Corporate Social Responsibility: A Case Study of Morgan Stanley Bank

Running Head: MORGAN STANLEY CSR 1
Corporate Social Responsibility: A case Study of Morgan Stanley bank
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MORGAN STANLEY CSR 2
Part I
Morgan Stanley is a multinational investment and financial services company. It is based
in midtown Manhattan, New York City in the United States of America. The company is proud
of having offices in more than 42 countries and more than 55,000 employees. In 2018 it recorded
a revenue of $40.1 billion dollars (Morgan Stanley 2019). Morgan Stanley was founded in 1935
by Henry Sturgis Morgan and Harold Stanley (Corporate Finance Institute, 2019). The
organization offers a wide range of services such as; wealth management, investment banking
and capital markets, sales and trading, research, investment management, sustainable investing,
and inclusive innovation. Its main clients are individuals, families, government institutions, and
business organizations (Corporate Finance Institute, 2019). Over the years Morgan Stanley’s
reputation as a reliable investment bank has continued to grow.
Part II
According to Morgan Stanley (2019), Morgan Stanley is committed to philanthropy and
public works as stated on its website. The organization has published several reports on its
website about its engagement in corporate social responsibility (CSR), examples of the
company’s engagement in corporate social responsibility include; first, building a lighthouse for
London’s abused children. In this approach to CSR Morgan Stanley’s executive director Travis
Ritz, was involved in formulating a strategy that helped the United Kingdom’s National Society
for the prevention of cruelty to children (NSPCC) to draft a plan on how to build the facility and
offer therapeutic help to abused children (Morgan Stanley, 2019).
The second approach to CSR is one in which Morgan Stanley’s employees participate in
a strategy challenge. The challenge aims at helping non-profits to make good strategic decisions

MORGAN STANLEY CSR 3
and plans (Morgan Stanley, 2019). The company’s data shows that from 2009 to 2017, the
strategy challenge had provided 117 non-profits with more than 81,000 hours of pro bono
services valued at $12.4 million (Morgan Stanley, 2019). The third approach to CSR is one in
which Morgan Stanly partnered with its brand ambassador Justin Rose in giving books to needy
children (Morgan Stanley, 2019). The fifth approach to CSR is the Morgan Stanley Foundation.
It deals with the following; supporting firms in dealing with natural disasters and tragedy,
promote children’s health, promote access to financial services, and reward high performing
volunteers (Morgan Stanley, 2019).
The information that Morgan Stanley avails in its website is of good quality since it
clearly depicts how the organization was engaged in CSR. According to Servaes & Tamayo
(2013), the provision of truthful information is one way of promoting an organization’s public
confidence. The information mainly focuses on philanthropic engagements of Morgan Stanley.
The information also emphasizes on the impact that the philanthropic work has on the
beneficiaries. For example, in 2017 Morgan Stanley bank, its employees, and Morgan Stanley
international foundation together donated $102.8 million to philanthropy (Morgan Stanley,
2019).
The internal data portrays Morgan Stanley as a socially responsible organization which is
committed in philanthropy. According to Orlitzky, Siegel, & Waldman (2011) corporate social
responsibility makes an organization to be acceptable in the society that it operates in. The data
also shows that Morgan Stanley is very much likely to continue giving back to society. This is
because the organization has taken CSR as part of its major objectives. Morgan Stanley has
already created a culture of philanthropy among its staff that is why many of its staff are
engaging in CSR in various ways (Morgan Stanley, 2019).