7S Model for Technology Protection of Organizations

Abstract

Given the importance of technologies to organizations, technology leakages can cause considerable financial losses and threaten the survival of firms. Although organizations use technology protection diagnostic models to prevent such leakages, most diagnostic models focus on cybersecurity, and the evaluation system is complex, making it difficult for SMEs to use it. This makes them unsuitable for the general technology protection diagnosis of companies. Hence, this study proposes a diagnostic model that assesses these technology protection capabilities of organizations from personnel and administrative perspectives. Drawing upon the individual elements of the 7S model—shared values, strategy, structure, systems, staff, style, and skills—our model analyzes the influence of the elements on the technology protection capabilities of organizations. To determine this influence, the study conducts a questionnaire survey among 435 employees from large, larger medium-sized, and small and medium enterprises. Using the partial least squares and the artificial neural network methods, the study determines the ranking of the relative importance of the 7s elements. The results show that the shared values element most significantly influences these capabilities. The remaining elements influence the technology protection capabilities in the following order from the greatest to the least effect: staff, strategy, structure, systems, style, and skills. These findings highlight the significance of developing an awareness of the necessity of technology protection among all the members of an organization.