Rob Parson

The essence of climbing up the corporate ladder is defined by an employees’ ability to reach the top of the management hierarchy. In the case of Morgan Stanley, that pinnacle for professional investment banking is a managing director. In the case examined below the decision for whether Rob Parson, a principal banker, is evaluated.

Parson’s performance can be defined in a nutshell as a “star producer”. Parson was recruited to join Morgan Stanley because his reputation precedes him and he proved to be a cut-above the rest. Parson stepped into a position notorious for the challenges it posed and was able to turn around Morgan Stanley’s market share position from tenth to third in rank. He was instrumental in increasing the market share 10.2%. Some of his major career highlights at Morgan Stanley thus far were securing first time business and major deals with existing clients, which in turn lead to considerable revenues. The facts are on paper Parson is a star performer who is able to generate business when there is none. Numbers do not lie, but in business performance comes down to more than just numbers.

Company image is essential to a company because it defines who they want to be; to their customers, the markets, employees, and potential employees. People want to work for a reputable company and do business with a company they can trust. In order to accomplish this Morgan Stanley transformed itself into a “One-Firm Firm”. Under this goal they support the needs for their clients, which Parson has proven to exceed in by developing strong relationships with his clients. Where Parson is not performing is contributing to an “environment that fosters teamwork and innovation”. Parsons behavior towards his coworkers is unstable, abrasive, and cocky. Instead of working with his coworkers he is in a sense undermining his coworkers, which might in turn affect his co-workers performance.

Based primarily on the performance aspects addressed, it should be decided that...