Competitive Edge with 7S Model?

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Competitive Edge with 7S Model?

(How) Can a firm achieve a competitive advantage with the 7S framework?
For me its the shared values and style that make up the competitive advantage of a company. It spells what it really is as an organization, bonds the workforce and competes in retaining memory recall to its customers. It simply spells the difference.
The rest of the 7S-es are management obliged routines.

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		6 Ravish Sareen Management Consultant, United Kingdom
	Each of the 7 S-es can be Important The 7S framework is unique per organization. There is no one size fits all. Thus it is extremely difficult to be replicated by competitors. The competitive advantage for any organization could be in its culture, the way they do things (systems), the way it hires people (staff), the way it trains them (skill).

		1 Shala Bareng, Botswana
	The 7S Framework is Not Aimed Directly at Competitive Advantage The 7S framework is aimed at achieving organisational effectiveness and efficiency. Any organisation that is serious about its livelihood should embrace the model.

		1 Steven CxO / Board, China
	7S is an Analysis Framework not Meant for Design 7s is an analysis framework; it's not for design and execution to build a competitive advantage. No competition factor is considered in the model.

		4 Jaap de Jonge Editor, Netherlands
	How the 7S Model can Provide a Sustainable Competitive Advantage @Steven: You are correct to point out that competition is not directly included in the 7S model. However, note that you CAN actually compare your overall 7S with that of your strongest competitors to understand why and where they are doing better than your own firm (at a high level). You can learn and adapt. In addition, another company might be able to imitate how you arranged one of 2 of the 7 S-es. But the 3 Soft S-es and how your company combined all 7 S-es together is very hard of even impossible to imitate. That's why such combination can provide a sustainable competitive advantage at a high level.