The 7-s's Framework

McKinsey and Company have developed a model know as, "the seven elements of strategic fit," or the "7-S's."

7-S's include:

1. strategy (the coherent set of actions selected as a course of action);
2. structure (the division of tasks as shown on the organization chart);
3. systems (the processes and flows that show how an organization gets things done);
4. style (how management behaves);
5. staff (the people in the organization);
6. shared-values (values shared by all in the organization); and
7. skills (capabilities possessed by the organization).

The underlying concept of the model is that all seven of these variables must "fit" with one another in order for strategy to be successfully implemented.

However, shared values are the central core of the framework because they are the heart-and soul themes around which an organization rallies.

Relationship Of Implementation To Life Cycle

The stages in a product's life cycle are often expresses as embryonic, growth, maturity, and decline (or precommercialization, introduction, growth, maturity, and decline).

Organizations have a cycle identified as entrepreneurial, growth, maturity, and decline. Industries also have a life cycle, consisting of fledgling, growth, maturity, and decline.

Strategists must be sensitive to these changes and use implementation processes to match the strategies to each stage.

Harold Fox has shown how implementation will vary depending on where the firm's main product or service is in the product-service life cycle (see Exhibit 1-3).

A multiple-SBU firm may have a number of products, each of which is in different stage of development. The Exhibit 1-3 does illustrate how policies can be meshed with different demands imposed by a strategy change.