MITTAL Radhika ( STUDENT ID- 42696 )

VALCOUR Monique
22 Feb 2015

Rob Parson at Morgan Stanley

Rob Parson was hired by Paul Nasr ,a senior managing director in Capital Market
Services at Morgan Stanley ,as a principal young banker with proven track record .Parsons
performance supported few qualities listed in mission statement for Morgan Stanleys
organisational change initiative . The one -firm mission statement of Morgan Stanley aims
to be the worlds best investment bank and the firm of choice for its clients,people and
shareholders by providing exceptional service,innovation in products ,teamwork,respect and
integrity in the company .
Parson was a strong revenue producer and had generated a great deal of business for
the firm.Throughout his ten years of experience in his previous company he had built strong
relationships with the important players in the banking and insurance industries .Rob Parson
used to work within the timeframe imposed by the clients,thus fulfilling their demands and
maintaining a good client relationship.His clients loved him and preferred a outing with him
every time they come to New York. Rob also had the unique quality of cross-selling,he
used to make the business that otherwise would not have happened. He used to go to clients
situation where there is no business and create something ,talk to the client.figure out a need
and create a deal,that client even did not realise is needed. He was innovative in bringing
business to the firm and that made a huge difference to Nasr.Prior to Parson ,Morgan Stanley
had been ranked number tenth with a market share of 2% but Parsons achievement of
attracting first time business with more than ten clients ,secured major deals and brought

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great revenues to Morgan Stanley. After Parson ,the company ranked number third with a
market share of 12.2 %. He increased the market share by 10.2 % and can be quoted as
star producer in a nut shell. But for Morgan Stanley business is more than just revenues.
Every time Rob fulfilled clients demand efficiently ,he had broken every rule in the
Morgan Stanley to get there. He lacked team player skills and created a hostile environment
around him.People in the company were not happy about his questioning attitude towards
their work. He mentioned he needs to acquire some patience and be less aggressive
internally during his self evaluations.He violated many norms and hampered organisations
culture in many ways.
Rob Parson should work on his habits a bit more to align himself effectively with the
companys mission statement . The areas that should be most focused to promote him as
managing direction in a company that evaluates employees in 360 degree are Team Player
skills - organisation and follow up ,Interpersonal skills,Management skills- Judgement and
Decision Making ,Presentation skills,Leadership qualities ,Communication and Respect
towards colleagues.
My leadership development plan suggests,to be a team player Rob should work on
planning,organisation of his coverage effort and consistent follow up. According to Eight Ways
to Build Collaborative Teams by Lynda GrattonTamara J. Erickson, team members share
knowledge freely, learn from one another, shift workloads flexibly to break up unexpected
bottlenecks, help one another complete jobs and meet deadlines, and share resourcesin
other words, collaborate. Using this approach can also improve Robs interpersonal and
communication skills.He can be easy to work for or work with ,jointly sharing the work load
can develop the ability to team work .

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Creating signature practicespractices that were memorable, difficult for others to

replicate, and particularly well suited to Morgan Stanleys own business environment can
significantly help in building and maintaining social relationships throughout the
organisation.
For example, when Royal Bank of Scotlands CEO, Fred Goodwin, invested 350
million to open a new headquarters building outside Edinburgh in 2005, one of his goals was
to foster productive collaboration among employees. Built around an indoor atrium, the new
structure allows more than 3,000 people from the firm to rub shoulders daily.
The headquarters is designed to improve communication, increase the exchange of
ideas, and create a sense of community among employees. Many of the offices have an open
layout and look over the atriuma vast transparent space. The campus is set up like a small
town, with retail shops, restaurants, jogging tracks and cycling trails, spaces for picnics and
barbecueseven a leisure club complete with swimming pool, gym, dance studios, tennis
courts, and football pitches. The idea is that with a private Main Street running through the
headquarters, employees will remain on the campus throughout the dayand be out of their
offices mingling with colleagues for at least a portion of it.These kind of practices will not
only improve Rob Parsons team player skills but will maintain good relation in whole
organisation and improve respect,communication and integrity among employees including
Rob Parson . Management and Presentation skills can be improved by providing special
training and practice sessions to Rob on routine basis or organising working lectures that
conveys the importance of being presentable,attentive and active during meetings.According
to Hotter Heads Prevail by Andrew OConnell strong emotions, rather than being harmful in
decision making, are beneficial to it because they boost attention and memory.Thus,Robs
decision making is no harm to company but few tips on social behaviour under Nasr Paul

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expertise can be given to improve the tone and content of language,as few of his colleagues
mentioned that they were shocked by his temper and language when he was in bad moods.
Overall,a good guidance and a training session under Nasr Paul can help Rob Parson to
be the Managing Director at Morgan Stanley,fulling the mission statement.

Citation:
1. Waldroop, James, and Timothy Butler. "Managing away Bad Habits." Harvard
Business Review 78, no. 5 (SeptemberOctober 2000). (Anthologized as a chapter in
"Harvard Business Review on Finding and Keeping the Best People" and in "Harvard
Business Review on Developing Leaders.)
2. Burton, M. Diane, and Thomas J. DeLong. "Rob Parson at Morgan Stanley (A)
through (D) and The Firmwide 360-degree Performance Evaluation Process at Morgan
Stanley TN. " Harvard Business School Teaching Note 400-101, June 2000.
3. Eight Ways to Build Collaborative Teams
Lynda GrattonTamara J. Erickson
FROM THE NOVEMBER 2007 ISSUE
4.Hotter Heads Prevail
Andrew O'Connell
FROM THE DECEMBER 2007 ISSUE

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