Case Questions _ Rob Parsons at Morgan

1. What is your assessment of Rob Parsons? Should he be promoted?

2. What do you think Parsons subordinates and colleagues say about whether to
promote him? What would John Mack say?
3. How can you reconcile the differences between Parsons numerical evaluations
and the written and spoken feedback which indicate problems with his style?
4. If you were Paul Nasr how would you plan to conduct yourself in the performance
evaluation meeting? What are your goals? How would try to influence the
process?
5. If you were Paul Nasr how would you plan to conduct yourself in the performance
evaluation meeting? What are your goals? How would try to influence the
process?

Answers

Ans-1.

According to my assessment of Rob Parsons i am not going to promote him. In Morgan

Stanley its Mission and Vision statement clearly defines what its values as an
Organization. To be die hard and true Morgan Stanley employee you should be
exceptional, innovative, dignified, follow the culture of Bank and have respect towards
others. No doubt Rob Parson is an exceptional employee having excellent selling skills,
high on initiatives, high on CRM with HNIs, excellent on cross selling, having good
market knowledge and preservance. There are several strong inputs provided by the
colleagues inside and the outside of the organization that are not supportive in giving
promotion to Rob Parsons.

Few point which are against Rob are-

1. Poor team player

2. Poor interpersonal skills
 3. Impatience
4. Individualistic
5. Impulsive
6. Difficult to adjust
7. Self-Denial
8. Tactless
9. Arrogant
10. Low on management skills
11. Volatile temperament
12. Disrespect towards colleague

Ans 2.No doubt Rob is one of the best employee in Morgan Stanley, Parsons colleague
and subordinates also praise him many times. They opening said that Rob has strong
marketing knowledge, aggressive selling skills, very creative during pitches with
customers, willing to do whatever is necessary to move project forward. But I guess
when they have to decide whether to promote him or not unanimously they will say no
due to following reasons-

- His performance is strong, but there is room for improvement on all

dimensions like
Management skills, adjustments, temperament, respect towards
colleague, interpersonal skills etc.
- If he is promoted the main leaver for performance evaluation becomes
meaningless.
- He is a negative influence on the culture of Morgan Stanley.

Jack Mack ex-President of Morgan Stanley started Firm Wide 360 Degree Performance
Evaluation at Morgan Stanley. According to this the employee and their manager selects
people who will provide the 360 feedback (from internal clients; peers, superiors and
subordinates)
They then evaluate strengths and weaknesses based on evaluation criteria: which
is categorized it into four perspectives professional skills, commercial orientation,
Management skills and One Firm contribution. He created mission statement- "Morgan
Stanleys people are the source of our competitive advantage. We will distinguish
ourselves by creating an environment that fosters teamwork and innovation, by
developing and utilizing our employees abilities to the fullest, and by treating each other
with dignity and respect. On the basis of Jack Mack evaluation and Mission statement
he is also not going to promote Rob Parson.

3. How can you reconcile the differences between Parsons numerical

evaluations and the written and spoken feedback which indicate
problems with his style?

Ans - After viewing the performance ratings, the colleagues average is higher than
the downward score. So it is concluded that there is a mixed kind of response from
the employee feedback. In feedback the colleagues focused on the points that he
has improved over the time like, interacting the people within the company, team
involvement, but also brings out on the volatile behavior at times which surprised the
other colleagues.

4. If you were Paul Nasr how would you plan to conduct yourself in the
performance evaluation meeting? What are your goals? How would try to
influence the process?

Ans I would portray myself as that, I need to be calm, patient, and less aggressive
when working with others. I probably knew that I was going to be low in that area of
evaluation, but also I would try to raise my opinions of how I am going to get
involved with some team members and focus on my clients.. I would try to reach
Nasr to help me in the type of work that is needed to be prepared in IB. I would show
my willingness to do everything possible within organizational boundaries to achieve
my objective.