Business School Rankings Research Articles

How do location, accreditation, and faculty size affect business schools’ ranking?

This study analyzed the impact of location, accreditation, and faculty size on the ranking of elite business schools. It used descriptive statistics and inferential analysis (analysis of covariance) to establish the effect of location on the business schools’ ranking while also controlling the influence (impact) of the covariates (accreditation and faculty size) on the outcomes. It found that location and accreditation type do not significantly affect the business schools’ ranking. The size of the faculty impacted the rankings of the programs. However, the pairwise comparison of the critical factors shows that faculty size and accreditation are more impactful in European business schools than in China, the United States/Canada, and other regions. Finally, smaller business schools (mainly in Europe) pursue Triple Crown accreditation to compete with more extensive, U.S.-based programs, favoring only the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business accreditation.

Making the Grade (But Not Disclosing It): How Withholding Grades Affects Student Behavior and Employment

We study the effects of grade nondisclosure (GND) policies implemented within master of business administration (MBA) programs at highly ranked business schools. GND precludes students from disclosing their grades and grade point averages (GPAs) to employers. In the labor market, we find that GND weakens the positive relation between GPA and employer desirability. During the MBA program, we find that GND reduces students’ academic effort for a given course by approximately 4.9% relative to comparable students not subject to the policy. Consistent with our model, in which abilities are potentially correlated and students can substitute effort toward other activities in order to signal GPA-focused abilities, students participate in more extracurricular activities and enroll in more difficult courses under GND. Finally, we show that students’ tenure with their first employers after graduation decreases under GND. This paper was accepted by Suraj Srinivasan, accounting. Supplemental Material: The online appendix and data are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2023.4816 .

The portrayal of the role and agency of students and higher education institutions in highly ranked business school discourses

PurposeThis study aims to investigate how highly ranked business schools portray ideal students in terms of their attributes and their agency. Understanding how these higher education institutions (HEIs) discursively construct their present and prospective students also shed light on the institutions’ self-representation, the portrayal of the student–institution relationship and eventually the discursive construction of higher education’s (HE) role.Design/methodology/approachTo understand this dynamic interrelationship, this study uses mixed methodological textual analysis first quantitatively identifying different modes of language use and then qualitatively analysing them.FindingsWith this approach, this study identified six language use groups. While the portrayal of the business schools and that of the students are always co-constructed, these groups differ in the extent of student and organisational agency displayed as well as the role and purpose of the institution. Business schools are always active agents in these discourses, but their roles and the students’ agency vary greatly across these six groups.Practical implicationsThese findings can help practitioners determine how students are currently portrayed in their organisational texts, how their peers and competitors talk and where they want to position themselves in relation to them.Originality/valuePrevious studies discussed the ideal HE students from the perspective of the students or their educators. Other analyses on HE discourse focused on HEIs’ discursive construction and social role This study, however, unveils how the highly ranked business schools in their external organisational communication discursively construct their ideals and expectations for both their students and the general public.

A typology of sexism in contemporary business schools: Belligerent, benevolent, ambivalent, and oblivious sexism

AbstractThe legitimacy of business schools is based on rankings, revenues, branding, and opportunities to support staff and students “to make a difference in the world”. Yet sexism in business schools is endemic. Drawing on Acker's inequality regimes framework and a thematic analysis of reports in Poets&Quants, EFMD's Global Focus and AACSB International's BizEd/AACSB Insights over a decade, this study explores how business schools are dealing (or not) with sexism. We propose a typology of four categories of sexism in business schools: belligerent, benevolent, ambivalent, and oblivious sexism. Our findings contribute to understandings of institutional theory and the institutional development of business schools as important sites of (sexist and gendered) knowledge production and dissemination and entrenched inequalities. We posit that media constructions of sexism may better inform individual decisions, organizational development, and governance about the imperative to eliminate sexist behaviors and discrimination. We argue that business schools need to gain substantive legitimacy as effective role models by reforming themselves. They must actively tackle institutional and cultural sexism from within. Implications for practice include the effective inclusion of mandatory sexism reporting in international business school accreditation standards and rankings criteria as well as requirements for research funding.

Pandemic transitions: impact on business school campus recruitments

PurposeThis study aims to examine the transitions in hiring criteria by recruiting companies in top ten Quacquarelli Symonds ranked business schools in India during the pandemic.Design/methodology/approachUsing an exploratory lens, an in-depth semistructured interview was conducted with 20 recruiting companies across industries and roles.FindingsContent analysis suggests the changing preferences in hiring criteria and identifies six themes that have assumed importance during the pandemic period.Research limitations/implicationsThis study has implications for business school participants who need to change their preparation strategy during the placement season.Practical implicationsThere is an opportunity for business schools to focus on these two soft skills, namely, self-management with self-discipline and oral and written communication across the platform. However, in the depth and diversity of soft skills training, there is often a shallow coverage of multiple skills. The rather focused approach to developing these two skills may go a long way in preparing work-delivery graduates who could hit the proverbial ground running as the first step into their careers.Originality/valueThis study contributes to hiring managers by suggesting the traits that may assume importance in the new normal where remote or hybrid working context is a necessity.

Demystifying the Core Values of Top Global Business Schools

The purpose of this study is to examine the underpinning core values practiced at the top 100 business schools in the world. Financial Times ranking for Top 100 Business Schools for the year 2020 was selected for this study and the business schools’ core values were collected from their official websites. Content analysis was used as the major data analysis technique. This research provides many significant findings. One-third of listed business schools do not have core values. Most of the top business schools have identified 5 to 6 core values on average. The top seven most frequently used core values include: Excellence, Integrity, Collaboration, Diversity, Innovation, Respect, and Inclusiveness. Three major clusters of core values of business schools were identified within the dataset. The 7 most frequent values are universal by nature and there seems no specific relationship with any country or ranking of business schools. Implication, limitations, and future and research directions are provided in the end.

The portrayal of the future as legitimacy construction: discursive strategies in highly ranked business schools’ external communication

In this paper, we investigate how highly ranked business schools construct their legitimacy claims by analysing their online organisational communication. We argue that in the case of higher education institutions in general, and business schools in particular, the discursive formation of these legitimacy claims is strongly connected to the future. Consequently, we utilise corpus-based discourse analysis of highly ranked business schools’ website communication by focusing on sentences containing the expression ‘future’. At first, we analysed the future-related language use to reveal the general future picture in the corpus. Furthermore, by combining qualitative and quantitative textual data, we identified six typical agency frames (i.e. preparing, shaping, adjusting, exploring, personal future, responsibility) about the future. By examining the co-occurrence of these frames, we were able to identify different discursive strategies. As we connected our findings to general societal phenomena we could interpret why and how business schools utilise these discursive strategies to (re)create and maintain their legitimacy.

Dancing in the storm: finessing emergency remote teaching in the COVID-19 pandemic

Case overview The Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS), a South African based business school and one of the top ranked business schools in Africa, was yet again facing a crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic. Having emerged out of an extraordinary year of strict lockdown regulations and having managed a rapid shift to emergency remote teaching. GIBS had managed to maintain its academic programmes, ensuring the completion of the curriculum within the academic year whilst maintaining the exceptionally high standards and quality learning experience it was known for. As 2020 drew to a close, the academic programmes team and the students looked forward to starting the new year in a more “normal” mode of operation. GIBS closed for Christmas holiday with the intent on returning, in early 2021, in some form of face-to-face teaching. However, on the 27th of December 2020, the President of South Africa announced a return to level-3 lockdown as the second wave of infections swept through the country. Strict measures were once again enforced, significantly impacting GIBS’ possible return to campus in January 2021. Reflecting on the lessons learnt over the past year, the Executive Director: Academic Programmes, Professor Louise Whittaker, yet again faced the challenge of deciding how best to proceed given the circumstances. The case illustrates the need for effective change management through the application of Kotter’s 8 steps to transformation, whilst demonstrating the complexity of change management during a crisis. A particular focus on the importance of communication during a change management process in a crisis is illustrated through this case. Expected learning outcomes The learning outcomes are as follows: students need to understand that in a crisis, change management will be emergent and requires flexibility and adaptability; students will determine what concrete actions may be required during a change management process in a crisis; students will need to discern that theoretical models do not necessarily fit real world contexts, particularly in a crisis situation; and students will identify aspects that might be missing or inadequately formulated in standard models of change management. Complexity academic level The case is positioned at a post-graduate level and would be ideal as a teaching case for business school students on a Master of Business Administration programme, a specialised business masters programme or selected executive education programmes for general managers or senior executives. The case can be taught in a course in the following fields, namely, change management, leadership or strategy. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS 11: Strategy.

Business ethics research at the world's leading universities and business schools

AbstractThis paper explores the role of the leading universities and best‐ranked business schools in the evolution of the academic field of business ethics. An advanced bibliometric methodology is applied to publications in business ethics from the major universities of the Shanghai ARWU ranking and from the FT‐ranked business schools. The comprehensive bibliometric study encompasses multiple indicators and examines the evolution of business ethics publications over time. Business ethics research is built on two complementary interdisciplinary streams of research, philosophy, and management. The study indicates that it were not the top universities that contributed most to research advancements in the field of business ethics but second and third tier universities. This finding suggests that academic research in new subfields constitutes a niche strategy for universities and business schools to differentiate themselves. The study furthermore highlights the prominent role of the product champion or ‘idea champion’ in management research at universities. The diffusion of business ethics research illustrates the possibilities for lower ranked business schools with lower budget to excel in specialised subfields and interdisciplinary subthemes.

Enhancing the Positive Impact Rating: A New Business School Rating in Support of a Sustainable Future

Business school rankings are “big business”, influencing donors and potential students alike, holding much sway over decanal and faculty priorities, particularly with respect to the curriculum as well as the focus and destination of research publications (i.e., in so-called “top” journals). Over the past several years, the perverse effects of these priorities have begun to be acknowledged, and new ratings and ranking systems have emerged. One promising newcomer is the Positive Impact Rating (PIR), which uniquely and exclusively focuses on student perceptions of their business school’s priorities and the learning experience. In addition, it organizes schools by tier, in an effort to foster collaboration and continuous improvement, as opposed to ranked competition. If this new approach is to achieve its stated objective and help shift the focus of business schools to developing future business leaders and research output in alignment with a more sustainable world (and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals), it is essential that the metrics used be and be perceived as both valid and reliable. The current research aims to make a contribution in this regard, analyzing the results at one business school in detail and making recommendations for strengthening these aims. Results show that the parametric properties of the survey are highly interrelated, suggesting that the predictive utility of the separate elements within the scale could be improved. Additionally, biases in scores may exist depending on where the responses are collected and who solicited them, as well as the students’ perception of their overall academic experience and on socio-cultural factors.

Business School Rankings: The Financial Times’ Experience and Evolutions

The growing demand for societal impact of teaching, research, and operations necessitates fresh approaches to our analysis of business school rankings. I discuss the Financial Times’ approach and the need for fresh methods, metrics, and standards.

Draw your organization! A solution-focused theory-method for business school challenges and change

PurposeThis study aims to present a solution-focused approach to current problems and criticisms faced by business schools.Design/methodology/approachTo facilitate the required shift from problems to solutions, this study outlines a theory method and demonstrates how it has informed my teaching at Financial Times (FT)-ranked business schools and other institutions of higher education in two subjects and on three continents.FindingsThe study reports on two student exercises showing that even advanced business school students confuse organizations with political economic hierarchies.Originality/valueThe study concludes that business schools pursuing a smart specialization strategy by challenging this reductionist view may turn into new schools of management distinguished by a broader, multifunctional concept of themselves and their impact on their environment.

Who is seen to be doing business research, and does it really matter? Gender representation at academic conferences

PurposeGender inequality is evident in many academic practices, but research has often focused on the male-dominated science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. This study responds to calls for more work in the business disciplines which have been overlooked by comparison and focuses on academic conferences as a higher education practice. Conferences are manifestations of the research being conducted within the discipline, representing the type of knowledge that is considered valuable, and who the thought leaders are considered to be. This study investigates whether equal representation of women at such conferences really matters, to whom and why.Design/methodology/approachThe research was designed using a critical feminist theory approach. An online survey was disseminated to academic staff and postgraduate students in the 25 top ranked business schools in Australia and New Zealand. A total of 452 responses were received, and thematic analysis was applied to open-ended responses.FindingsEqual representation does matter, for two sets of reasons. The first align with feminist theory perspectives of “equal opportunity” (gender is neutral), “difference” (gender is celebrated) or “post-equity” (the social construction of gender itself is problematic). The second are pragmatic consequences, namely the importance of role modelling, career building and the respect and recognition that come with conference attendance and visible leadership roles.Social implicationsThe findings have implications in regards to job satisfaction, productivity and the future recruitment and retention of women in academia. Furthermore, in areas where women are not researching, the questions and issues that are important to them are not receiving the attention they deserve, and this gender data gap has consequences for society at large.Originality/valueThis study moves beyond simply identifying the under-representation of women at academic conferences in yet another field, to investigate why equal representation is important and to whom. It provides valuable evidence of the consequences of under-representation, as perceived by academics themselves.

A Positive Impact Rating for Business Schools: Case Study

Business school rankings have been criticized, to blindly “follow the money” with their strong focus on salaries and economic performance, thereby reflecting the values and expectations of the times the rankings were created. Rankings are increasingly seen as out of touch with changing demands on business and business schools to address issues of social impact and sustainability. The newly created Positive Impact Rating for Business Schools (PIR) provides an answer to these demands. This paper presents a case study on the new PIR. It first provides an overview of the critique of current business school rankings. It highlights emerging trends towards including social impact and sustainability in the business school landscape, with a focus on the UN Sustainable Development Goals, research initiatives, accreditations, and rankings. It then presents and discusses in detail the new PIR launched in January 2020 at the WEF in Davos and its initial reception. This new “by students and for students” rating reaches out to students to assess their own business schools on how they perceive them in creating a positive impact on and for the world.

Pivot or pirouette? Turning to emergency remote teaching in the COVID-19 pandemic

Learning outcomes Learning outcomes are as follows: Students will be able to demonstrate the need to understand the uncertainty faced in a crisis; demonstrate how dynamic capabilities allow an organisation to respond effectively in a time of crisis and deep uncertainty; explore how strong dynamic capabilities are required to maintain continuity of operations by enabling a shift in the current business model; and evaluate methods of mobilising resources to address needs and possible opportunities presented in a crisis. Case overview/synopsis Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS), a South African-based business school and the one of the top ranked business schools in Africa, faced a crisis in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. With the announcement of a national lock down, under strict conditions, and the immediate closure of the GIBS campus, the Academic Programmes had to radically shift their mode of delivery to enable students to continue with their respective programmes. When the situation was further exacerbated by the breaking of the undersea cable, the Executive Director of Academic Programmes, Professor Louise Whittaker faced the difficult decision on what to do next. The case illustrates the need for strong dynamic capabilities to foster organisational agility and to respond effectively in times of deep uncertainty or crises. Complexity academic level The case is positioned at a postgraduate level and would be ideal as a teaching case for business students on a Master of Business Administration programme, a specialised Master in Philosophy programme or selected executive education programmes for general managers or senior executives. Supplementary materials Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS: 11 Strategy.

An integrated approach towards modeling ranked weights

In the decision-making process, various approximate weighting methods such as equal weights, rank-order centroid weights, rank-sum weights, and rank reciprocal weights, have been proposed to deal with multi-attribute decision-making (MADM) problems in situations where only rank order information can be captured. In this paper, we seek to contribute fresh insights through the development of an integrated programming approach which unifies different weighting methods. From this integrated approach, a new weight method, rank order total weights (ROT) is introduced, and the assessment methods with associated programming equations, propositions and characteristics are carefully investigated. The effectiveness of this approach is demonstrated by using an illustration of real problem with U.S. business school ranking.

Improving University Rankings: Lessons Learned From the Movie 'Moneyball'

Can there be a bigger challenge for a dean facing an accreditation visit than deficiencies in faculty scholarship metrics? Given the publication lead-time (sometimes two years between manuscript completion and actually being available in print), for many deans, this will be a crisis with no immediate, easy answer. If a school has not previously hired with scholarship metrics in mind and employed strategies to empower faculty to publish, this may be a problem without a comfortable short-term remedy. Internal, organic growth of publication metrics tends not to happen quickly, and not-at-all without communication of it being a priority “at the top.” This topic and case study has profound academic, financial and reputational implications for institutions of higher education everywhere. U.S. News & World Report has announced that rankings of U.S. law schools will soon include a proxy for scholarship metrics. Can business schools be far behind? We live in an age that is obsessed with personal and institutional branding, competition and rankings. In our contemporary culture almost nothing escapes rating by some authority. Cities are rated by unemployment rate, cost of living and climate. Olympic athletes are ranked by appropriate measurements. Professional sports teams are ranked by conference in their quest to win the World Series or Super Bowl. While professional athletes are rated for batting average, runs batted-in, whatever measurement is relevant almost everything in life that has a value is rated by some metric(s), provided by a credible rating authority. These ratings or rankings are then widely circulated in the regular and social media. They become an important part of the branding efforts and are readily available on the institutional webpage, social media communications and of course on the Internet. This paper contributes to the debate about business school curriculum, rankings, relevance, scholarly impact and value to current and future students. The paper draws lessons from the 2011 movie, Moneyball, based on Michael Lewis’ 2003 bestseller, Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game. The book depicts the unlikely success of baseball’s Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane [played by Brad Pitt] as he attempts to build a Major League championship-winning team in face of competition from teams with much larger salary budget for professional baseball players. Billy Beane out-thinks other team managers by hiring a recent Yale economics graduate (fictional character Peter Brand) and by employing computer-generated statistical analysis (in reality, sabermetrics) to identify and recruit undervalued young players and inexpensive discarded veterans. This paper is based on our experience, perspectives and success working in a College of Business in a mid-size, public university in Texas. However, the challenges we face -- limited resources, and working within the bureaucratic framework of a public university-- are applicable to many disciplines, programs, and universities. The same issues, challenges and strategies should be applicable to law schools and all other disciplines. We believe that parallels may be drawn to the plight of less-endowed educational institutions as they seek to stand out in a crowded marketplace, and excel via creative strategies, despite being relatively resource-poor compared to bigger and wealthier colleges and universities.

Engines of Anxiety: Academic Rankings, Reputation, and Accountability, by Wendy Nelson Espeland and Michael Sauder. New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation, 2016, 2015, 281 pages, paper

Academy of Management Learning & EducationVol. 18, No. 2 Book & Resource ReviewsEngines of Anxiety: Academic Rankings, Reputation, and Accountability, by Wendy Nelson Espeland and Michael Sauder. New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation, 2016, 2015, 281 pages, paperWilliam KoprowskiWilliam Koprowski()Published Online:8 Jul 2019https://doi.org/10.5465/amle.2018.0027AboutSectionsView articleView Full TextPDF/EPUB ToolsDownload CitationsAdd to favoritesTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail View articleREFERENCESFrost, P. J.Taylor, M. S. (Eds.). 1996. Foundations for organizational science: Rhythms of academic life: Personal accounts of careers in academia. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc., 10.4135/9781452231570. Google ScholarGioia, D. A., & Corley, K. G. 2002. Being good versus looking good: Business school rankings and the Circean transformation from substance to image. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 1(1): 107–120.Link , Google ScholarGlick, W. H. 2008. Rain Man or Pied Piper? Moving business schools beyond media rankings with mass customization and stakeholder education. The Academy of Management Perspectives, 22(1): 18–23.Link , Google ScholarGreenberg, M. 2013, March 29. AU law students, alums, launch petition to oust dean after falling out of top 50 law schools ranking. DCINNO. Retrieved from https://www.americaninno.com Google ScholarHanson, M. 2012, July 24. U of Illinois Law School is publicly censured by the ABA, Fined for misreporting admissions data. ABA Journal. Retrieved from http://www.abajournal.com Google ScholarMorgeson, F. P., & Nahrgang, J. D. 2008. Same as it ever was: Recognizing stability in the Business Week rankings. Academy of Management Learning and Education, 7(1): 26–41.Link , Google ScholarOlson, E. 2016, March 24. Law graduate loses suit against school on enticing enrollment data. New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com Google ScholarOremus, W. 2013, September 10. U.S. News tumbles eight spots in this year’s super-official college-rankings rankings. Slate. Retrieved from https://slate.com/technology/2013/09/u-s-news-college-rankings-falls-8-spots-in-arbitrary-college-rankings-rankings.htm Google ScholarPfeffer, J., & Fong, C. T. 2004. The business school “business”: Some lessons from the US experience. Journal of Management Studies, 41(8): 1501–1520. Google ScholarRidgway, V. F. 1956. Dysfunctional consequences of performance measurements. Administrative Science Quarterly, 1(2): 240–247. Google ScholarWedlin, L. 2006. Ranking business schools: Forming fields, identities and boundaries in international management education. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar. Google ScholarFiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Vol. 18, No. 2 Permissions Metrics in the past 12 months History Published online 8 July 2019 Published in print 1 June 2019 Information© Academy of Management Learning & EducationDownload PDF

Avoiding the Iron Cage of Business School Rankings

We argue that rankings force business schools to increasingly follow similar curricula and strategic approaches, creating a “iron cage” that influences the nature, quality, and pedagogies of what is taught, particularly for striving business schools that wish to join the ranks of highly rated ones. Following rankings pressures measures is particularly problematic for schools striving for top ratings, for non-accredited institutions, and for smaller, more teaching-oriented institutions who play what amounts to an unwinnable game because of the stability of rankings over time. There are other innovative approaches to managing rankings pressures beyond conforming, by seeking differentiation strategies.

Business School Education and Entrepreneurial Human Capital

This paper is the first to study the role of business school education in the creation and success of venture capital (VC) backed startup firms. Using a large new dataset of the educational backgrounds of entrepreneurial founders and executives and detailed data on business school rankings, we find that (i) almost a quarter of VC-backed startups over 1990-2010 are launched by founders with formal business education and two-thirds of startups have an executive with a business school degree, (ii) VC-backed startups experience better exit outcomes when their executive teams include MBA graduates, and (iii) startups are significantly more likely to retain a founder with an MBA as a post-IPO CEO. Consistent with a networking mechanism, 29% of VC-backed startups have at least two executives from the same business school, and 13% of startups have at least one executive and one VC director from the same business school. Such startups with connected executives are significantly more likely to successfully exit through an IPO or an acquisition. Overall, our findings provide evidence on the role of business schools in promoting the formation of professional networks and the acquisition of skills important for launching a successful startup.