Mckinsey's 7S Framework

Every enterpreneur is keen to know how his/her organisation is positioned, but to get to the realty is not an easy nut to crack. He has to not only take into consideration his own capabilities and weaknesses but also that of the competitor's .
Mckinsey's 7S model is one such framework meant to understand the positioning of the organisation. Condition in which the organisation at the moment is the result of internal factors or external or the mixture of both.
It involves 7 independent factors, 3 hard and 4 soft, as shown.
'Hard' elements are easy to find and management can directly influence them.
'Soft' elements are kind of intangible and hence are hard to recognize and are influenced by the culture of the organisation.
Strategy:-Action plan to get and maintain the competitive advantage.
Structure:-Its the organisational authority and the chain of command, who reports to whom etc.
Systems:-How to do the work and patterns to be followed.
Shared values:-these are the core values of the company that is also reflected in the quality of the work of the employees.
Skills:-It talks about the actual competencies of the employees and their skills.
Staff:-The employees and their general capabilities.
Style:-The style of the leadership adopted.