Gap Inc. McKinsey 7S Model: An Effective Alignment of Business Elements

Gap Inc. McKinsey 7S model explains how seven elements of businesses can be aligned to increase the overall effectiveness.  According to McKinsey 7S framework strategy, structure and systems represent hard elements, whereas shared values, skills, style and staff are soft elements.

The essence of this model is this: there are links between elements in a way that a change in one element causes changes in others. As it is illustrated in figure below, shared values are positioned at the core of Gap Inc. McKinsey 7S framework, since shared values guide employee behavior with implications in their performance.

Gap Inc. McKinsey 7S Framework

Hard Elements

Strategy.  Gap Inc. uses cost leadership business strategy for all five brands within its portfolio – Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Athleta, and Intermix. The company offers fashion, apparel and accessories products for much cheaper prices compared to the prices of premium fashion brands such as Prada, Dolce & Gabbana and Gucci. In other words, Gap Inc. business strategy capitalizes on the willingness of consumers to express themselves via clothes, to feel stylish, ‘cool’ and trendy in the cost effective manner.

Structure.  Gap organizational structure is hybrid and it integrates certain elements of divisional and hierarchical organizational structures. Gap organizational structure is divided into five divisions with each division representing a separate brand and headed by a president. At the same time, the organizational structure of each division is highly hierarchical and there are multiple levels of management between the president of the division and a shop floor assistant.

Systems. There is a wide range of systems such as supply-chain system, quality control system, sales system, finance system, employee selection and recruitment system and others that facilitate Gap Inc. business operations. The company subjects the level of efficiency of its system into a critical analysis in a periodic manner in order to find and utilize opportunities for improvement with positive implications on the volume of sales…

Gap Inc. Report contains a detailed discussion of Gap Inc. McKinsey 7S framework. The report also illustrates the application of the major analytical strategic frameworks in business studies such as SWOT, PESTEL, Porter’s Five Forces, Value Chain analysis and on Gap Inc. Moreover, the report contains analysis of Gap Inc.’s marketing strategy, leadership and organizational structure and discusses the issues of corporate social responsibility.