Cal Lutheran Goes Global For Talent

If you want to know how to manage people in international business, talk to Vlad Vaiman. The new associate dean at California Lutheran University’s management school in Thousand Oaks was born and raised in Moscow during Soviet rule, left at age 21 to study business in the United States, and later lived in Canada, Switzerland, Austria and Iceland. Vaiman, 42, also has published three books on how to manage talent, which he defines as the few people who drive revenue at a company. He has taught at Cal Lutheran as a visiting professor for six years, attracted by the friendly, collegial atmosphere at the small private school and the local economy. “Talent in Southern California is not different from talent anywhere else, there’s just more of it,” he said. “The knowledge-based industries that dominate the economy – engineering, entertainment and biotechnology – have some of the most skilled employees in the world. And of course, the good weather doesn’t hurt.” Vaiman is among a number of hires and promotions at the graduate management school of Cal Lutheran, which ranks No. 3 on the Business Journal’s MBA Program list (see page 8). Gerhard Apfelthaler, the dean who took over the business school in June, said the faculty decisions are part of a strategy to focus on international business and entrepreneurship. Also joining are William Gartner, an expert on entrepreneurial behavior and decision-making, who is a visiting professor from Clemson University, where he taught for the past nine years; and Virginia Gean, a visiting lecturer and entrepreneur who has an MBA from Pepperdine University. “Entrepreneurship is a hot topic all over the country. Personally, I believe the age of dependent employment in a corporate structure will be over some time in the future,” Apfelthaler said. “So if business schools are preparing people for that type of career, they are doing a disservice. People like Vlad bring a network that’s global.” – Joel Russell