McKinsey 7-S Performance Model

The 7-S 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.
• Determine how best to implement a proposed strategy.

Strategy:

• What is our strategy?
• How do we intend to achieve our objectives?
• How do we deal with competitive pressure?
• How are changes in customer demands dealt with?
• How is strategy adjusted for environmental issues?

Structure:

• How is the company/team divided?
• What is the hierarchy?
• How do the various departments coordinate activities?
• How do the team members organize and align themselves?
• Is decision making and controlling centralized or decentralized? Is this as it should be, given what we’re doing?
• Where are the lines of communication? Explicit and implicit?

Systems:

• What are the main systems that run the organization? Consider financial and HR systems as well as communications and document storage.
• Where are the controls and how are they monitored and evaluated?
• What internal rules and processes does the team use to keep on track?

Shared Values:

• What are the core values?
• What is the corporate/team culture?
• How strong are the values?
• What are the fundamental values that the company/team was built on?

Style:

• How participative is the management/leadership style?
• How effective is that leadership?
• Do employees/team members tend to be competitive or cooperative?
• Are there real teams functioning within the organization or are they just nominal groups?

Staff:

• What positions or specializations are represented within the team?
• What positions need to be filled?
• Are there gaps in required competencies?

Skills:

• What are the strongest skills represented within the company/team?
• Are there any skills gaps?
• What is the company/team known for doing well?
• Do the current employees/team members have the ability to do the job?
• How are skills monitored and assessed?