Professors cite McArthur's pivotal role in establishing an entrepreneurial studies program as an example of his willingness to explore new areas of business education even in the face of dissent. It was McArthur's effort to recruit a leading scholar in the field and secure necessary funding, says Associate Professor of Business Administration William A. Sahlman, which launched the program despite opposition from faculty members who considered the field unscholarly.

Serafim-Rock Professor of Business Administration Howard H. Stevenson, a leading scholar of entrepreneurship, left the B-School in 1977, retiring while under consideration for tenure. But McArthur took the initiative to solicit funding for a new endowed chair and then offered Stevenson the position.

With McArthur's support, say Stevenson and Sahlman, the program has come to hold its own amidst more established departments. By next year, at least seven professors will teach entrepreneurial studies courses, and Sahlman estimates that half of all second-year students will take a course in the field.

"The group was effectively formed when McArthur asked Stevenson to the University," says Sahlman. "There are people who still think entepreneurial studies is not worthwhile, not a rigorous area of concern. We disagreed, McArthur disagreed, and McArthur enabled us to do what we've done."

In cases such as this one, B-School professors say, McArthur doesn't simply dictate new concepts to be developed by faculty; rather, he encourages professors to pursue their own projects.

"John really believes in the decentralization of intellectual capital--he bets on the jockey," says Stevenson. "It's not top-down management."

External Affairs

But B-School students say they rarely enjoy such direct encouragement from McArthur. Faculty and students alike have acknowledged that external relations comprise a large portion of McArthur's responsibilities; and as a result, his realm is often the boardroom rather than the classroom.

Much of McArthur's time must be devoted to external affairs--promoting faculty research, making sure that corporations are satisfied with the year's crop of MBAs, and soliciting funds. In this capacity, McArthur serves as a high-profile publicist, professors say, often using the B-School's press and videos to present information about the school in a novel way.

"John has viewed the school as a business that's in the business of developing and disseminating intellectual capital," says Stevenson. "If the goal is to have an impact on the way people think about business, then you really have to say that disseminating it broadly is an important element of that task--and John has promoted us well."

Students and staff alike acknowledge that such a role is necessary in order to maintain good relations between the B-School and the corporate world. Nevertheless, as the dean's commitment to bolstering alumni and corporate relations increases, the time left for everyday school life begins to dwindle.

And at Harvard, whose alumni base and student population is larger than all other business schools, there is a great tendency for a dean to focus on outside issues, says Dickinson Professor of Accounting Robert S. Kaplan, who until 1983 served as dean of Carnegie-Mellon Graduate School of Industrial Administration. In addition, he says, business contacts must be fostered to generate source materials for the over five million copies of case studies the school distributes annually.

"As external relations take on more importance, you have less time to do inside work," says. "John works more through the senior associate deans; they're more in charge of operations with students. John's relationship with students would be going through the senior associate deans."

But this lack of accessibility doesn't frustrate the future MBA's--they expect it. Many say they have found other B-School officials to whom they can more effectively voice concerns. Even leaders of student groups seeking reform in such areas as minority faculty hiring say they often steer clear of McArthur.

"I've had no interaction [with the Dean], but I haven't sought it," says second-year student Carol R. Schwartz, the president of the Women's Student Association. "We've spoken with [Professor of Business Administration William E.] Sasser and with a few other members of the faculty."

Belinda C. Stubblefield, a second-year student and president of the Afro-American Student Union, says that while McArthur has been open to discussing such issues as the lack of Black professors and case study protagonists, most of her discussions have been with Sasser.

"Dean McArthur realizes that what we do is important for the school," says Stubblefield. However, she explains that "the CEO is McArthur, but the COO [the chief operating officer] is Sasser. McArthur is more of the big-picture thinker, setting strategy--Sasser is more of the implementer."

Sasser, who heads the MBA program, declined to comment.

Most certain about McArthur's role is that it is not likely to change anytime soon. Efficiency is the key to success in the business world, and although McArthur may not be a campus presence, he is an efficient CEO. Even if his company is meant to be a part of academia.