India boasts one of the world's largest higher education systems, ranking third globally, following China and the USA. Our country's education quality has garnered accolades and appreciation from across the globe. While India wasn't among the pioneers in establishing business schools or initiating MBA/PGDM programmes, we have excelled in postgraduate management education.
Indian business schools are now placing increasing emphasis on equipping business graduates with the skills needed for Industry 5.0, the latest phase of industrialization. Hence, besides traditional postgraduate management subjects, business schools are increasingly incorporating electives like Business Analytics, IT, International Business in collaboration with foreign universities, and so on. However, there is a long way to go on this path, and most of these developments could be found among the highly reputed business schools in India. Consequently, prospective students devote a significant amount of time and effort to researching B-school rankings in India before making an admissions decision.
What’s And Why’s of Ranking B-Schools
What is the ranking of B-schools?
It's a system for rating B-schools according to a set of criteria and scoring them according to how well they performed on the assessment. Academic reputation, faculty credentials, research production, student satisfaction, placement achievements, alumni success, and so forth are some of the elements used in the assessment process.
Rankings can be conducted by various organizations and publications, including NIRF (a ranking methodology of the Ministry of Education, Government of India), private educational portals, and even renowned new agencies like Business Today, Economic Times, Fortune India, and so on.
Prospective students can use these rankings as a reference when choosing where to do their postgraduate management education. These rankings are also used by employers to determine which business schools are in a stronger position in the market and which ones are desirable places to work.
Why ranking B-schools?
Ranking B-schools serve a wide range of purposes, like:
Comparing
Benchmarking
Aiding students in decision-making
Promoting credibility among stakeholders
Upholding transparency about operations,
Enhancing potential employers’ perception, etc.
Rankings offer useful information about business schools for the benefit of various stakeholders, even though they have limits and shouldn't be the only factor used to evaluate a school's caliber.
How Important is B-School Ranking?
Although India has started considerably late in terms of postgraduate management programme, we are doing great in this field of education. This success can be attributed to the exceptional standard of education offered by business schools. However, just a few business schools in India are regarded among the best and have succeeded in combining excellence and education. Therefore, classifying every business school as a top-tier institution is unrealistic. This emphasizes the importance of ranking B-schools, as a highly rated institution is fundamentally associated with higher educational quality, among other factors.
That being said, the importance of B-school ranking is different for different stakeholders.
Students
For students, B-school rankings are important when deciding which institute to attend for postgraduate management education. They frequently consider rankings as an indicator of reputation, quality, and possible return on investment.
Additionally, a B-school with a good ranking is valued more. In other words, students believe that a business school with a higher ranking offers superior education, teachers, resources, networking options, and placement opportunities.
A student's academic and professional qualities can be validated by enrolling in a highly regarded business school. Therefore, a B-school ranking is important here as well.
Employers
Employers frequently use B-school rankings as a stand-in for the caliber of talent generated by different schools. It is often believed that graduates from higher-ranked business schools are more equipped for the workforce and possess appropriate skills and knowledge. Employers thus, give top priority to hiring from highly ranked business schools to draw in elite talent and improve the quality of their staff.
Faculty
Academicians frequently search for business schools with higher ratings when applying for faculty positions in these institutions. They can gain more reputation in their field, prestige, and career possibilities by being affiliated with a well-regarded business school.
Investors
Investor funding is a common source for private business schools. So, investors typically seek to link with well-regarded business schools because doing so boosts their chances of making larger profits.
Policy Makers
When applying for accreditation from organizations like the AICTE, NBA, AIU, NAAC, UGC, AMBA, AACSB, or EQUIS, ranking is a major factor. B-school rankings are a point of reference for policymakers when they decide how much money to allocate and what regulations to enforce.
How is the ranking of B-schools determined in India?
So, how ranking of B-schools determined in India?
As we've said before, evaluating a business school involves looking at several factors and steps. The complete evaluation procedure might be carried out by polling various B-schools or analyzing publicly available information about an institution along with expert advice.
Absolute Data Survey
Under this system, thorough data on different aspects of B-schools are collected in their original form by providing the institutes with a certain prescribed format. Typically, data from the last 2-3 years are collected for comparison and review.
In the Absolute Data Survey, institutions that do not provide adequate data in the prescribed format may be excluded from the entire evaluation and ranking procedure.
Perception Survey
Another process of ranking B-schools in India is to conduct a perception survey. Rankings are significantly impacted by perception, which indicates the school's worth as a brand. This poll involves industry experts, teachers, students, employers, and even alumni to assess the reputation of business schools.
Parameters for Ranking Business Schools in India
Here are some of the common parameters for ranking B-schools in India.
Accreditation
The latter can greatly improve the reputation and ranking of these institutions, even though B-schools' ranking serves as a benchmark when awarding them accreditations. Business schools that hold accreditations from credible bodies such as the NBA, AMBA, EQUIS, and others are held in high esteem and, as a result, are prioritized for better ranking.
Admission Criteria
Have you noticed that the top-tier business schools in India take in students with over 95 percentile in management entrance exams? Why? Since they pay a premium to admit exceptional students and develop them into top-performing industry-relevant professionals. Therefore, the selection and caliber of students admitted to the B-school are reflected in large part by the admissions standards, which might affect the school's ranking.
Infrastructure & Facilities
Business schools with high-quality infrastructure and amenities, such as classrooms, libraries, student centers, study areas, laboratories, recreation facilities, and dormitories, are frequently regarded as capable of delivering a superior educational environment for students. As a result, these institutes rank better.
Student Profile
Postgraduate management education is multidisciplinary. Thus, when ranking business schools, evaluating authorities consider whether these institutes draw a broad and diverse demographic of students and enroll applicants with outstanding academic credentials. In most cases, they rank higher if they do.
Faculty
The rating of B-schools takes into account the standard of faculty members, their credentials, research output, publications in reputable journals, and participation in different projects.
Awards & Recognitions
A B-school that earns awards and accolades presents itself as a model of excellence. Hence, a B-school has a better chance of receiving a good ranking the more awards and recognitions it receives. These awards and recognitions function as markers of the high caliber of education and cutting-edge approaches that B-schools value.
Collaborations
The endeavors of business schools to provide their students with global and industrial experience are reflected in their partnerships with overseas universities and industry experts. By making such efforts, business schools can maintain their positive reputations with assessment organizations and rank higher.
Alumni
The caliber of the B-school's alumni network and their level of involvement can affect its rating. Contributions to the growth of the institution, networking possibilities, and active alumni participation are taken into account while ranking business schools.
Final Words
While ranking business schools in India, several variables and procedures are taken into account. The list we have given above is not all-inclusive. There can be other parameters as well. Ultimately, the most important rule is to avoid interpreting these rankings too literally. Undoubtedly, rankings can serve as a barometer for the standards of business schools; however, one should always prioritize their career goals, learning objectives, resources, time commitment, etc. while taking admission to a business school.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Which ranking methodology is adopted by the Ministry of Education, Government of India to rank institutions of higher education?
The Ministry of Education, Government of India uses the NIRF, or National Institutional Ranking Framework, ranking method to rank institutions of higher education.
What are the top 5 MBA colleges in India as per NIRF ranking?
What are the parameters for ranking B-Schools in India?
What are the tier-1 b-schools in India?
Do the top-ranked B-schools offer the best postgraduate management course in every respect?
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