Michael D. Schmidt's

MBA Webpages

This site is dedicated to my MBA program that I am currently enrolled in at

Rushmore University. This site will be continuously updated as I progress

through my MBA studies. This page is:

Personal Profile

Home Course Papers

Journal Curriculum

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The Early Years

As a baby-boomer, born in Portland, Oregon, I was the eldest of four boys and life was simple. As a child, I had envisioned that I would always make my home close to my parents, while being employed in the Portland area. I would never have imagined that employment opportunities would have motivated me to move away from my birthplace.

My father taught me many things and understood the value of education, although he was not an educated man. He taught me the importance of working hard and having good work ethics, which I have carried with me throughout my life. I learned early on, through the paper route that required me to get up at 3:30 a.m., that you give your best effort at everything you do, even if what you are doing is not enjoyable or fun. That paper route also taught me that "collections" are not easy or fun! I learned the value of money and how to save. Our family was a lower middle-class family, so I knew that I had to pay my own way in life, and became a good worker, like my father.

I had always thought that I would become an architect when I grew up but that idea was changed as I entered high school. I attended a technical high school in Portland and concentrated on drafting, which was to be the stepping stone to an engineering program in college. I continued to work part time jobs while attending high school, and I can remember how sad I was on leaving that part time drafting job the summer between high school and college.

Education

Upon graduating from high school, I enrolled at Portland State University, majoring in mechanical engineering. After a brief stint in the military, I returned to the workforce, working full time and continuing my education in the evening. Gaining work experience in engineering and manufacturing environments put reality and relevance into the engineering coursework, which I completed over several years.

During that same time of working and finishing my undergraduate work, I married my high school sweetheart and we started a family. Balancing family, work, and school was a challenge that I would not recommend to anyone pursuing a degree.

In trying to finish my bachelor's degree in the shortest possible time, I was careful to avoid courses that were not directly applicable to the degree requirements. Courses from the School of Business did not fit into the engineering degree requirements; therefore, I was unable to take any business courses. In my senior year, I took Fortran and Assembler Language courses, and that created my interest in computers. This was back in a time when computers were the IBM mainframe types, and programs were in the form of keypunched cards. Had I taken these classes earlier in my studies, I probably would have pursued computer science rather than mechanical engineering and gone to work for Bill Gates.

Employment and Achievements

The first move our family made, shortly after I finished my bachelor's degree, was from Portland to Springfield, Ohio. The company I had been working for in Portland decided to move sales and engineering to Springfield, where the products were manufactured. My first taste of major management responsibilities came with promotion to Engineering Manager, after my boss decided to return to Portland. Making decisions concerning product design, manufacturing, employee and customer issues then became my responsibility. I learned to seek the input and advice of others in making sound and cost effective decisions. My experience was broadened with exposure to product liability legal cases that required me to give depositions and work with the company's legal council. My one and only patent was achieved during this time.

In 1984, changes in management and business practices prompted me to leave the company in Springfield. I went to work for an engineering and staffing services company in Dayton. This meant taking a step backwards in responsibility in a business and market unfamiliar to me. As a person who learns quickly and develops good interpersonal relationships, I was soon promoted and was responsible for the product design and engineering group. I learned mainframe computer aided design software, used in this process, as well as performing many of the system-related tasks, such as backups and file movement. The marketing manager and I worked together in building the business with a major automotive Tier II supplier in Indiana. The quality we provided, compared to the competition, resulted in our company being chosen as the supplier of choice; and, we were requested to open an office in Indiana.

In 1986, I accepted the offer to start the Indiana operations and we made our second move, from Springfield, Ohio, to Anderson, Indiana. This startup was extremely challenging because I took up residence inside my customer's facility in a hostile environment - hostile because our competitors had to leave as we came in. Through slowly building relationships within the customer organization, while gaining their trust and confidence, the business grew. By 1995, this startup operation had grown to 375 employees generating $18 million in revenue per year. I had learned valuable business concepts and how the automotive industry operates, and was ready for new challenges in my career. I had mentored my replacement to take over the Indiana operation, making way for our next move, to El Paso, Texas.

The general manager in El Paso had been terminated due to declining business and lack of profits. The culture and business market in the El Paso and Juarez, Mexico, areas presented different challenges than those in the Midwest. The same services our company offered in Ohio and Indiana could not be used to build a business at the border. An opportunity to bid on contract manufacturing for automotive switches was successful and resulted in a $12 million contract. Manufacturing experience with my previous employer gave me the background necessary to take on such an endeavor. I directed the hiring of support personnel in engineering, maintenance, HR, quality, and 400 production workers. The production validation and acceptance was achieved in 4 months, and this resulted in the first profitable year for that operation in 8 years.

It is important, in my opinion, to try to learn the language of the country in which a person is working, and that is what I attempted to do in Mexico. It would have been easier to learn Spanish at a younger age, but I did learn it sufficiently well to communicate with the employees in their native language.

After a successful turn around of the El Paso and Juarez operation, it was time to move on to the next challenge. The company's largest operation, in Dayton, Ohio, was in need of a general manager who could organize the operation and grow the business. Moving to Dayton in 1998 brought me back to where I started with the company, and I was up to the challenge. I developed a cohesive and effective organization by establishing an environment that encouraged each member of the team to contribute to the improvement of internal processes and customer satisfaction. I directed HR, sales, design, and staffing groups, mentoring them in the elements of the financial report, while establishing monthly performance goals. These efforts resulted in increased sales from $29 million to $42 million and increased profit by 4% within two years.

In 2000, the company re-organized and I was promoted to Director, with multi-location responsibilities. By the beginning of 2001, the downturn in the automotive market for our services was being felt on our bottom line. Then, as the economic situation in the U.S. started its slowdown, the business volume continued to decline, and the financial state of the company became serious. A workout company was brought in at the request of the banks.

Involvement with the workout group was excellent experience for me, in that it gave me more insight into the financial side of business. I was an active participant in the process, dealing with cash flow analysis, budget forecast, and collections. This made me realize that, while I was an operations manager, these people were not there to turn the company around by improving the operations and processes, or to suggest strategies for increasing revenue. Their entire focus was on cash flow, and meeting the forecast goals to give the bank confidence in the company. By the end of 2001, the workout group had left; and, I had performed the task of closing the offices in Michigan and Indiana, and downsizing the operation in Dayton. Whether the company survives, or not, only time and the economy will tell. With nothing left to direct, I have been searching for my next challenge, and this is a challenge in itself.

Vision and Goals

I believe that a person should be rewarded for a job well done. Rewards should be in the form of recognition, promotion, and monetary increase. My short-term goals are focused on finding my next career position; one with responsibility, stability, and financial and professional growth potential. I do not plan on retiring early in life because I enjoy working and the challenges it provides. I do, however, want to continue increasing my earnings, which provide a comfortable lifestyle and the ability to travel.

My long term goal is to become the COO of a small to medium-size company, where my experience in operations, people skills, planning effective change, and financial skills can be utilized to their fullest. I have observed several COOs who have shown lack of good communication, organization, integrity and trust, which are the traits that I would bring into a COO position.

Choosing Rushmore

With only the skills and experience that I currently have, the potential for meeting my goals is limited. Achieving my MBA will add the credibility to my experience that is needed to open the doors of opportunity to allow me to reach my goals. Of the options available for pursuing an MBA, enrolling in a full time, classroom based program was not desirable or possible. The distance learning option provides the flexibility I need for balancing employment, home and learning. Rushmore University offers a broad range of courses from which to choose, so that a total MBA curriculum can be tailored to my specific areas of interest. This, along with the strong business background of the faculty, made Rushmore the right fit for me.

Areas of Interest for Study

My initial thought is to major, or concentrate, in two areas; operations management, and finance/financial analysis. Many of the Level Two courses and custom courses appeal to me, and fit into these areas of concentration. My advisor and I will focus in on the final curriculum in the near future.