Organizational Analysis Model Template PDF

The Organizational
Analysis Model
A Framework for Understanding Organizations
Fred Nickols
8/20/2012
This paper presents a model of organizations consisting of seven major components. The primary use of
this model is as an aid in analyzing and understanding a particular organization and, over time, organi-
zations in general.
The Organizational Analysis Model
Shown below is the “Organizational Analysis Model.” It draws attention to seven of the more basic ele-
ments or components of organizations. It is one of the frameworks I use for thinking through issues re-
lated to organizations. I use it most often in organizing and analyzing information gathered about a par-
ticular organization and the issues it faces. Obviously, it owes something to the McKinsey 7 S Model, but
there are important differences. A brief explanation of the model follows.
People. As the model suggests, people are at the center of everything. It is people who devise strate-
gies and who design structures and operate systems and processes. It is people who develop and em-
ploy technologies and it is people who give rise to and maintain an organization’s culture. Or, as one
noted authority on organizations wrote many years ago, “Organizations don’t do anything, people do.”
The skills or competencies people bring to their work are an important factor and so are the values and
beliefs they hold. Demographics of various kinds can also be important factors in understanding an or-
ganization.
Structure. One of the things people devise is structure, which is to say they organize to pursue their
goals and purposes. For example, they create structures to conduct business, to perform work, to cre-
ate a new product or develop a new system. They create relatively permanent organizational structures
and more temporary project structures. They do this to provide for control over resources, to enable
and legitimize the exercise of authority, and to hold each other accountable for performance.
© Fred Nickols 2012 www.nickols.us Page 1

Processes. The work of an organization is accomplished by people, by machines and by combinations of
people and machines. These, too, are organized – into processes – flows of materials and information
that create the organization’s products and services and that exchange these products and services with
customers for money and that also exchange the organization’s money for products and services from
its suppliers.
Culture. People bring more than themselves and their skills to work; they also bring their attitudes, their
values and their belief systems. These interact with, are subsumed by, are merged with, are modified by
and incorporate the attitudes, values and beliefs that other people bring with them. These interactions
occur in the course of working together for formal and informal business, organizational and personal
purposes. Emerging from all this is a set of behavior patterns that is often described as “the way things
work around here.” That, in short, is the culture of the organization. It is stable over time because there
is rarely any kind of wholesale replacement of people; instead, new people arrive in small numbers over
time and they adjust and adapt to the culture they encounter. However, the introduction of radically
new technologies, systems, processes and other practices can create a form of “culture shock” and
those once stable behavior patterns become unstable as people figure out how to accommodate and
adjust to these changes (or, conversely, figure out how to reject the change in question). The effect of
culture is to constrain and restrain organizational capabilities and performance.
Technology. The work of the organization depends not just on the skills and competencies of its people
but also on the technologies they employ. Some of the more important skills and competencies tie very
directly to the technologies being employed. Companies manufacturing and or selling sophisticated
electronics equipment employ various technologies related to electronics. They also employ people
who possess skills and competencies related to electronics (e.g., engineers, technicians, etc.).
Systems. One of the areas of technology employed by almost every organization in today’s world is that
of systems, primarily computer-based systems. These range from desktop PCs providing the users with
access to email, word processing and spreadsheet software to huge mainframe computers “crunching”
vast amounts of data. Between these two extremes can be found more modest applications supporting
business functions such as order entry, accounts payable, human resources and customer relationship
management.
Strategy. Ultimately, all the preceding aspects of an organization come into play in formulating and ex-
ecuting various organizational strategies. Strategies abound in organizations. One such strategy is the
organization’s competitive strategy (i.e., will it compete on the basis of price, value, speed, quality, some
other factor or some mix of factors?). Any organizational endeavor requires a strategy. To penetrate a
new market requires a strategy; to develop a new product offering requires a strategy; to counsel a non-
performing employee requires a strategy; to groom a successor to the CEO requires a strategy. In short,
strategy is as ubiquitous as computing is said to be. Here is where tactics or execution comes into play.
Strategy is concerned with the deployment of resources, tactics (or execution) is concerned with their
employment.

Application
Putting the Organizational Analysis Model to use is quite straightforward. A “no-brainer” as some might
say. Here are three quick uses:
 Use the seven elements as a checklist of things to study.

 Use it as an organizing framework for making notes and for documenting conclusions and find-
ings.
 Use it a discussion starter with organizational members or co-workers, depending on whether
you’re a consultant or an employee.
I hope you find the model as useful and as helpful as I have.
Contact the Author

Fred Nickols is the Managing Partner of Distance Consulting LLC. He may be reached via email at
[email protected]. His articles web site can be found at www.skullworks.com.

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The Organizational

© Fred Nickols 2012 www.nickols.us Page 1

© Fred Nickols 2012 www.nickols.us Page 2

 Use the seven elements as a checklist of things to study.

I hope you find the model as useful and as helpful as I have.

Contact the Author

© Fred Nickols 2012 www.nickols.us Page 3

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