Morgan Stanley is a multinational corporation situated in the United States of America. The company offers financial services to other institutions in the region. Its headquarters are in Midtown Manhattan, New York, and it operates in more than 42 countries across the globe. As of 2015, the corporation had 1300 offices and about 60,000 employees. The Scorpio Partnership Global Private Banking Benchmark states that Morgan Stanley had assets in excess of $1.454 Billion in 2014. This was in increase by 17.5% from 2013. Morgan Stanley was formed in 1935 by J.P. Morgan & Co., Harold Stanley, and other unmentioned members. The company was formed as a result of the need to Glass-Steagall Act which required the splitting of investment and commercial banking businesses. When John Mack assumed the leadership of the enterprise, it was facing a number of challenges. The fast challenge it faced was division and rivalry between senior mangers (Greenhill and Fisher). The two had different management styles which resulted into a conflict. Secondly, the company was divided into ten divisions which each division focusing on the divisional goals and profit instead of focusing on unified goals and profits motivation for the entire company. There was also rapid growth and globalization within the organization with inadequate managerial personnel. This mounted unavoidable stress on the few managers who existed. Further, there were difficulties changing the working culture especially at the top because all the employees were afraid of change. For instance, it was a tough task to change the motto of the company from “each on his own” to “one-firm firm.” There were also long setbacks in making important decisions because of the wrangles by the managers. These are some of the few challenges that the enterprise faced before John Mack ascended to the top job.
The Visions that John Mack had for Morgan Stanley. How different they were
John Mack had a vision for Morgan Stanley when he took over the company in 2005. First, he wanted to change the motto to “one-firm firm.” This was not only the motto of the company but it will also become that type of a firm. Also, John Mack aspired to change the culture of the company to a totally different one. The culture of the company was eroded by corruption and lack of transparency and accountability. People were employed on the basis of “who knows who,” this form eroded the culture of the company because the workforce was then characterized by individuals who were not talented. Mack then vowed to change this culture to the one which attracts and retains top talent in the banking sector. John Mack recognized that the competitive advantage of the company lay with its people. It mattered a lot on the type of services provided by the workforce. It also mattered on the kind of culture that the employees were accustomed to. In general, John acknowledged that the success of the company depended on the cooperation of the workers. This is why he worked hard to implement changes in order to develop and retain the best workers in the company. Jack had a vision that one day Morgan Stanley will rise to its feet again and reclaim its prowess in the commercial and investment banking. He also wanted to company which is driven by principles and values which motivates workers to deliver their goals and missions. He believed that team-work among employees will drive the company into success and thus vowed to ensure that workers adopted a team-work mentality. Together with Tom DeLong, the Chief Development Officer, they began to implement the new 360 degrees performance assessment structure.
The Change Strategy and the Steps taken to implement the Strategies
There were a number of strategies that were introduced by John Mack into the organization operations. The new evaluation system that was brought by Mack was supposed to achieve a number of functions. It was also essential in implementing the new values and culture in the organization because it brought forth with it new sets of criteria and objectivity in the process of evaluation. The evaluation process helped to boost employees’ morale and development. The main goal of this strategy was to enhance the professional growth and development of the employees. It also increased real-time feedback and cross-departmental teamwork. Another strategy introduced by Mack was the revamping of the performance appraisal system. The performance appraisal ensured that each employee worked hard to achieve their goals. Employees were appraised according to their ability to meet perform their roles and responsibilities. This brought some sought of competition in the institution because each employee wanted to be rewarded as the performer. In addition, the appraisal system ensured that the long-serving professionals are recognized by the organization and rewarded. Not only does the performance appraisal encourage teamwork, it also increases consistency and confidentiality of the process. Another strategy introduced by John Mack is that of promotions and demotions of employees. The best performers in given departments are either rewarded in the form of a promotion or they are rewarded using goodies and prizes. The worst performers are sometimes demoted so that they may work hard to improve next time. The above strategies worked for the Morgan Stanley institution. Workers were motivated, they gained morale and they worked hard to achieve the goals of the organization. The organization can improve the junior-senior interactions so that there would be a free exchange of information within the organization.
The Role Played by the HR in the Implementation of the Strategies
The Human Resource department played a significant role in ensuring the implementation of the above strategies. The HR department began examining the recruitment and hiring process in the organization so that it may establish the common themes. It also designed an orientation process which would ensure that a message is delivered to every recruit regardless of their division. Secondly, the HR ensured that division heads began to interact with each other in order to foster goals realization. DeLong, the head of Office of Development travelled across the world to talk to managing directors on issues management. John Mack wanted them to know that they had a role to be good leaders. In order to make these managers meet and share ideas, Mack increased the size of the managers’ dining room. He also sponsored outdoor activities which made these managers to meet. The CEO continually dined with the junior professionals, and he encouraged his directors to follow suit and do the same. The HR’s values are totally aligned with the vision that John Mack had for the company.
Effectiveness of John Mack as a Leader (His Strengths and Weaknesses)
John Mack has portrayed his leadership skills in how he managed and run the Morgan Stanley investment Bank. First, he has strong leadership skills in how he was able to handle all the challenges that the company had before he took over. Mack also had a likeability factor. He was a straight guy who talked with a fine sense of humor. He will also be a hero to his staff for refusing to merge with JPMorgan in 2008. Mack also had luck because the mess that was Credit Suisse did not prevent him from riding back to glory. He also had a number of weaknesses. For instance, he always read the market wrong as the CEO which is strange considering he was an accountant.
Bibliography
Burton, M. Diane, Thomas J. DeLong, and Katherine Lawrence. "Morgan Stanley: Becoming a" One-Firm Firm"." (1999).
