7-S Framework for a Hotel

Introduced in 1980, the 7-S framework is still  in the toolkit of successful business owners and top managers. The hospitality niche is not an exception. In this article I’d like to review the benefits that the framework can give to hoteliers.

A Few words about 7-S

The framework of the 7-S was born in the McKinsey & Company, which had already brought to life many of excellent business tools. The 7-S framework addressed the problem of strategy execution. A company might have excellent organizational structure and strategy (the first 2 of total 7 Ss), but still unable to execute its business plans. Authors of the concept, among which was a well-known business guru Tom Peters, suggested finding a balanced view in other Ss, such as staff, skills, system, and shared values.

Use 7-S framework for your hotel business

Learn more about 7-S Framework | Get free template for 7-S

We were discussing 7-S in details in the article published on BSCDesigner.com, and today I’m going to focus on the application of 7-S framework for the hotel business.

There is a free template for the 7-S framework. You can download it and print it out to fill in with you own ideas.

Synergy principles behind 7 Ss

I’d like to review all Ss of 7 S framework one by one and share my thoughts about how one could apply the concept to a hotel business to get new business insights.

Before we begin, it is important to say, that Ss from the framework have synergy properties. If you have a problem with one of the Ss, most likely, you won’t be able to move ahead with others. On the other hand, when a problem appears, you never know which of the Ss will help to solve this problem.

Before you move ahead

Get 7-S Framework

  • Before start reading the section, download a free 7-S Framework Template before and put there comments relevant to your hotel business.

7-S for hotel business

Already mentioned above. If you have a hotel business, then you already have a structure. If you have an idea about how to fight competition and achieve certain goals, then you have a strategy.

What is more interesting is your business system. Are all of the processes in your hotel formalized? Sometimes during the development of a business, there are some rules and procedures that are not described anywhere, but they still can affect your business very much.

If you decide to introduce something new in your hotel, what new business system will you need? Think about it!

Moving ahead on the Ss road map. Well, not exactly ahead as the chart of the framework is a spider-web with all of the elements being equally important.

Style. This element refers to the leadership style and cultural aspects. How do you lead people? How will you need to lead people in the future to achieve your business objectives?

Skills. What business skills do you have? Do you have something special that allows you to survive? Or some business habit that does not permit your business to grow? The 7-S framework says that it is important to mark your skills. What skills allow you to be a successful hotelier? Mark them in your 7-S framework template.

Staff. People that work for you in your business. Don’t delegate everything to HR, it is important to keep an eye on some important aspects. For example, development of your managers. Who trains the managers in your hotel? Do you do some part personally or do you outsource everything to HR?

Shared values. Wish or not, the values affect your business crucially. You’ll have a better chance to achieve success if you know and specifically mark your values. In this way it will be easier to translate the values to the employees of your hotel. When values are marked, it will be easier to apply these values to new business initiatives.

Big picture of big hotel business

As was discussed in my article on BSC Designer, the 7-S framework is a business compass. It won’t drive you to a new place, but with this compass you will have better chances to get where you want your hotel to be.

RelatedPost

Posted in Articles
Try BSC Designer Online

Hotel KPIs Video

Check out Hotel KPIs Toolkit

BSC Toolkit for Hotel