Morgan Stanley Case - Rob Morgan

1. Evaluate the effectiveness of the Morgan Stanley performance assessment and mgmt system.

The strategic goal at Morgan Stanley is to transform the company’s work environment into one that promotes teamwork, innovation and absolute integrity. In order to achieve this goal, President John Mack and his executive team recognized that a culture change in the way staff were evaluated and compensated would be necessary. They instituted a 360-degree performance evaluation system two years ago allowing professionals in the firm to be evaluated by superiors, subordinates and peers. According to the textbook, the advantages of such a system are numerous when compared to traditional assessment systems. The authors state that “supervisors, peers, subordinates and employees themselves differ in their ability to appraise various dimensions of performance” and that “these raters observe different behaviors and may interpret them with divergent standards.” Therefore, the purpose of 360-degree feedback is to give staff a better understanding of their strengths and weaknesses which, in turn, allows them to better identify aspects of their work needing professional development.

The fact that Morgan Stanley introduced a 360-degree performance assessment tool is commendable. However, the effectiveness of this tool in its current state has not yet been optimized. In particular,

The company’s vision statement appears to be very solid as it clearly articulates how employee abilities should be harnessed to help the company enforce its vision. It is not clear from the case if Morgan Stanley considered the strategic usefulness of their performance appraisal, if a communications plan was developed for this change management initiative or if an appropriate level of training is offered for raters, managers and staff being assessed on evaluation and feedback. There is a clear emphasis on teamwork and development of “employees abilities to the fullest” through the development...