New business
dean at UH urges
plucky isle mentality

The business college must 'push
harder' to boost entrepreneurship
and e-commerce, says
David McClain

Analysts: Hawaii needs
to take risks to prosper

By Susan Kreifels
Star-Bulletin

LIVING by your wits. The state needs more of it, says the new dean of the College of Business Administration at the University of Hawaii-Manoa. And promoting more entrepreneurs is one of his goals.

"The Hawaii economy needs a live-by-your-wits mentality," said David McClain, who started his job Jan. 1.

The need for that mentality became apparent after the economic crises in Japan and across Asia, when businesses left Hawaii for better prospects.

McClain said the college excels in intercultural business issues, and that will continue to be a focus.

But it needs to "push harder" in encouraging entrepreneurship and e-commerce via the Internet. He plans to do that by continuing to bring in specialists and get grants.

The college must keep curriculum "fresh and relevant" with top-notch researchers, he said.

McClain also believes UH must adapt and respond to the environment and become a player in the economic development by spending a lot of "face time" with the community and participating in all events. "We must define our value to the community," he said.

DAVID McCLAIN Job: New dean of the College of Business Administration, University of Hawaii-Manoa Education: Ph.D. in economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Academic jobs: Taught at MIT's Sloan School of Management and at Boston University, where he was the founding director of the Japan Management Development Program Before academic life: Senior staff economist on the Council of Economic Advisers, Executive Office of the President; director of Global Information Services for Data Resources Inc., 1974-78. Book: "Apocalypse on Wall Street," about the 1987 stock market crash, published 1988.

With Internet start-ups booming in the mainland, he sees Hawaii as a place to help hook up those entrepreneurs with Asia. More now find it easier to go to Europe, he said.

UH President Kenneth Mortimer has encouraged McClain to take risks and make changes.

McClain wants the college to choose its own graduate students and determine its own tuition -- autonomy the medical and law schools now have.

McClain said he wants the college to "think differently" about how to finance such expenses as computer-related upgrades. Because technology changes so rapidly, McClain said the university can't afford to keep up with it. He believes students will be willing to pay more tuition for computer-related upgrades, following mainland schools. And that leaves more to spend on qualified faculty and other areas.

Other changes sound simple but take a while -- like convincing students, administration and staff to call him by his first name and be "less hierarchal."

McClain sees now as the perfect time to take his new job. He predicts Asia's economy will recover, although growth won't be as smooth as before the economic crisis. He is optimistic that the mainland economy will continue to surge. And he believes Hawaii has turned a corner from its faltering economic performance of the 1990s.

"This is a great time. The process of change is under way," he said. "Anybody left in Hawaii is a good manager."

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UH student newspaper
Ka Leo O Hawaii