Mgt 586 Rob Parson at Morgan Stanley

MGT 586 Rob Parson at Morgan Stanley (A) Case Analysis

Instructor: Professor Roland Burgman      Reporter: Jennifer Ma

Key Problem:

With the “one firm” vision and teamwork-based norms, Morgan Stanley has created a culture that emphasized innovation and cooperation. Working in a firm such as Morgan Stanley, one has to be capable of coordination and corporation. Rob Parson, however, as a Principal who is equipped with a strong ability in dealing with capital market has difficulty involving himself in Morgan Stanley’s working environment and culture. His intense personality and inappropriate way of working with people have led Rob Parson to a severe situation that he may not earn a promotion regardless of his talents. As a main concern, it is critical for Paul Nasr, Rob Parson’s supervisor, to decide whether to nominate Rob Parson as a candidate of “Managing Director” in risk or gave up on this talented star which might deeply threaten Morgan Stanley in the future.

Internal Analysis

Strength

• Without any formal training, Rob Parson has successfully marked himself as a unique individual with an outstanding ability to coordinate and connect with clients. It is crucial to win trust and faith from clients while doing business, and Rob Parson captures his clients through his personal attraction. Developing a good relationship with clients not only makes the basis of company firmly but also increases the value and market share.
• Rob Parson is an undoubtedly strong revenue producer in business market. Parson performs well in Morgan Stanley through not only insightful ideas but also precise business senses. With his efforts and talents, Morgan Stanley gains significant reputation and revenues. In the time that Parson had spent working on the financial services sector, Morgan Stanley had improved its rank position from tenth to the third. Also, the market share of Morgan Stanley had been increased from 2% to 12.2%. Apart from the business talent, Rob Parson is an expert in setting unexpected and creative products to provide Morgan Stanley more opportunities in market.
• Unlike those who are not energetic in doing business, Rob Parson took his job with ambition and action. He is knowledgeable and thoughtful, and he also pays efforts to approach his job way more than others in the firm.

Weakness

• Rob Parson is insufficient in being a team player as Morgan Stanley has included in their vision, and he was excluded in the firm due to his sharp-tongued style and impatience. Moreover, Rob Parson was too self-centered and incapable of internally promoting to get along with his colleagues, and he was the one who was difficult to cooperate with.
• In order to achieve the goal and label the specialty, Morgan Stanley took corporate culture as the most important norm. Basically, a managing director in Morgan Stanley should be capable of implementing the visions, however, Rob Parson was apparently unfitted in this position since he lacks senses of working within a team and being respectful to his colleagues.

External Analysis

Opportunity

• With outstanding performance and financial talents, Rob Parson has the capability to reverse his negative personal image to his colleagues and supervisors by improving his skills in corporation and teamworking. Having strong ambition in business pursuit, Parson has to apply his personal ability to the whole picture of teamworking.
• The position of managing director requires a good talent with professional skills and commercial ability to handle which Rob Parson is equipped with both. Rob Parson could focus on improving his ability of leading to earn the position.

Threat

• Rob Parson is definitely unfitted in Morgan Stanley since the firm highly values teamworking which Parson had taken lightly. Moreover, it seems that he is not a feasible managing director to Morgan Stanley because he did not focus on the concern of the firm and usually followed his own route.
• Working with Rob Parson will be a difficulty for other employees in the company, Rob Parson may cause some employees to resign since they could not stand working with Rob Parson. It will be a severe influence on Morgan Stanley’s vision as a “one firm” firm.
• If Rob Parson couldn’t get the promotion, he might resign and turn into a threatening competitor to Morgan Stanley because he will also take his clients with him.

Two Mutually Exclusive Alternative

• From a profitable perspective, Paul Nasr should promote Rob Parson because of his capability in business and connection with customers, which could make Morgan Stanley gain significant revenues and build a powerful empire in capital market. By using such a talented person as Rob Parson, Morgan Stanley could undoubtedly retain its competitive advantages in business market. Also, considering the result that Rob Parson may leave the firm, Paul Nasr has to be concerned with the outcomes that might be harmful to Morgan Stanley. In conclusion, to ensure Morgan Stanley remain prosperous and lucrative, Paul Nasr should progress with the nomination process.

• To remain the “one firm” culture of Morgan Stanley, Paul Nasr has to thoroughly consider the norms and business style of Morgan Stanley and the influence caused by Rob Parson. Morgan Stanley has created its tradition and business image for decades, however, Rob Parson had taken Morgan Stanley’s norms unconcernedly while working for the company. Being an employee, Rob Parson should not exclude himself as an outlier in the company since he has to consider the whole picture of the company. As the firm values high a standard of teamworking and respect, and since Rob Parson has violated the norms that Morgan Stanley has seriously taken, a leader such as Paul Nasr could not ignore the severe consequences that might brought by Rob Parson. Hence, Paul Nasr should decline the nomination of Rob Parson’s promotion.

Recommended Alternative

In a realistic business society, an excellent ability could not represent whether a person is successful in a company or not. A person such as Rob Parson, who is insufficient in sense of teamworking and corporation and also could not mark himself as a part of Morgan Stanley, may not perform well as a member in the company. To make a considerable decision, Paul Nasr should complete the evaluation with his concerns and decline the process of Rob Parson’s nomination recommendation, otherwise Morgan Stanley may encounter multiple problems in the near future. Moreover, to ensure that Morgan Stanley could still succeed, Nasr should establish a new system which meets the requirement and fulfills the satisfaction of customers in case the clients follow Rob Parson when he resigns. Furthermore, learning from Parson’s case, Paul Nasr should adjust his direction while recruiting members for Morgan Stanley. Nasr need to seek a person who could be consistent with Morgan Stanley’s vision and with the company’s policy.

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