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?
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