Nonprofit Organizational Assessment

Opportunities: elements that the project could exploit to its advantage
Threats: elements in the environment that could cause trouble for the business or
project
First, the decision makers should consider whether the objective is attainable, given the
SWOTs. If the objective is not attainable a different objective must be selected and the
process repeated. Users of SWOT analysis need to ask and answer questions that
generate meaningful information for each category (strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities, and threats) to make the analysis useful and find their competitive
advantage.
The McKinsey 7S Model
Visual Representation of McKinsey 7S Framework
The McKinsey 7S Framework emphasizes balancing seven key
aspects of an organization, operating unit, or
project. Three of the seven elements—strategy,
structure, and systems—are considered "hard"
elements, easily identified, described, and analyzed. The
remaining four elements—shared value, staff, skill, and
style—are fluid, difficult to describe, and dependent
upon the actors within the organization at any given
time. The 7S organizational analysis framework is
based on the premise that all seven elements are
interdependent, and must be mutually reinforcing in order to be
successful. Changes in a single element can result in misalignment and
dysfunction throughout the organization, disrupting organizational harmony.
Rational Model
The rational model stems from the Frederick W. Taylor's (1911) Structural Perspective.
Taylor was the father of time-and-motion studies and founded an approach he called
"scientific management." It was Taylor's stance that organisations should be as
mechanistic and efficient as possible. These Scientific Management principles served a
valuable purpose for the Ford Motor Company, where the first American, massproduced
automobiles were being created. The rational model views organizations as a
mechanism that is made up of various parts that can be modified in order to create an
output in the shortest amount of time and without deviation.
Natural System Model
The natural system model is in many ways the opposite of the rational model in that it
focuses on the activities that may negatively impact the organization and therefore aims
at maintaining an equilibrium in order to meet its goals. The Natural System model
views organizations as an organic organism which is holistically interconnected. The
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