Stephen P. Monaco joins the 'Dean's List' of outstanding students, this month.
He was declared as graduated on the last week of Nov, 2008.
Congratulations Stephen!
|
Name: Stephen P. Monaco Age: 47 Nationality: American / Italian Country of Residence: United States Profession: Senior-Level Marketing Executive Course: Master of Business Administration |
1) How about giving us a brief introduction about yourself, your roles as an entrepreneur, an independent consultant and above all as the proud father of a son and daughter?
First of all, please allow me to express how truly honored I am to be named to the Dean's List. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to Dean Costa and Deputy Dean Duffill. I'd also like to thank Sebastian Soltan for his help and for tirelessly answering the myriad of questions I asked him during the dissertation process. I'd also like to thank Dr. Langvardt and Professor Rosa for being such outstanding instructors. Last, but certainly not least, I'd like to offer my heartfelt thanks to my dissertation supervisor, Dr. M. S. Chagla.
2) Why did you opt for an MBA?
3) Did the college meet your expectations? Was the college different from the initial image that you had in mind?
4) You have been with the college for some time and have completed the capstone module, how satisfied are you with your MBA studies?
5) How was the online learning experience as well as the residency experience at RKC?
6) Being a father of two grown up children, I guess you'll have something to share with us about your personal life and family.
7) Normally, how much time do you devote a day or in a week for your studies?
8) We are really interested to know how you balance your work, family life and studies?
9) Would you recommend RKC-UoW?
10) What's the message that you would like to give to all those MBA aspirants out there?
My first role as an entrepreneur was in 1986 at the age of 25 when I joined my best friend from college in the software company he was forming. He had been a computer science major and wrote a data communication software program which allowed people using PCs to 'talk' to each other via a modem and a standard telephone line. As a computer scientist, he needed someone with business savvy to act as co-CEO, oversee all aspects of marketing, sales, operations, etc. I had previously worked in marketing for the International Syndication division of Warner Bros. Television in Hollywood. My wife and I had been married just six weeks and we left Dallas, Texas where I was working in marketing with an advertising agency there to move to Missouri to join the start-up software development firm with my friend. Our new company became a real 'rags to riches' story. By 1992, our company was listed in Inc. Magazine as the 376th fastest-growing company in the United States. I set up a two-tiered international distribution apparatus with the Americas, Australia and Pacific Rim being handled out of our corporate offices in the U.S. I established an affiliate limited company in Cambridge, U.K. to handle marketing and distribution throughout the European Union and the rest of the world. According to the leading secondary research companies that analyze the software industry; our product had more than 70 percent of the market share in the PC data communications niche. I led the company from the raw start-up phase through 40 consecutively profitable quarters. By that point we had over 350 employees in the U.S., U.K., and Western Europe. When our company reached $50 million in annual revenue we decided to sell it, and negotiated the successful acquisition to a publicly-traded corporation in Los Angeles, California. As part of the merger, I stayed on for three years to transition the business and advise the CEO, board of directors, and senior-level executives.
That level of success from my first company is very hard to replicate, yet I've continued to embrace the entrepreneurial spirit within me. Over the last dozen years I've been a co-founder, principal or senior executive and mentor in several early stage technology companies in North America and Europe in the areas of utilities software, electronic software distribution, paid Internet search, Internet marketing, contextually relevant Internet content, e-commerce, security software, entertainment, and alternative energy.
After being responsible for nearly 375 employees, I decided to let the pendulum swing the other way and carried on as an independent consultant. I've worked on a project basis occasionally, but usually work on long-term retainer relationships or as an independent contractor as the acting Chief Marketing Officer or Vice President of Marketing. I was happy letting someone else deal with the personnel issues that coincide with having large numbers of employees.
Presently, I'm a principal at a mergers and acquisition firm and provide consulting services to clients who are buying or selling a company, need help raising private equity, or need expert advice on how to grow or transition their business. Our company's CEO says that I'm too humble, (but I don't think it is possible to be too humble), and insists I have the charisma and working style that evokes confidence and creates clarity of purpose in the executive team and focus throughout the organization. I am told I'm a strong leader, who serves as a mentor to senior management, possesses remarkable creativity, sound judgment, entrepreneurial vision, and hands-on expertise. I guess that's why he recruited me to join the firm.
I purposefully saved the answer to your first question which pertained to our son and daughter for this second question regarding why I opted for an MBA. Since more than two decades have passed since my undergraduate college studies, and I've enjoyed considerable success in the business world; I've been asked repeatedly why I would start working on my MBA at age 45. The reason had much to do with our 18 year old daughter and 20 year old son who are now away at university in their first and second years of college, respectively. Similar to being a leader in a corporation, my parenting style is to lead by example and model desired behavior. During their last year or so of high school before moving to the university, both our son and daughter saw me doing external research, reading case studies, and working hard on my term papers. I was modeling excellent study habits to our children, and more importantly, how important it is to get an education. No matter how old you are or how much you've accomplished, there's always much, much more to learn. The secondary and tertiary reasons for opting for an MBA was for the intellectual stimulation; and for the intrinsic gratification of accomplishing a personal goal I set out to achieve.
Yes, the college met my expectations. Upon enrollment, I went into the program with an open mind and tried not to have preconceived notions regarding what it would be like. One thing I found different from course to course was the various levels of participation from fellow students in class discussions.
Yes, I have completed the capstone module. I've also completed my masters' dissertation, and it has been through the review process by the college's internal examiner and the University of Wales' examiner as well. In fact, Sebastian Soltan notified me on 28 November 2008 to inform me I had been officially declared a graduate. This was wonderful news! Overall, I was quite satisfied with my MBA studies. I enjoyed making salient contributions in the daily discussions and took pleasure in forming bonds with students located all over the world. Helping fellow students in courses where I had real world expertise was particularly gratifying.
The residency experience in Zurich was rigorous, extremely stimulating, and exceedingly rewarding. The residency module I chose was Harvard Business School's Michael Porter's Microeconomics of Competitiveness and Corporate Strategy. This course and the e-Business course tied as my two favorites, and I took them both during the same semester. Naturally, I enjoyed some courses better than others. I've always been a bit more of a 'right brained' type of person and am extremely creative. Math is my area of weakness, so I've always needed a strong Chief Financial Officer to compliment me. With that in mind, the Financial Management course was by far the most difficult one for me.
I'm a devoted husband, father, and 'family man.' My family is of utmost importance to me. My wife and I have been married for nearly 23 years. Our son just turned 20, and our daughter is 18. Being a loving father and husband has been the most important and gratifying 'job' I've ever had. The gratification which came from being a successful business person has paled in comparison. I believe each day is a gift, and am thankful for each and every day; especially those that allow me to spend time with my wife, son and daughter.
I've always been a private person and am basically a shy person. I much prefer spending quality time in a quiet setting with family and close friends than outings with a large group of acquaintances. I'm a voracious reader of non-fiction, love spending time in or around the water, (ocean, sea, lakes, or even a swimming pool); enjoy watching collegiate basketball and (American) football. I also enjoy music, especially American and British rock and roll from the 60s and 70s. I've played guitar since age 15 and am an accomplished rock and blues guitarist.
On average, I spent approximately two to three hours each week night on my studies for the online courses, plus an additional five to seven hours each weekend. The final project required for the residency course took considerably more time. I do not even know how to begin to estimate the time I devoted to conducting the primary research for my dissertation, or the time spent actually writing the paper itself. I got a very early start on the dissertation project and worked diligently for about eight months doing research, and actually writing and editing the actual paper.
Maintaining this balance is certainly a challenge. If you think of the many aspects of your life as a sphere, you must distribute your time and energy across all the segments in the sphere; if there's too much emphasis in one area of the sphere, it will burst. For example, let's say the sphere is divided into segments which represent the time you spend in the following aspects of your life: family, spiritual / religion, friends / social, job / career, nutrition / physical fitness, education / ongoing learning. If a person spends the vast majority of their time exercising and developing their muscles, but no time with their spouse, their marriage will suffer. Similarly, if people continually take time off work to spend time engaged in recreational activities with their friends, they may very well find themselves without a job.
There was definitely a trade off involved in dedicating so much time to my academic studies. Spending less time at home with my family was not an option for me, (especially since our two kids were about to go away to university). I maintained my exercise regiment, and continued with my faith. Although, since there are only so many hours in a day, the trade off came in the area of my social life and the time I had available to spend with friends. Going out to dinner and to see the latest blockbuster films with friends was the area in which I had to cut way back for two years. As always, my wife was extremely supportive of me, but did jokingly refer to herself as an "MBA widow" a few times, as she attended some social outings without me.
On a related note, I took the Microeconomics of Competitiveness and Corporate Strategy residency course, and an online course during the same semester. In hindsight, I would not have taken an online course and the residency course simultaneously, simply because the international travel combined with all the course work was extremely taxing. I was not able to maintain any real semblance of balance during that particular semester.
Yes. The method of blending online modules and combining them with the mandatory residency component is a very viable approach.
The message I would like to give to aspiring MBAs is to put forth your best efforts and fully apply yourselves to your studies. Make the very most of this experience and persevere!
Reader commentary
Zulkani
July 30th, 2010 at 11:28am
Your experience, career and family path are very impressive and motivating other as you are good exemple to take inspiration.
Thank you for your openly writtings which have made my intention strong to adhere to this MBA program.
Congratulations and looking foward to meeting you!
Lawrence Adoboe
September 25th, 2009 at 12:27am
Hi Mr Stephen,I have enjoyed reading your interview.I suggest you continue with a PHD course of a sort.
congrats sir!
lawrence
Bushra Salahudeen
September 10th, 2009 at 08:37pm
Congrats Mr.Stephen
Being a family man, continuing education is a challenge, but yes with ur dedication and time, you achieved it. Im looking forward to join the college.
Cheers
Bushra:-)