McKinsey 7S Framework

The model is based on the theory that, for an organization to perform well, these seven elements need to be aligned and mutually reinforcing.

The first and major one, the Business Strategy project, was allocated to top consultants at McKinsey's New York City headquarters and was given significant resources.

[2] Peters states that directly after graduating with a PhD from Stanford and returning to McKinsey, Daniel handed him a "fascinating assignment.

"[3] Motivated by the new ideas coming from Bruce Henderson's Boston Consulting Group, Peters "was asked [by Daniel] to look at 'organization effectiveness' and 'implementation issues' in an inconsequential offshoot project nested in McKinsey's rather offbeat San Francisco office.

Despite being described as "marginal," the project "had an infinite travel budget that allowed [Peters] to fly first-class and stay at top-notch hotels, and a license from McKinsey to talk to as many cool people as [he] could all around the United States and the world.

However, unlike the hyper-organised Siemens, the PepsiCo management required a tighter format than 700 slides, so Tom Peters consolidated the presentation into eight themes.

"[6] As strategy was McKinsey's main operation at the time, this was seen as a "frontal assault" on the company, leading Mike Bulkin, the head of the New York office, to demand that Daniel fire Peters.

Athos and Pascale, although not named as co-authors of the 1982 publication of In Search of Excellence, published their own study in a 1981 book titled The Art of Japanese Management.