7s Model: Analyzing Firm's Internal Factors for Performance - Essay Sample

Introduction

McKinsey 7s model is a tool that has been used in the analysis of the firm's organizational design by evaluating the critical internal elements of the firm. The internal factors that include strategy, structure, and systems used among others are imperative in the identification of the organizational performance, and also to evaluate whether the internal processes are aligned with the organizational goals and whether they will help the organization to achieve its objectives. This analysis seeks to assess Home Box Office (HBO) Inc. which is owned by Time Warner (Hall, 2019). The parent company Time Warner was founded in the United States in the 1990s and has facilitated creation and distribution of content relating to film and publishing for the last decades (Hall, 2019). In recent years, the company has positioned itself as a leader in the market through the implementation of new technologies regarding on-demand streaming services. Therefore, this research seeks to analyze the 5-year strategy using the McKinsey 7s model that is been developed by HBO in order to position itself as a market leader.

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Strategy

HBO is implementing a new HBO 2024 strategy of personalized quality, which aims at providing its customers with the quality content that is better than that of its customers. One of the ways they are going to facilitate this is by establishing a broadcast of the latest movies in high definition. It should be noted that many companies nowadays are establishing a system to provide 4K videos and movies of ultra- definition to the consumers. Therefore, HBO must develop a system to ensure they update the movies with UHD movies to compete favorably with competitors like Netflix that has implemented and provided high-quality videos. HBO has a global presence (Magu, 2017). However, they still need to expand for the next five years to both expand the customer base and the quality and quantity of their production. In this regard, broadcasting high quality and updating the latest movies in time is imperative for its brand development compared with other broadcasting channels. Another method that the company should use in facilitating quality products for its customers is through its production. Self-production has been identified as one of the ways that can lead to increased revenue generation and control of quality. Therefore, for the next five years, HBO will be in the business of producing its own shows of high quality.

Structure

The HBO 2024: Personalized Quality strategy demands proper structures in the company to facilitate the achievement of its goals. According to McKinsey's analysis, the structure is the way the business divisions, as well as units, are organized (Peters & Waterman, 2004). This will entail the manner in which the information flows and the way the employees will be held accountable in the process implementation. Therefore, the structure of the firm should be the most visible and the elements that can be easily changed in an organization. For HBO, the company has a proper leadership structure that ensures that it can meet the organizational goals (Magu, 2017). The organization has a structure that is organized in small units such as marketing, production, development, and quality control that takes duties regarding the type of content that should be implemented. Besides, the research and development units should be established more aggressively to ensure that the company is aware of the recent developments in the market. This means that there is a person or group that is responsible for each department. The supply chain management is also established in the company that entails intangibility (Brandalyzer, 2016). One of the main qualities of the department that will be crucial for achievement of the five-year strategy goals is the differentiation and variety towards the subscribers.

Systems

For HBO to implement good quality and achieve an improved position in the market, there must be systems that are ready to support the strategy. These systems will be used by staff in achieving different milestones. McKinsey established that systems are the processes as well as procedures of the company, which have a role in revealing daily business activities regarding how the business decisions are made (Fleisher, 2007). HBO's management will be crucial in facilitating leadership and guideline to all the employees on the various activities needed to achieve the quality vision. Therefore, the organizational management will determine how the business will be done at HBO, both internally and externally, with a focus on the organizational changes. Interpersonal roles will be imperative to decide on the duties required and how they will be performed (Fleisher, 2007). The organization's responsibilities have been ceremonial and symbolic in nature in the organization. However, for the organization to move forward, there is a need to identify the legal routines and daily business activities where each of the individuals plays a role in achieving the quality vision. Besides, the team should demonstrate appropriate procedures that can be used to ensure all activities are designed to meet the goals.

Skills

Skills are essential for any organization to achieve its goals. They refer to the abilities that the employees of an organization have towards organizational development. The skills also include the capabilities and competencies of all the members involved in running the firm forward. HBO has a well- established network and organizational structure that involves various departments like marketing, HR, finance, and supply chain management (Magu, 2017). To shape the new strategy regarding quality, organizational management must communicate effectively with all the departments to know their roles. Also, there should be checks and balances to evaluate whether each of the departments is playing its roles as required. However, the company has the necessary skills and core competencies required to move the strategy forward. The company has recruited among the best brains in the industry that facilitate leadership, creativity, and innovativeness. This means that they have the required skills to develop unique products such as mobile applications that can enhance the customer base. Besides, the websites should be formed by the technical team to facilitate easy loading, especially for the mobile versions that can ensure quality with relatively good internet.

Staff

HBO has the required staff members that are important in running the firm to achieve its vision. The organizational managers are divided into various groups according to the organizational department. In an organization, the staff entails the element that is significantly concerned with the type of development needed in the entity and how to move forward (Sims, 2002). The staff element in HBO should be concerned with the nature and the number of employees required in the firm, to determine the number that will be recruited, trained, motivated, and even rewarded regarding implementation of the quality program. Currently, different staff members are present to lead the entity towards an innovative approach. Therefore, with even bigger experiences, high-quality content means that staff members have to be focused on their roles. The management in the organization needs to make sure the staff members understand their roles in providing better content (Batko & Szopa, 2017). Besides, the different departments in the firm such as HR, marketing, research and development, and supply chain management must all be coordinated to ensure that they are all working towards a common goal. Such cooperation will be part of the managerial leadership, which will play a vital role in ensuring checks and balances for all the team members.

Style

The company has demonstrated that quality content tools are an essential factor that needs personalized duties to ensure customer satisfaction. To achieve this, the form of leadership and management in the firm will be crucial. According to McKinsey, the style refers to the manner in which the company is managed, especially by the top managers, how they interact, the actions and decisions they make, and the symbolic value (Sharma, 2015). Therefore, the management style of the company leaders will be imperative in ensuring success of any firm. For example, information flow has been an essential step towards ensuring proper communication for strategy development. This will continue being a vital style that should be facilitated by organizational management, especially across supply chain management. Another essential style employed by HBO that will be crucial in strategy development and implementation is capacity management (Bloomenthal, 2019). The company should invest in continuous quality development and research on new methods of improving quality. Therefore, HBO will protect the information systems, data, and services as a critical requirement by the management. Also, the demand management that has been implemented in the company will be imperative in ensuring consumer desires are incorporated in any development. Through this, the company has an opportunity to build even a stronger brand, where customers are valued. This strategy moving forward should be a customer-oriented leadership that focuses on providing content for values of the firm.

Shared Values

Shared values of the company are critical in facilitating the development of the organizational goals, and strategies that can help the firm to achieve its desired ambitions. According to McKinsey 7s model, the values are the norms as well as standards that guide the employees, their behavior, and the organizational actions that form the critical foundation in the firm for ensuring customer satisfaction (Basu, 2004). All the employees in HBO are aware of the critical values of the company, which are developed on the basis of quality entertainment. In this regard, all the key leaders and employees share an innovative approach that seeks to create fantastic content for the consumers. Besides, it is the passion of the company to satisfy its clients. In this regard, the company has established an inspiration for all the employees to make a difference in the community. This also includes a corporate social responsibility that seeks to unite all the HBO employees and to stay connected with the community that it serves to elevate the social issues. In this regard, to achieve the vision 2024 of quality development, all the employees must be focused on the organizational goals and also be motivated with corporate values.

Social Sustainability of the HR of HBO

There is a need for increased social sustainability in businesses to complement the overall goal of sustainability in HBO and other businesses. HR has the responsibility of acquiring and maintaining skilled and talented labor for the benefit of the company (Guest, 1997). HR has the burden of employees that are motivated and aligned with the company's objectives and goals. The responsibility goes further into creating organizational culture that ensures that the employees are content with working for the company and motivated to bring out the best in them. The HR has to elucidate the company's goals to potential employees on the kind of traits that they are looking for. HR has to know the type of employees they need to bring about change and ensure prosperity.

HR is responsible for creating and maintaining a conducive work environment that is free from harassment and negative culture. The culture of a workplace determines how well a company attracts and retains its employees (Taris & Schreurs, 2009). Conducive work environment leads to satisfied staff who have a positive attitude towards working for the company. The same employees will translate this...