Assessment Using the 7s Framework

Organizational Chart (appendix 1)

ML is headed by the CEO (Me as Interim) with 9 Directors, 6 being Area Directors and the remaining 3 being functional Directors heading Finance & Administration, Human Resources and EDP functions and a Personal Assistant as direct reports. The 6 ADs have Tops in cluster countries in the respective areas who reports to them while cluster functional heads reports to the Functional Directors with dotted lines to the Cluster Tops. Each Cluster Top has different Country Tops as direct reports with Agencies and Functional Managers as direct reports to these Country Tops.

ML’s Assessment (7S framework)

As transition period as this presents a valuable opportunity to assess whether the organization is functioning at its full potentials, so areas in need of improvements could be evaluated, improved and managed.

To effectively assess and evaluate ML in order to have an effective and holistic overview of the current status of interdependent elements that make the organization successful, I will make use of the McKinsey’s 7S model which was discussed in my MBA Class. It was developed in the late 1970s to help managers address the difficulties of organizational change. The internal elements that make up the organization are discussed below:

Strategy: ML has four main strong strategies in place directed at achieving its planned objective of attaining and retaining the world-class company title of being ‘second to none”. These strategies includes: cost leadership (cutting unjustifiable costs); route leadership (only calling profitable routes and filling the vessels with profitable cargo); and best customer proposition (being the preferred customer’s choice at all times). These strategies form the basis of all tactical business decision making. They have been developed based on the vision and mission of the company, with focus on leadership in all its internal and external facets such as profitability which will ensure continuity,...