A closer look into the life and career of Dr. Elizabeth Bland, a department chair and an assistant professor in the School of Business at Mount St. Joseph University.
Dr. Elizabeth Bland, D.B.A., is a faculty member at Mount St. Joseph University in the School of Business. She is the Department of Organizational Leadership Chairperson and an Assistant Professor of Management. Dr. Bland teaches several courses within the Management & Leadership Major, Marketing Major, Nonprofit Management Minor, and the graduate MBA program. Before Dr. Elizabeth Bland was a faculty member at the Mount, she had an extensive career in management across multiple industries along with a lengthy list of research projects and publications. Since transitioning to teaching in higher education, Dr. Bland continues researching, writing, and traveling to extraordinary places!
Early Life & Career:
Elizabeth is originally from Winter Park, FL which is located in Orlando, FL. She earned her undergraduate degree in Business Administration from UCF (University of Central Florida). Her MBA was earned through Saint Leo University (near Tampa, FL), and her DBA (Doctorate of Business Administration) with a concentration in Management was also through Saint Leo University. Elizabeth’s early career consisted of management positions across multiple industries. She, “worked as a manager for over 22 years before coming to the Mount. Those years included positions in a bank, restaurants, and in healthcare administration.” (Dr. Elizabeth Bland)
Cincinnati & the Mount:
When Dr. Bland was asked what brought her to Cincinnati, OH, and to the Mount all the way from the Sunshine State, she explained, “After I obtained my doctorate, I decided to teach instead of working in industry. I had spent my whole life living in Florida and wanted a change, as well as wanted to experience more than just one season! I looked for professor positions in a few states, and the Mount was the one that I felt like I connected with, and when I interviewed, it felt like a good fit, so I packed up and moved!”
Elizabeth has been at MSJ for almost 3 years now and has taken on a number of roles within the School of Business. She is the Department of Organizational Leadership Chairperson and an Assistant Professor of Management. Dr. Bland teaches several courses within the Management & Leadership Major, Marketing Major, Nonprofit Management Minor, and the graduate MBA program. Most of the courses she teaches revolve around management in one way or another. Dr. Bland’s favorite courses to teach so far have been, “Introduction to Business and Strategic Management. I enjoy these two especially because it allows me to use all the business knowledge I have learned in school as well as experience in industry. All of my degrees are general business, meaning I have gotten several of the disciplines at all the education levels. I feel I am uniquely qualified to be able to work well with courses that integrates all of the business disciplines like those two courses do.”
Dr. Bland also has a lengthy list of research projects and publications she has worked on over the course of her schooling and career. “I have researched on several topics. I have researched female entrepreneurship, pedagogy in higher education, emotional intelligence, purchasing intention, and topics related to Korean pop music (K-pop) fandom, such as: Queerbaiting by K-pop Entertainment companies, Identity and fandom, and Celebrity Worship. Currently, I am working on a conference paper on manufactured creativity in K-pop, and one on the financial impact of K-pop. I am also working on a book about the Business of K-pop.” Publications she has worked on include, “Social Support for Female Entrepreneurs: A Study of South Korea and the United States”, “How “Smart” are K-pop Fans: Can the Study of Emotional Intelligence of K-pop Fans Increase Marketing Potential?”, “The Impact of Emotional Intelligence and Gender on Purchase Intention of K-pop Fans”. Elizabeth has worked on a range of research topics and publications but her favorite is “any time I can write about the business side of the K-pop industry because I continue to be fascinated by how the industry works and the level of success that has been achieved in such a relatively short period of time.”
Serving the Student Experience:
Dr. Elizabeth Bland is a huge believer in serving the student experience. One of the most pivotal moments in her teaching career was when “I heard a student tell me that they learned more in my class than any other class they took because I was able to present them with insight on how things are in the ‘real world’ and not just having them memorize facts that they will forget as soon as the test was over.” Elizabeth believes “it is important to me to invest because they are people. Students are usually in the phase of life where they are going from the thought that they are the center of their world (understandable!) to realizing how their thoughts and actions can and do impact others. I think this is a great time for learning and growing as people. The Mount is good at teaching how to serve the community and those around you. After that, it is important because once you have the students in a classroom looking at you as if you have all the answers, it bonds you together and that is priceless to me, so I have no choice but to be invested in them as they continue to grow and achieve.”
Personal Life:
In her free time, Elizabeth enjoys spending time with her mom and two golden retriever puppies, Mister and Evie. She also enjoys reading, cooking, keeping up with Formula (F1) racing, and traveling. She has been to 22 countries and counting! A huge interest of Elizabeth’s over the years has been Korean pop (K-pop). She expands on how the interest came about and how it influenced many of her research topics, teaching, and traveling.
“I got into K-pop when my younger sister invited me to go with her to a K-pop concert in Orlando, which is a rare event. Upon arriving at the venue, we found her friends in line had been standing there 12 hours to secure their position, in the Florida sun, in August. That was a dedication I did not understand, especially for music not even sung in the language one speaks. I started talking to the people in front of us in line and found they had come from Canada for the show. Not to go to the many theme parks my hometown is famous for, but for this K-pop show only, and then were going back to Canada. The people behind us had come all the way from Singapore, again, just for the show, not for the other tourist attractions.
I started to wonder what the fuss was all about. That was when I also found out that there were people at the show who had paid an extra $150 (on top of the $100 general admission ticket) just to do a “high touch” after the show, which turned out to be just giving the artists a high five as you walk by them. This started to really interest me as far as a business model to get all these people hooked to the point that they were willing to spend all this time and energy to just see what I was assuming was another boy band.
When we went into the venue, and the show was close to starting, the fans all started shouting Korean lyrics as background music played. Virtually the whole sold-out venue was singing Korean lyrics with no problem. Then, the artists came on stage and started performing the most visually stunning choreography I had ever seen. I was hooked before the song had even ended and decided I had to start researching the industry of K-pop. I have come to understand that the industry is nothing like the American counterpart, and after years of researching and studying it, I am still as amazed and awed as I was that hot August evening.”
Elizabeth has traveled to South Korea twice as well as many other Asian countries: Japan (4 times), Singapore, and Hong Kong. “The culture is so different than the American counterpart and I love seeing how other cultures live.” Dr. Bland is currently in the process of working with Jennifer Morris from the MSJ History Department to create a travel course to Japan in the Spring of 2025. This course will combine History and Management of Japan.
The School of Business at Mount St. Joseph University is moving FORWARD due to leaders like Dr. Elizabeth Bland. Her extensive career in management across multiple industries, her business degrees paired with specialized disciplines at all education levels, her lengthy list of research projects and publications, along with her travels make her such a uniquely qualified faculty member within the School of Business. Thank you, Dr. Elizabeth Bland, for all of the people you serve as the Department of Organizational Leadership Chairperson and an Assistant Professor of Management.
