Rob Parsons: A Morgan Stanley Case Analysis
Organizational Behavior and Leadership
Fall 2012
Eric Potter
Lindsay Hoh
Ehsan Rashid
Kwan Soo Myoung
Kyle West
I. Parsons’ Performance Assessment
Overall, Rob Parson’s performance at Morgan Stanley has been very strong when numbers are taken into consideration. In his time at MS, he has brought on new clients and expanded his division’s market share dramatically, increasing it over 10 percent. He has excellent repute with the clients and consistently creates new relationships with clients while also generating new opportunities for the firm. When it comes to sales, he creates a need for MS services even if there are none. Parson has
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His selling skills are also top notch. Parson has worked with clients and developed a product for them even if they initially didn’t think there is business to be had. His approachable attitude and eagerness to make client introductions offers a lot for Morgan Stanley. Customer relationships are everything in the banking industry in order to improve company performance and keep business sustainable.
It is also important to note that Parson accepted this job knowing full well what it would entail. He was aware that Morgan Stanley’s Investment Banking and Capital Markets divisions were hardly recognized by competitors. The division’s poor performance in the past also resulted in a high turnover rate for the position. In order to turn the figures around Parson knew what had to be done and he was very hard working and committed to putting Morgan Stanley back on the map, even if this meant sacrificing relationships with his co-workers. While this clashed with the firm’s team oriented structure, senior managers also recognized what needed to be done and some understood that business could not be run as usual if the firm wanted to see change.
One other condition that was acknowledged when Parson accepted the principal role was that if he performed well he would be accelerated towards a managing director promotion. This promise was assured by Paul Nasr, a long time colleague. Both Nasr and Parson had previously worked together at a different firm. Nasr decided
PTI had been entirely dependent on Harry Elson to manage all strategic, financial, operational and marketing decisions. However, Lane’s Lane experience in managing finances, managing operations, leading teams and making strategic decisions in the manufacturing industry are the necessary hands-on skills to lead PTI after Elson’s death.
Introduction: Throughout the book of Into The Wild Chris McCandless is known to be a wacko reckless idiot, and is also known to be courageous and heroic. However does a courageous person go out into the wilderness knowing that the outcome will be fatal? People viewed him from different perspectives and also have broad range of opinions of this young man. Some deemed him to be incredibly dim-witted or a man that simply just followed his heart. Evidence shows that Chris McCandless is actually a mix of both. The first opinion that described McCandless was brainless, idiotic, and extremely foolish. Many passages from Into The Wild can support this outlook.
Carter G. Woodson is known as the father of Black History. He is also the second African American to ever earn his Ph.D. On February 7th, 1926 Woodson organized Negro History Week which led to the recognition of African American achievements over the entire month of February every year which is known as Black History Month. Woodson believed that African Americans may have lacked the motivation to learn because they weren’t learning about their own heritage and culture. He worked towards equality and to make African Americans thought of as more than just a race. Without Woodson’s accomplishments the achievements of the African American race may still be ignored and overlooked today.
Nelson is perched on the shores of Kootenay Lake and offers a wide-range of world class recreational activities. The stunning geography and outdoor activities, however, are only part of Nelson’s overall charm. The community still holds true to its silver mining roots as is evident with its impressive selection of over 350 restored heritage buildings and many of these unique buildings make up the bustling downtown core of the city.
“Brick walls are there for a reason. They’re not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something.” This was the mantra Randy Pausch lived by in his terminating life. In his book, which I learned the quote from, he talked about many challenges he overcame throughout his life. The largest obstacle I have had to overcome is the challenge of being a part of many extracurricular activities while maintaining above average grades in my rigorous schedule throughout the years.
To win new customers and retain existing ones, as a wealth management advisor, I must be perceived as competent, dependable and empathetic. Clients must also perceive that they are paying a justified price for the value that they are receiving. Client opinion is formed through a combination of personal experience, word of mouth and marketing. To compete effectively, the wealth management advisor must have a brand like Merrill Lynch that is firmly associated with the qualities demanded of a wealth management institution.
Over the last 77 years, Morgan Stanley has been at the forefront of the financial industry. This is from the firm focusing on creating customizable investment products that are sold to retail and institutional clients. ("Company History," 2012) However, a problem is that many competitors are entering a period of flat growth that is at the top of S Curve. This is when a company will grow so big that it becomes difficult to continue increasing profit margins. (Nunes, 2011, pp. 1 5) In the case of Morgan Stanley, the recent financial crisis has made it more difficult for the firm to improve earnings. As a result, a new strategy must be developed that will motivate the sales force to do more. To determine the most effective approach requires examining six features of a total rewards program, the specific behaviors that will be targeted, assessing the value proposition and how to attract registered representatives.
Upon receiving an email from my Presidents Emerging Scholars advisor, Angela Murray regarding the incredible opportunity of interning at Morgan Stanley that Mr. Kevin Ringdahl shared with her, I was elated. I have known Morgan Stanley to be an outstanding leader in the financial services industry, and to see that diversity and inclusion is at the heart of the business makes me proud to be a potential candidate for the Morgan Stanley Richard B. Fisher Scholarship Program.
In response to a loss of clientele to competitor firms, Ken Winston (C&B’s Boston Sales Office Director) assembled the five most successful salespeople into a Key Accounts Team (KAT). Having previously enjoyed the autonomy of selling a diverse array of products to their own clients, these five ‘Generalists’ would now ‘Specialize’ only in one specific
Richard Hoffman, the Executive Vice President, could not have been more right when he acknowledged that Peter Browning had a difficult job in front of him. It was Peter’s job to revitalize a mature business in the face of serious competitive threats, but without discouraging the loyalty and morale of a family style culture. Under Continental’s management, Peter Browning was faced with several issues.
Though Fletcher has enjoyed long-term success as a portfolio manager, he stumbles as a team manager. One example is in his relationship with Stephanie Whitney. Though he described is as a “mentor-protégé” relationship, he admits to having little time to train her. While he provided her with general career guidance, he explains that it was her own resourcefulness and initiative that allowed her to ascend from an administrative assistant position to the role of analyst. This transition, as noted by one of her colleagues, was difficult for Whitney and she struggled with establishing her identity as an aspiring portfolio manager. Because of Fletcher’s hands-off approach to managing people, Whitney’s growth was stifled under his management, which was a contributing factor to her eventual resignation.
Management added this new position to send a strong signal that they wanted different behavior. They wanted people to be broader managers, good at managing P & L, to be decisive and to take ownership. The Market Managers had a lot of responsibility because management had pushed down a large deal of decision making. •
Financial services differ greatly depending upon where you are at. Different countries have different currencies, markets, laws, and accounting practices to list a few. Because of this most financial institutions use a similar organizational structure. Goldman Sachs breaks their operations into four segments: Institutional client services, investment management, investment banking, and investment and lending (GS).
In the same time, Wells Fargo recruited talented people into the company without any specific job, because the CEO believed that these smart people could help company to face and deal with the future changes and difficulties (Collins, 2001, p.42). Well Fargo is easy to adapt to a changing world when banking deregulation arrived. Moreover, Wells Fargo went three times higher than general stock market which the banking fell 59 percent behind. CEO of Wells Fargo, Dick Cooley a level 5 leader, understand three simple truths. First, if you begin with "who," rather than "what," you can more easily adapt to a changing world. Second, if you have the right people on the bus, there are no problem to motivate and manage people goes. Right people are self-motivated by the inner drive to produce the best results, and right people don't need to be tightly managed, they know what they should or should not do. Third, if you have the wrong people on the bus, you won't get to the place where you want to go, whatever how hard to motivate and manage them. Right people are the most important asset in the company. Right people can turn a nearly bankruptcy company to Fortune 500 company.
With respect to the Balanced Scorecards customer perspective, McKinsey was performing extremely well. This was evident in the Jeff Peters case where his three person team was able to work with a highly respected financial services company in Sydney, Australia. They were able to have a strong client impact and added value to their client because of their access to knowledge, intellectual rigor and their ability to build understanding and consensus among a diverse management. Their client was extremely satisfied with their recommendations and believed that any failures would be due to the client’s own fault. By adding more value to their clients and increasing client satisfaction with the work McKinsey consultants provided, the client base grew thus leading to better financial performance.