Organization
McKinsey 7S
Last reviewedWhat is McKinsey 7S?
Seven parts of an organization that must fit together: strategy, structure, systems, shared values, style, staff and skills.
When should you use McKinsey 7S?
Organization, change and post-merger integration questions, to find what is out of line when a strategy is not being delivered.
What are its limits?
It is a checklist of fit, not a way to measure or rank the problems, and it says little about customers or competitors.
How do you tailor it to a case?
Start from the strategy, then check which of the other six elements works against it, and focus on the one or two biggest gaps.
Where does it come from?
Tom Peters and Robert Waterman at McKinsey, with Richard Pascale and Anthony Athos, around 1980.
Use a framework as a source of ideas, then put a structure built for this specific problem on the table. Reciting a framework by name is a common way to lose marks.