Rob Parson at Morgan Stanley

This case study tells the story of a recently recruited Customer Service Manager, Rob Parson,

who was known by Paul Nasr, a newly named Senior Managing Director, for being an industry

specialist with an established track record. When he worked with him at some previous

company, Nasr had complete faith in Parson's abilities and felt Parson would be able to enter a

market in which Morgan Stanley had traditionally been disadvantaged. As part of the recruiting

negotiation, if he was successful in the position of Customer Service Manager, Nasr promised to

fast track Rob to managing director. Upon Rob's arrival, however, he was met with tension

among his peers as his tactics were not favorable and did not fit with Morgan Stanley's corporate

culture. Morgan Stanley aligned its work culture and vision during the change of leadership with

the goal of reorienting to "an increasingly complex, fast-paced, global industry." This enabled all

workers to become more united, communicative, and cohesive and have a sense of team player.

None of those values were exhibited by Parson and that was mirrored in the 360-performance

assessment.

Paul Nasr is troubled by the biggest question: whether or not Rob Parson is capable of a

promotion? On one hand, Rob has all the critical feedback about his wrongdoings with his peers in

the workplace, and on the other, he has outstanding results and expertise. The reality is that he

would leave the company if he does not earn his promotion, which will be disastrous to a degree

for their sales. The primary concern with Parson is the contrast between Morgan Stanly's business

and corporate culture and his behavior. He doesn't value his colleagues, has no teamwork

experience, and doesn't care about the growth of his staff, so he feels he's the smartest of them all.

The key vision of Parson is to deliver positive results and to establish good and long-term
relationships with his and the company's customers through his exceptional success in the Capital

Market Services and he does that job very well. He doesn’t care about the principles and policies of

the company, nor about the people around him, explaining that he doesn’t have time to speak or

answer dull questions.

Firstly, I advise Nasr to give positive input and coaching to Parson. Nasr was concerned about

the possibility of losing him, but feedback will help Parson learn more about himself and others

if conducted in an effective manner, while coaching will help him focus on feedback findings

and make action plans for change. Secondly, to match the ambitions of Parson with the vision of

Morgan Stanley. Parson realized he was not the traditional Morgan Stanley type, but one does

not have to be one particular type to share the same vision with the organization. I propose that

Nasr should sit down with Parson, go over Parson's personal goals, and help him recognize the

idea of Morgan Stanley as a shared theme. The more Parson's goal is matched with Morgan

Stanley's, the more Parson will believe he is part of the team. Parson brings expertise and talent

to Morgan Stanley in an environment that needs development, and Morgan Stanley offers the

platform to use his talents to extend the career horizon for Parson. The relation between the

priorities of Parson and the vision of Morgan Stanley would profoundly help Parson to take

control of the vision of Morgan Stanley. Thirdly, I suggest that Capital Market Services form a

knowledge sharing network. Parson was consistently commended for his strong marketing

knowledge and relationship management skills, both of which many employees lack. Other

workers also have relevant perspectives from various positions, which Parson was not willing to

listen to before.

Hustlers like Rob Parson, particularly in the banking industry, are hard to find. Rob is doing

exceptionally well with his confidence, charm and good attitude towards his high-spending
customers, rising Morgan Stanley's market share for more than 6 times. Therefore, the main

priority of organizations such as Morgan Stanley, who have a very unique corporate culture,

should be to find a way to make things fit within the business. Rob Parson is a hard-working and

committed worker who maybe feels above everyone else and is prepared to take a leadership role

in every organization. So Paul Nasr should give him the chance, but he should retain a certain

degree of authority over Rob. The purpose for control is that he could either make Morgan Stanley

the leading company in the industry with his fast paced acts, or wreck the company entirely. Many

firms that have jobs like Parson’s adjust their business practices to be more suitable for employees

like him to work. But in the banking and finance industries of the world, sadly, there's no time to

be nice. So, you should be at least willing to adjust toward people like Rob Parson and vice versa if

that’s a possibility. Learning from each other is important in regards to keeping an open mind and

always trying to learn something new from different people especially your colleagues at work.