Strikingly, however, the proposal includes nomention of the Business School's trademark casestudy method of instruction, though it doessuggest a heightened emphasis on class work in thefield.

Business School Dean John H. McArthur said theomission does not mean a significant move awayfrom the case study method, though he acknowledgedthat "there are things we can teach in a moreeffective approach than we do now."

Case studies, hailed as a pathbreaking methodof instruction when they were pioneered by theBusiness School, have more recently been thetarget of attack in the national media as outdatedand ineffective.

McArthur said he supports the plan, though hesaid it is simply a suggested "map" for change,open to significant revision by the school'sfaculty. He said the MBA overhaul seeks to alignthe school's curriculum with the demands of aconstantly changing corporate world.

"People that are in powerful market positions,like us, can easily succumb to this kind ofarrogance that we know what everybody needs," thedean said. "What we're trying hard to do inthis--and we have years of discussions left tomake our way through it--is to understand allthese things going on around us and see what itmeans."

McArthur said parts of the plan would likely beaccepted immediately, while others might never beimplemented.

"An important part of the discussion over thenext several years will be continually assessingpriorities," he said. "Probably we'll go into somethings thinking they're going to be very difficultand there'll be nothing to it, and other things wethought would not be difficult...we'll neverfigure out how to do."

And McArthur said parts of the plan will beimplemented on a trial-and-error basis.

"I think the spirit of it is that we're goingto try some of it with less than the wholecommunity. Then we'll go on and do the rest ofit," he said