Ranking should be independent of commercial considerations

Unfortunately, most rankings only place importance on the placement aspect and that is incorrect as B-schools are not a factory for talent, but can add value beyond that. An employer goes to B-schools for more than just hiring. They seek value from B-schools through their quality MDPs, executive education programs, research investment and consulting assignments. Thus, an employer needs to look at it from a holistic perspective, and not only from a student placement perspective, which is skewed towards hiring, and that is a big lag with the rankings present today.

A credible B-school ranking must focus on the quality of students, competency of the faculty and the reputation and brand image of the B-school. Factors like, the tenure of the institution, the kind of infrastructure it provides to its students, kind of faculty it recruits, the process for student intake, and student contribution to the profession, all add to building the reputation of a B-school.

A ranking would not influence my decision to visit a B-school if it is in the top 10-15 category, which means it is clearly more reputed. However, a ranking is useful as it provides guidelines to shortlist B-schools, which feature in the lower ranks. However, I have my reservations with respect to the credibility of many rankings available today. Most of these operate from a commercial standpoint, which defuses the purpose. A ranking should provide those value inputs to the employer to help them make the right decision when choosing a B-school and building its talent pipeline; and that is clearly not happening. A credible ranking must reflect the overall governance in admission of students, hiring of faculty, infrastructure and other facilities for research, executive education, as well as the quality of student output and their contribution to the corporate world.