Monday 22 April 2013

On Rankings: Do we need a new Ranking?


Gyanendra Kumar Kashyap

There is no dearth of players in the B –school ranking market, each claiming to be more authentic than the other; yet questions are often raised over the credibility of such rankings. Nevertheless year on year the list of ‘the most authentic ranking’ goes on increasing. Does a new set of ranking matter and if so what is it that makes it more credible & acceptable – a few questions…

Like it or loathe it, rankings are an integral part of business school world. Be it either the aspirants, or the influencer or the alumni – each one assesses the impact of the business school’s ranking in the global market. This is all the truer for the aspirants, for more often than not they rely on these rankings to shortlist their target schools.  Perhaps this must have been the guiding philosophy as to why, globally and in India too, a host of business newspapers and magazines started to rank MBA programs and the business schools that offered them. Ever since, media organisations have started ranking business schools using varying methodologies, looking at criteria including how schools select their students and how eager employees are to hire their graduates, student/faculty ratio, graduate and alumni salaries, number of full-time professors, tuition fees, notable alumni, infrastructure, library holdings, student satisfaction, and so on. However, there is considerable debate about the legitimacy of rating systems, specifically the various methodologies used to rank the programs. The critical question is: which ranking is the best and which one is the most accurate?
It is beyond doubt that glaring differences in rankings of B-schools, probably because of the varying weight-age assigned to various parameters, does raise questions pertaining to authenticity and reliability. Nonetheless, identifying a good B- school matters a lot in the long run and it is here that rankings at least have the merit of providing potential applicants with certain data that would otherwise be unavailable. In essence, rankings (though subjective and debatable) help candidates to sift through the huge amount of information available and the sheer number of institutions offering MBAs and select the few programs they wish to find out more about.

A few questions

Unfailingly and on an annual basis, a number of media organisations come up with their version of best B-schools; as such there is no dearth of B-school rankings. Thus the important question is: should there be yet another B-School ranking when there are already a multiplicity of these rankings studies out there? Is there really a need to add to the existing clutter of the profusion of B-School rankings out there in the marketplace? Will a new version of who is best and who is second best mean anything to anybody (read the influencers and potential applicants)? Add to this reports such as "B-schools and Engineering colleges shut down - Big Business Struggles," by The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) which states that more than 180 B-schools have already closed down in 2012 in the major cities  and another 160 are struggling for their survivals.  So will this new set of ranking help view B-school rankings in perspective and look beyond the stereotypical rankings; will it be elegant in its simplicity and profound in its methodology?
In essence the questions that seek immediate answer are - why do we need a new B-school ranking and more so how the new set of rankings will be an invaluable guide to each and every MBA aspirant in the country. What is it that will be its key differentiator?

Why the difference?

The inconsistencies in ranking and the movement of B-schools year-on-year on a particular league raise questions about the methodology and the lack of validation therein. The methodology of a few of the rankings is well-constructed, it takes into account parameters such as infrastructure, international exposure, quality of faculty, research, diversity, pedagogy, alumni, etc.; but it is either because of supply of sketchy data that questions the credibility of such rankings. Also more often than not, over reliance on reported data (i.e. lack of validation) is a cause of discrepancies.

How do you differentiate?

MBA rankings are hugely influential for graduates when ascertaining the degree of respect that employers hold for their business school, and subsequently their MBA degree. Consequently, a lot of MBA aspirants browse through rankings with a great deal of interest.  It is well known that methodology of each ranking is subjective in its choice of criteria, and that the difference between a school ranked 25th or 30th is probably not that great. An interesting question is how does a hiring manager choose a B-school – is ranking the most influential factor when identifying the school? What are the parameters that it chooses to base its decision on? Is it the student profile or the academic excellence of the institute that organisations consider more? 

No comments:

Post a Comment