Organizational Behavior At Morgan Stanley

Answer :

Introduction

The report deals with the study of a case that essentially describes the functioning of an organization in the American market. The scenario has highlighted an issue that is highly sensitive in the present scenario. The study has also taken up certain factors that are addresses the scenario of utter discrepancy in an organizational level.

The case depicts a situation in a stockbroker organization Morgan Stanley that has been functioning in the American market for more than twenty-two years. The organization is situated in Merrill Lynch and has faced various adverse situations in the market due to certain major factors. The case study suggests that the organization has called for a meeting where the outgoing CEO of the company would confront the employees as well as the managers of the company. It has been found in the study that in the year of 1995 when most of the brokers left the company the company was forced to distribute its clients among the existing employees that is the brokers. During this time, the employee that is the brokers of the organization was selected in way that created issues of gender discrimination. It has been found from the case study that the organization has made efforts to distribute the best clients mostly to the men participants or the men brokers. 

Because of this, the women brokers who have been working in the organization were rendered at a disadvantaged state with all new clients in the stock market. The situation in the year 1995 was so that 95 per cent of all the vice presidents were men. On the other hand, 98 per cent of the sales managers and 86 per cent of the total brokers existing in the company were men. Therefore, there were highly evident issues of gender discrimination that essentially went against the women. Ill paid salary, arguments with experience level as well as qualifications of the women employees or brokers were put into question. 

The study also suggest the fact that there have been evidences of such facts in the organization where the then CEO tried to compensate the matter of gender discrimination against women on behalf of as much as 340 women of the organization. Lawsuits were filed from time to time to question such organizational behavior with no positive outcome. 

Analyzing the issues in the case study

The case study holds an utter significance of the fact that there are existing discriminations occurring in a number of companies in developed country like USA. Thus, the case study has put a stress on this fact aiming towards highlighting the situations. Another significant aim of the study is to mitigate such factors to bring about changes in the mindset of the organizational CEOs and the core management of organizations. The case study has been explored to the core in this report attempting towards providing opportunities to the women depending on their performance. Proper payment according to their job roles will also be highlighted in the report.

The issues depicted in the case study require a proper understanding of the scenario that has become evident in an organization of USA. The issues are essentially related to the discrimination based on gender. It has been found that women are provided less importance in the organization that affects their salaries. The discrimination was put in terms of performance, experience and promotion. Men were given higher importance and were always included in the senior teams, management ranks and board positions. However, it has also been found that there is decrease in such gender based discriminations last few decades. Therefore, in order to understand the gender discrimination in the organization the study has taken an innovative approach that aims to explore the relationship between power dynamics and gender (Wajcman, 2013).

The study has based on certain assumptions that there is a need to come up with the desired solutions. The solutions will be aimed towards resolving the problems of gender discrimination. In order to do so the case will be studied in details exploring all the nook and corners of this scenario existing in the organization of United States.

However, the study is highly based on the legal grounds that will be considered throughout the study. Various legal grounds will be explored during the study in order to make the allegations viable on the legal grounds. Moreover, it is important that the study is based on all the factors that succumbs ethical grounds of the issue of gender discrimination within an organization in the country.

On the other hand, the study has suggested that identification of discrimination is highly challenging when approached through the matter of organizational discriminations. It has been found that in most cases the women are paid much lower than that of the men in the organization though both are engaged in a similar job role. Discrimination has also been found in the ground of sex even if there is same qualification. Evidences have been collected in the light of this fact that there is a negative effect on the salaries of the individuals (significantly women) along with other factors that are likely to be considered such as years of experience, measuring the job performance, etc. In other words, it can be explained that the positive slope that rates the salary of the women relating that to men is steeper for men as compared to that of women. 

Further studies in this context suggest that different organizations take up different strategies in order to retain their decisions to have lower salaries for women. One of the mechanisms is occupational segregation based on sex. This implies to the fact that women are selected or disproportionately represented for certain occupation, industry or professions where the wage is considerably lower. However, the occupational skills as well as other job attributes are kept high or almost equal to that of the men. Moreover, it has been evidenced that lower salaries are waged to such members where the women are found to be more in numbers than in places where the women population is less. However, the most ironic reviews received from the study is that both men and women remain equally engage in attributing a job performed by women with low economic importance. 

Conduction of SWOT analysis on the firm

In order to assess the occurring situation in the organization depicted in the study an analysis is to be done in order to understand the prevailing strengths, opportunities, weakness and threats of the organization.

SO-analysis

This part of the study concentrates in conduction of analysis in order to compare the strength and opportunities availed by the organization. Furthermore, the study will also concentrate on recognition of the factors that will help in understanding the strength, which might be responsible to being up opportunities in the organization.

The organization has been functioning in the American market for more than twenty years. Thus, this made the organization very apt in functioning. They have a very strong market grip making a large number of eminent persons to be their clients. The organization being an old and experienced one does not make mistakes in handling their clients. As a result, their success rates are high in the market compared to any other stockbroker organization. Moreover, the detailed study of the organization found out the fact that the organization holds the largest number of shareholders in the market. Thus, such a stature of the company can be considered to be strength of the same. Thus, this kind of strengths is producing opportunities for the organization is liable to bring about huge opportunities to carry on their job in an efficient manner.

WO-analysis

While studying the company and its internal functions it has been found that the organization lags in a number of ways in terms of using its internal resources. Huge manpower of the organization could not be put to efficient usage due to existence of the discrimination in the organization. The organization has been found to be discriminating for a longer time in terms of female and male employees (brokers). As according to the case study, during the period of loss of employees from the organization, it was forced to distribute their clients among the existing employees or brokers. During this period, the organization deliberately provided their male employees with productive clients. On the other hand, the women employees were reeling under the pressure of new clients and were striding to resolve their newly arising stock issues. Therefore, such factors can be described as weakness of the organization towards retention of their productive employees in the organization.

An assessment of the organization says that there are however certain opportunities on the a part of the organization to gain the competitive edge in the market and retain its respectful position only if steps can be taken to eradicate this discrimination within the organizational functions. Furthermore, the organization should also abide by the legal factors like equal pay for equal work and employing the brokers as per their qualifications and professionalism.

ST-analysis

The organization possesses a number of experienced male and female employees. Therefore, it has been found that the organization could recover many difficult situation in the long business career. Their highly qualified and experienced work force helps them to bring up a good yearly return on their investments. Thus, it can be identified as one of the strength of the organization. Such a situation of the organization helped them to get through the economic turmoil in the country with little effect on their business activities.

WT-analysis 

The organization has been fined several times with the acquisition of discriminating among the male and the female employees. Petitions have been filed a number of times in the organization making it realize that the practice is not at all viable. However, each time the issues were made to be settled with a lump sum amount of money. Such instances have occurred in the organization repetitively in 1999, 2004 and 2010. Therefore, it can be easily shown that the organization is going through little severe disparity in their functions. Due to the discrimination made among the male and female employees in the organization a number of employees left the organization. Thus, such a situation in the organization brought about a severe threat of employee retention. Severe cases of loss of employees occurred in the organization that mostly included women. As a result, a number of talented employees left the organization giving a scope to threats in organizational functioning.

Portfolio analysis of the organization

This part of the report aims to conduct portfolio analysis of the organization. Various aspects of the organization will be visualized in this part enriching the study.

SWOT analysis

Strength: The organization has been functioning for a long time in the market making it highly liable to the customers or the clients. In its 22 years of operation, the organization earned many loyal clients as well as a highly productive brand image. Thus, this can be considered as one of the strength of the organization.

Weakness: It has been found that the organization has taken up various initiatives in the market that has made to question its internal functions (Helms, 2010). Gender discrimination in terms of providing clients, wages and promotion has been listed as issues. As a result, the organization has lost a number of productive employees.

Opportunities: There are a number of qualified employees that are waiting to be joined in the organization because of its high reputation. Thus, it is an opportunity for the organization to prosper in future in spite of loss of old employees.

Threats: Threats might come to the organization in terms of high employee turnover due to its discrimination policy. Moreover, many potential employees are likely to quit the organization putting an adverse effect to its brand image. This, there remains a risk of loss of loyal employees due to degradation of their service quality.

Porter’s five forces

Threats of new entrants

The market of stockbroker has high threats of new entrants. Hence, there is a high possibility to make the organization lose its loyal customers or clients. New entrants do not even face high competition in while entering the market. Therefore, the organization needs to be very careful about its functioning.

Threats of substitutes

As has been assessed in previous parts of the study there are high threats of substitutes in the market. Customers have several choices making the competition very high. Thus, the organization must be very apt in reducing its flaws to retain their loyal customers (Dobbs, 2014).

Bargaining power of customers

As the customers have several choices in the market, their bargaining power is high. Therefore, the services should be apt from all aspects. Moreover, the brokers must be capable enough to convince the customers towards their products or services.

Bargaining power of suppliers

The suppliers in the stockbroker industry are the companies that sales their stocks. Thus, there are a number of companies that might act as suppliers in the market. Hence, bargaining power of the suppliers is moderate.

Industry rivalry

As the competitions are high in the market, rivals are many. As a result, the organization needs to be careful about their functions, offers and ways to deal with the clients.

Analysis of the current situation

The current situation for the women employees and the stockbrokers associated with the Morgan Stanley lie a very distressed condition, the situation has never changed in this company and women are discriminated since the incorporation of the company. Around the year 2003, a person name Valery Craane, who was the stockbroker at some other organization attended a meeting conducted by the company to pay farewell to the departing CEO. He attended the meeting to complain about the ill treatment that had been done to the female employees and the stockbrokers. Valery Craane and his daughter had been working as a stockbroker in the Morgan Stanley and had faced many discriminations and ill treatments. 

The daughter of Valery Craane had also faced rampant sexual discrimination in the business organization as she was given targets, which were very hard to achieve, and she was provided with the financially weak and untrustworthy clients. She was also paid low commission and not so much praised for her good achievements or the contributions made towards the business organization. The management never took any distinct or firm step in order to stop all these kind of unjust sexual discrimination against the women workers and the share brokers (Brownmiller, 2013). The management body of the organization however remained as usual at every time of the outburst of these sexual harassment events and never took any firm step to curb the activities. The management body never took any kind of strict legal actions and never brought gender equality in the workspace of the business organization (McDonald, 2012). 

The firm continued with widespread discrimination against the women employees and to the shareholders. Since its beginning, many lawsuits had been filed against the company for undertaking ill treatment with the women employees. The company had been paying off high and bulk amounts of money to settle off the lawsuits that had been filed against it regarding the ill treatment of women. When many of the brokers of the firm left away, all the best clients were assigned to only the men brokers and the females were provided with the economically weak clients. The company had been always adopted a policy of carrying out with widespread sexual discrimination against the female employees and the share brokers. The business organization has already paid a lump sum amount of around $100 million in order to get away with all the suits filed against it in the year 1999. 

The company never stopped continuing with the policy of ill-treating the women employees and the share brokers and so more cases were filed against the company. The company again paid a huge amount of $54 million in order to get away with another case that had been filed a group of 340 women employees in the year 2004. In the current time, a lawsuit had been raised against the company in March 2010. In September 2010, allegation was brought by other organizations against the company for ill treating and harassing women employees.  

Conclusion

The report has been prepared after conducting a vivid study of the organization that has been functioning in the market for more than twenty years. The case study was analyzed in details which helped in identification of few issues. The issues found in the study configure a serious gender nondiscrimination issue within the organization. An emphasis has been laid in the study to understand the functioning of the organization Morgan Stanley. Besides studying the organizational prospects, a deeper study was conducted on the gender nondiscrimination that goes on all over the world. The policies of equal pay for equal work have been emphasized. Besides, the situation has been analyzed to suggest that there should be equal pay for works that would provide equal economic returns. 

Moreover, the study has also encountered certain problems in the societal behavior that includes attributing the works of a female member with less economic values. The study has been further diversified with analyzing the current situation of the company Morgan Stanley. A TOWS analysis has been performed to help analyzing the market stature of the company. A portfolio analysis has also been held (including SWOT analysis, Porter’s five forces analysis, etc.) in order to understand the situation with more clarity.

Recommendation

After complete analysis of the present as well as the prevailing situation of the organization Morgan Stanley, it should be recommended that the organization strive to bring about proper structure of functioning within it. Equal pay for equal work needs to be paid attention. Besides, the structure should also include recruitment of the employees based on performance, qualification, etc. Thus, it should be assured that the organization provides equal pay to both men and women referring to the economies value of their services.