Responding to Shadrack Lepuru in LO28743 --
>On 05/25/02 I posted a message (LO 28605) re some more information about
>the 'McKinsey's 7-S framework,' indeed I got some valuable input,. My
>further reading reveals that the 'framework' was a widely publicised and
>used, after its in introduction early in the 1980s. I tried to search such
>for some material more comprehensive literature where it was publicised,
>and it has been hard to find enough of that, other than the famous books:
>In Search of Excellence, The Art of Japanese Management and Managing on
>the Edge. I would like to know of companies or institutions were the
>'framework' was used fully, its implementation evaluated, etc.
Siemens and Phillips are likely candidates but the cases would be ancient
history by now. Allow me to explain.
In the '70s and early '80s, I did a lot of consulting work with the HR
unit of pre-divestiture AT&T (a.k.a. "Ma Bell"). One such effort, part of
the leadership development stream, entailed bringing in a former McKinsey
consultant who had recently been appointed an assistant professor at
Stanford. His name was Tom Peters and, at the time, he was working on the
galley proofs of a book titled The Excellent Companies. My client and I
tracked down Tom in New Orleans and, later, I flew out to Stanford to meet
with Tom. While there, gathering background material for what would
eventually become "The Excellent Companies Seminar" at AT&T, he gave me a
big report, roughly three inches thick and bound together with metal
strips (not in a three-ring binder). As I recall, it was a report
detailing the employment and the effects of applying the McKinsey 7-S
framework at Siemens and Phillips, perhaps other companies as well. Tom
parted with it reluctantly and impressed upon me that it was the last
remaining copy of this particular report. (How he eventually got his
report back makes an interesting story but it's not germane to this
thread.)
In any event, in your shoes, I would contact three sources: McKinsey & Co
itself, the Tom Peters Group and Bob Waterman's company (and the name of
it escapes me).
Finally, if what you're looking for are systematic, thorough, "scientific"
analyses and evaluations of the 7-S framework, I doubt you'll find any.
Why? Because applying that framework is done "live" in the course of
wrestling important issues to the ground. To mix my metaphors, it's a
game in which whoever winds up with the marbles gets to keep them. It's
"keepsies" not "funsies." If you do find any such studies or evaluations,
please point us all to them; I'm sure they would make fascinating reading.
Regards,
Fred Nickols
740.397.2363
nickols@safe-t.net
"Assistance at a Distance"
http://home.att.net/~nickols/articles.htm
--Fred Nickols <nickols@safe-t.net>
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