya, B. (2015). Mc Kinsey 7s Framework in corporate planning and
policy. International Journal of Interdisciplinary Research in Science Society and Culture , 1(1), 165–
168. https://web.archive.org/web/20180421001625id_/http://ijirssc.in/pdf/1428101898.pdf
CFI. (2022). McKinsey 7S Model. Corporate Finance
Institute. https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/strategy/mckinsey-7s-model/
Dyer, J. H., Godfrey, P., Jensen, R., & Bryce, D. (2019). Strategic management: Concepts
and cases (3rd ed.). Wiley Global Education
US. https://mbsdirect.vitalsource.com/reader/books/9781119563143/epubcfi/6/54[%3Bvnd.vst.idref
%3Dcs01]!/4
Munyavi, R. (2016, March 31). The McKinsey 7s Framework At Starbucks Shows That Strategy
Isn’t Everything. Plexis Strategy. https://plexisstrategy.com/starbucks-mckinsey-7s-model-
application-shows-that-strategy-is-not-everything/
Salem Press. (2021). McKinsey 7S Framework. Salem Press
Encyclopedia. https://eds.p.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?vid=7&sid=c14c4ae3-1029-46cf-bcc0-
549e01ba7206%40redis&bdata=JkF1dGhUeXBlPXNoaWImc2l0ZT1lZHMtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#
AN=109057078&db=ers
Uta, J. (2021, February 5). Mckinsey 7s model of nokia - where the company went wrong. Brand
Minds. https://brandminds.live/mckinsey-7s-model-of-nokia-where-the-company-went-wrong/
Weerasundara, R. (2021, August 26). Coca-cola & Mckinsey's 7 S Framework.
LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/coca-cola-mckinseys-7-framework-ruwan-weerasundara/

Colleague Post 2

Steven Seymour 
RE: Discussion - Week 4
C OL LA PS E
Class,
Strategy is probably an essential step of the 7 S’s. Strategy is the process that outlines the
organization’s plan to maintain its competitive advantage. Throughout this step, strategy is
responsible for properly allocating resources and maintaining excellence within the
organization. One example of this would be the switching from physical books to digital
content in a library. One concern is what would be a good balance to strike between physical
and digital content and what that balance would be in the future (Cox, Pinfield, & Rutter,
2018).
The structure is responsible for laying out who reports to who or the hierarchy within the
organization. The structure also allows for the identification of the individual skills goals of
each subordinate. One great example of a hierarchy structure is the military. From the lowest-
ranked service member to the highest, they all know who they report to when something
needs to get done.
Systems refer to the distribution of information within the organization. In a store like Best
Buy, their systems are linked. One store has access to every other store’s inventory. If a
customer comes to one store looking for a particular product and doesn’t have it, that location
can then look at other locations and see if other locations have that product. 
Staffing deals mainly with people or the human resources of an organization, so hiring, firing,
training, and performance. Every organization must have human resources because it
becomes harder to look for more people to hire as a company grows. An organization can
handle hiring in two ways, either promote within or hire from outside the organization.
Companies like Google and Marriot use both of these hiring approaches when deciding how
to fill a vacant position.
Skills are specific to the person, not the group or company as a whole. Through the
identification of individual skills, the organization can place employees in positions that favor
their skill set. Placing employees in the best position possible helps the organization maintain
its competitive advantage. In soccer, you would put the goalie as a center forward or put a
forward as a goalie. You put those players where they can make the most significant impact
on the field so that the team has the best chance of winning.
Style can be both formal and informal. A formal work environment would be when the
employees wear a suit or a skirt to work every day. Businesses that use a formal style would
be law firms, banks, and higher-end hotels. The informal style would be allowing the
employees to show to work in whatever is comfortable. Google is known for its informal
work style and unorthodox work environment, allowing its workers to wear whatever they
like to work.
Shared values are the one self-explanatory step. Shared values refer to what is essential to the
individual employee regarding their values. When the employees’ values align with the
organization, the organization will become stronger. Nordstrom always put their customers
first, so when customers wanted to return some tires, they let them even though they didn’t
sell them (Dyer et al. 2020). Nordstrom understood their customers and ensured their
employees knew what was essential to Nordstrom. In doing so, Nordstrom transferred their
values to its workers.
Two components are the most helpful from a change management perspective: strategy and
structure. Strategy, as mentioned above, outlines the process and plan needed to maintain a
competitive advantage. The outline forms a blueprint for what is expected of everyone and
where they can go if they have any questions.
The structure is important because it outlines the chain of responsibility and who is
responsible for what task. Identifying specific people for specific tasks creates a sense of
ownership with that person and helps with employee buy-in. Buy-in is important when
implementing any new strategy or plan; employees will be more resistant to the change
without it. Department managers are a perfect example of structure. They know they are in
charge of a department and are given the freedom to run it as long as they meet the end goal.
That department head will answer the project manager, answering the project sponsor and
stakeholders.
Staffing could cause a challenge when implementing organizational change. If the
organization hasn’t accounted for the proper staffing for each position, information could be
dropped going from one department to the next. It is vital to ensure that all positions are filled
before implementing new plans or strategies. A hospital is trying to work more efficiently
and get patients in out faster. Doctors don’t like to be called inefficient, but in this case, they
are. They found that a doctor was never around when trying to discharge a patient. The same
goes for doctors needing a nurse to examine a patient. A hospital trying to get people in and
out cannot work like this. There are some problems that they identify, and they are
miscommunication, not everyone being at the staff meetings, and time (Grant, 2008)
Skills are another challenge that could cause some issues when implementing change. Skills
refer to a person’s ability to do the required job they are hired to do. If the organization hasn’t
hired the correct people to do the job properly, any new strategies or plans implemented will
fail before they go anywhere.
Steven

References
Andrew Martin Cox, Stephen Pinfield, & Sophie Rutter. (2018). Extending McKinsey’s 7S
model to understand strategic alignment in academic libraries. Library Management, 40(5),
313–326. https://doi.org/10.1108/LM-06-2018-0052
Dyer, J., Godfrey, P., Jensen, R., & Bryce, D. (2020). Strategic management: Concepts and
cases  (3rd ed.).  John Wiley & Sons.
Grant, P. (2008). “The productive ward round”: a critical analysis of organisational
change. International Journal of Clinical Leadership, 16(4), 193–
201. https://eds.s.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=21&sid=a907fb11-d5fb-4d44-
a5a7-8cec1037fca8%40redis