In the second sign in a week that Harvard is taking a new tack in its relationship with Boston, Harvard President Neil L. Rudenstine spoke yesterday to local businesspeople at Boston's Four Seasons Hotel.

Rudenstine's talk--one of the first in recent memory in which he sounded less like an academic leader and more like a CEO--dealt with Harvard's recent sale of a Roxbury housing complex and a report on the University's economic impact released earlier this week.

Echoing the report, Rudenstine spoke about how the Boston area attracts students to Harvard, and touted the University's injection of money, community service hours and intellectual capital into the city.

"It seems like they want to be a part of Boston now," quipped Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino, who made a cameo appearance before the speech.

Harvard has had a serious image problem in the Boston area in recent years. The revelation in the summer of 1997 that the University had been secretly buying up land in Allston created tension, especially with Menino.

"There's an important process of the University internally getting in touch with itself," said Paul S. Grogan, vice president for government, community and public affairs, of the community outreach initiative.

The University commissioned the economic impact study by an outside agency to determine Harvard's impact on the region's economy.

The study found that Harvard is the area's second largest private employer behind Partners Health Care System but ahead of Bell Atlantic and Fidelity Investments.

Harvard spent $1.15 billion on payroll, goods and services in the area over the past year, the report says, and most of the University's revenue comes from outside the state--importing capital that is then spent here.