Faculty Spotlight- Brian Blume, Ph.D.

PROFESSOR OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR & HR MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF HAGERMAN CENTER FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP & INNOVATION

Change—whether you avoid it or embrace it, it’s inevitable. As a professor of organizational behavior and human resources management and associate director of the Hagerman Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, Brian D. Blume, Ph.D., is an expert on the ways change impacts students, education, and the way we do business.

“We all deal with change in our personal and professional lives,” said Blume. “Perhaps that’s why I enjoy teaching the Leading Organizational Change course most. As students grow and are challenged by the relevant and applicable content, I am also reminded of change principles that I can apply to my life.”

Blume recommends and assigns his students to read Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard by Chip Heath and Dan Heath.

“Effectively leading change is difficult for organizations but continuing to adapt is important,” said Blume. “My colleagues and I worked with a design company that was going through a strategic change. One of our successes was helping the client better understand how to lead change and apply change management principles to meet their strategic goals.”

A significant change affecting both education and organizations is the shift to online learning platforms taking place in the digital world.

“The world and business are moving more online, and COVID-19 has accelerated this transition,” said Blume. “Our educational methods and strategies are reflecting this trend, although I believe there will always be a desire for and benefit from in-person interactions. Students in my courses are effectively preparing virtual presentations and interacting online. With online education, like most things, you get out of it what you invest into it. So it is important for students to be self-motivated and disciplined, and for us as faculty to present material in an engaging manner.

“This shift in education is also impacting companies on an organizational level. I recently had the opportunity to consult with a company based out of Sweden that offers an online learning transfer platform. The goal is to enable those being trained to experience a learning journey that provides the full value of a company’s training investment—to better enable learners to apply the training to their jobs. I expect that this will become more common.”

Change is also key in Blume’s role as associate director of the Hagerman Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation. Together with Mark Simon, Ph.D., and others, the Center provides opportunities for students to experience and grow in the areas of entrepreneurship and innovation.

“It’s exciting when these experiences intersect to better the Flint-area community,” he said.

Promoted to full professor at a relatively young age, Blume continues to strive for excellence in research, teaching, and service. He has published several papers that are frequently read/cited in the transfer of training area (i.e. or e.g., examining factors that influence how much employees apply their training to the job), and he finds it rewarding when students share how material they learned in his courses have impacted their professional and/or personal lives.

“Dr. Blume has been an active and thoughtful participant among faculty,” said Yener Kandogan, Ph.D., interim dean of the School of Management. “I particularly appreciate his impactful research productivity and many years of service at the Hagerman Center.”

This year, he and co-advisor Gerald Knesek, received UM-Flint’s Outstanding Student Organization Advisor(s) award for their guidance to the Society for Human Resource Management.

“SHRM has the best faculty advisors helping us meet our mission,” said Alexis Menard (BBA, 2021). “I’m delighted Brian and Gerry received the Outstanding Advisor Award because they really deserve it. They are both educators who go above and beyond to support students in and outside of the classroom. They are great mentors and I have been inspired and impacted by both of them.”

Outside of the classroom, Blume enjoys spending time with his wife and three teenage children, as well as watching sports, playing basketball, and volunteering in the community.

“I want to thank God, my colleagues, SOM leadership, and my students for encouraging me in my career and providing me with many opportunities,” said Blume. “Together we are making an impact in the UM-Flint community and beyond.”