Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Outlook b school rankings 2006

I picked up Outlook's 'India's best b schools' issue as a matter of routine. And opened it with the usual 'let's see where they screwed up' kind of attitude. Just past experience - coz year after year these surveys never fail to disappoint.

Well, I must say that this year's Outlook effort is better thought out and likely to be a little more helpful to students. I still disagree with the survey on a few points - but overall there is improvement.

a) Year after year survey rankings suffer when some well known institutes refuse to participate. Most notably, the IIMs had decided to stay out of all rankings a couple of years ago.

Solution: IIM A volunteered information. CFore - which conducted the survey for Outlook - used the Right to Information act to get data from the other IIMs.

b) What about Bajaj and FMS? One or the other usually refuses to participate because they score very low in parameters like infrastructure.

Solution: University departments have been listed separately. The bad news is, no scores are provided. Sadly, this means that UBS Chandigarh - which ranked # 11 last year gets slotted as the no 3 'univ department'(below JB and FMS). Not fair, I'd say.



Also, nowhere do we get a sense of where the univ depts stand with respect to the entire universe of b schools. In fact, to avoid controversy, an 'overall' ranking has been provided only for the top 10.
















There are separate rankings for the 'top government aided b schools' and 'top 50 private b schools'. (click to see enlarged pic - scanned from mag as results will be available online only from Oct 16)

I like the idea of comparing apples with apples and oranges with oranges. The trouble, however, is that a student is equally willing to bite into either the apple or orange - all he/ she wants to know is: how sweet is it?

And herein lies the crux of the issue. This survey is based almost entirely ie 88% on facts. And 12% on a subjective parameter called 'recruiter satisfaction'. Fair enough (although satisfaction can also broadly be gauged by the fact that a company is coming back year after year to recruit from a campus).

But what about intangibles like 'brand value' and 'alumni network'? They are not factored in - as far as i can see. A way has to be found to quantify and include this X factor - and I think it must be given a weightage of around 20%.

Otherwise the advantage certain b school brands have over the other will never truly be captured... Compartmentalising is convenient but dances around the problem instead of tackling it head on.

The overall rankings
Which Outlook did not publish.. but which can be compiled on the basis of the scores provided. When you mix up the government and private b school rankings the top 25 looks like this (note: univ departments have not been given scores and hence not included in this list).

Figures alongside are composite scores.

1 IIM A (1446.4)
2. IIM B (1219.2)
3. IIM C (1193.8)
4. MDI (1138.2)
5. IIM L (1002.7)
6. XLRI ( 894.1)
7. IIFT ( 873.1)
8. NITIE ( 841.1)
9. SPJain ( 803.8)
10. ICFAI Hyd ( 800.3)
11. IIM Indore( 777.4)
12. SJSOM ( 764.5)
13. IMT G'bad ( 748.4)
14. NMIMS ( 733.0)
15. IMI Delhi ( 727.5)
16. XIM B ( 726.2)
17. Alliance ( 719.1)
18. Welingkar ( 706.2)
19. IIM K ( 658.0)
20. TAPMI ( 640.8)
21. Bimtech ( 634.0)
22. Nirma ( 614.3)
23. IFMR ( 593.3)
24. IIMM ( 579.7)
25. LBS ( 575.9)

A few observations:

1) MDI consistently manages to be ranked # 4. But as far as students are concerned, it's IIM A, B, C and L - then XL, SP, and MDI. In fact on IIT campuses students generally apply only to the '4 IIMs' (not even I and K) and rarely if ever to MDI.

2) IIM Indore or SJSOM would be preferred by most over ICFAI Hyderabad. In fact, despite scoring well on a large number of parameters, ICFAI to my mind does not belong in the top 10 for the following reasons:

- Placement performance is merely 138.2. In comparision, IIM Indore is 222.2, SJSOM 199.1, XIM B 188.8, IMI Delhi 163. The ICFAI Hyderabad class size is 700 which in itself is not a bad thing but certainly puts a lot of pressure on placements, especially quality of job.

You have only to compare the list of companies and designations of jobs offered at their flagship Hyderabad campus with the same at IIM Indore to realise the difference. For example UTI Bank offers 'Deputy manager' positions at XIMB but 'Executive' positions at ICFAI Hyd.

- ICFAI scores when it comes to 'intellectual capital'. While I think their case study initiative is commendable, the books and journals they publish - what I have seen of them - are less than impressive. One can, of course argue that almost all research generated from Indian b schools (IIMs included) is unimpressive. Then, why give an institute brownie points for churning out such material in larger quantities than other b schools and help it achieve a higher ranking?

- ICFAI has an independent entrance exam, which last year attracted 30,000 students. The buzz is that 'almost everyone' gets an interview call. Which may be an exaggeration but certainly the selectivity ratio is not very high

Secondly, not only must you travel to Hyderabad, you pay 3000 as 'interview processing fee'. So imagine, a cool Rs 3-5 crores is in the ICFAI kitty even before you join the course. This is not a practice one associates with institution of repute. Especially given the high course fee charged in any case ! (Rs 5.5 lakhs excluding boarding/ lodging)

3) IIM Kozhikode has been ranked no 19. It won't affect student interest in the campus ('IIM is after all IIM yaar') but it helps answer the question: I or K? Clearly Indore has established it is # 5 in the IIM hierarchy.

So yes, IIM K ranked # 19 appears absurd but, seen objectively, it should be a wake up call to the institute. Sure, it has the IIM brand name but that should not make it complacent.

Kozhikode appears to have a problem with intellectual capital. In fact, there's been an exodus of sorts last year. Notice the lack of full time faculty (barely 25%). Strangely enough the 'academic background' of the guest and adjunct faculty remains undisclosed on the website although I can tell several are professors at other IIMs.

K and I also suffer on industry interface. As Premchand Palety rightly observes in the opening essay 'The New Badshahs':

A major reason for their bad performance is location disadvantage. For effective industry linkages, any B-school should be near a corporate hub. Explains Pritam Singh, ex-director of IIM-Lucknow, "To achieve excellence, a B-school must have a business lab, like medical colleges have hospitals, that provides real-life exposure to live cases and projects." In light of the experiences of IIMs in Lucknow, Indore and Kozhikode, he questions the government’s wisdom in starting a campus in Shillong.

4) There are some absences in the Outlook survey, notably: all IIT b schools except for SJSOM, Symbiosis and related instis, and MICA.

If RTI could be used to extract info from IIMs, I think the same should have been done for IIT SOMs. If I were an engineers an IIT SOM would rank far higher on my list than several institutes outside the top 10.

Symbiosis, it appears, declined to volunteer information - although it has given an ad in the issue. They're smart enough to know they cannot repeat the no 4 ranking achieved in the Business Today survey.. so better to not be featured at all than explain an inglorious tumble.

Also, there is a separate feature on ISB, there is no mention of Great Lakes. I guess in times to come 1 year programs will be included in rankings as a separate list.

So what would I do as a b school director?
1) Add international linkages - exchange programs for both students and especially for faculty. That's one area MDI has absolutely cracked - it has a clear 70 point lead over rivals like XL and SP and all IIMs except A, which is almost equal.

I also think the ranking of the institutes you tie up with for exchange progams should be taken into account in some manner. Otherwise the parameter could lose its meaning.

2) Get an international accreditation. It's not easy, of course but MDI scores here again, with both Equis and AACSB accreditation.

3) The one thing you can buy with money is infrastructure - buy it. Most b schools are doing it in any case as the 2006 business school ratings of the All India Management Association (AIMA) published in Business Standard notes.

However, going forward we need to ask some questions: if a laptop for every student is fast becoming a norm, need we list computer: no of students ratio as a parameter?

And well, I could go on and on. But suffice it to say that if the recent Business Today b school ranking got an F, the Outlook survey gets a passing grade - but not distinction. Some of you may think I'm being too generous but I feel, taken in entirety, the rankings and the accompanying articles provide some perspective to the current b school scenario.

IIMs pe gussa kyun
I do wish, however, that Outlook would stop making statements like this:

Experts agree that while institutions like IIMs played a big role in raising the standards of management education and curricula, they gave little thought to the creative use of ecology on campus and connecting the students with nature. The new-age business schools have stepped in fill that void.

Evidently, the writer has not visited an IIM campus!

Then there's the anguished "Dalit students still get a raw deal":

...Students belonging to the SC/STs, who pass out of premier institutes like the IIMs, are still at the bottom of the heap when it comes to remunerations...The average salary for Dalits is at least Rs 2 lakh per annum less than the institute’s average and normally a Dalit is the recipient of the lowest salary offered at the IIMs. For instance, while the average salary for all students at IIM-A was Rs 9.7 lakh, the figure for the reserved category students was Rs 7.8 lakh.

So what is the point being made? That the highest paid jobs should also have quotas for reserved candidates? The article concludes that the differential is mainly attributable to lack of soft skills. But as a Dalit who graduated from IIM L points out:

Although IIMs offer special sessions for Dalits to tide over these problems, Doss admits that in an extremely competitive environment, there is a stigma attached to attending such remedial sessions, and most Dalits choose to give it a miss.

One question I would like journalists to ask is whether private b schools - on their own - are making any efforts to add diversity to their classrooms in the caste context.

If they can claim to emulate Harvard or Wharton in other areas -how about this one?

Sorry for the goof-up...
And finally, only Outlook would have the guts to acknowldge this error: a 2 page 'ad' by Amity cleverly disguised to look like two regular pages of the magazine. And its placement at the very beginning of the survey story makes it all the more misleading.

The following clarification has been published on their website:

On pages 28-29 of Outlook magazine dated 18th September 2006, there is an advertisement titled ‘Amity – Leading the pack.’

This is a paid advertisement released by the Amity Business School, Noida which was carried inadvertently. This, in no way, represents Outlook-C Fore survey.

The Amity Business School, Noida is not amongst the Outlook – C Fore rankings and, in fact, wasn’t included in the survey. The school has been refused approval by the AICTE which has been challenged in the courts. Right now, the matter is sub judice.

We regret any confusion that the advertisement may have caused to our readers.


The clarification will be carried in the next print issue as well. And for that sincerity, so rarely seen in a big media house, we must be grateful!

26 comments:

  1. ICFAI ahead of IIMs ?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous11:33 PM

    The issue of rankings with IIMs below ICFAI and IMI we will not discuss since its too ridiculous to discuss....
    What I feel disgusted about is the apparent valiant effort of the magazing of invokig RTI to get the following piece of information.. "..Students belonging to the SC/STs, who pass out of premier institutes like the IIMs, are still at the bottom of the heap when it comes to remunerations..."
    Who is to be blamed for that ??
    The institute ?? certainly not.. since I have never heard of any insti which displays any discrimination in its placements based on caste.
    The recruiters ?? Well can you blame them ? YOu can't take a guy for strategic consulting if he cant pronunce his own profile correctly.. neither can you pay him extra...
    So is it the candidate ??? The very candidate who has been clearing all the educational hurdles on the crutches of qoutas and reservations ??
    Well no comments...
    Will try posting something on this on my blog as soon as I have time..
    www.maloyvilla.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. Most of the problems I had with this survey , you have pointed out . There is one thing which bothers me -

    In the placement details, they have put the minimum salary of IIMA as 7.2 lac pa . Whereas in the Dalit placement table, the minimum salary for general category is 7.2 and for Dalits is 5.5 lacs. Does this mean that in the first table , outlook printed the lowest General Category salary and not the lowest overall salary .

    Whether by mistake or by design, this is a serious error !!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi ALL!!!
    Well these b-school rankings survey & rankings look as convincing as jayalalitha in a sauna belt ad. I mean there are more than 800 b-schools teaming in this country & growing day-by day. Am really surprised that segregation is being on done on the lines of aid & affiliation. SO what next, a differential survey for finance, ops, marketing & hr. This is ane big confusion waiting to happen on the wings. All the way it's back to comparing THE AVERAGE PAY PACKAGE.
    @ RASHMI m'am: Please consider that candidates apart from IIT's do make it to IIMs. Otherwise an informative & thought provoking article.

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  5. Well analysed maam. Wud like to make a few points\:
    1. Please do not be so generous about acceptance of the AMITY error in the following issue. The sale for the ranking issue is more than the following issue. So the most of ppl interested in MBA who read the Ranking issue wont have bought the following issue + who gives a damn to some corrigendum printed in font size 8 at the bottom of some page. All in all great strategy by AMITY + the magaziine to fool readers.
    2.The survey as usual is a dud. For example i really dont think that MDI is better than IIML and XLRI or even IIFT in whatever way. MDI since last two years has even got featured as No. 1 in some survey ahead of IIMA. Seems theyhave cracked the topping survey code. What goes behind is anyone's guess...

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  6. Well, this is a clear attempt to appease every b-school involved in getting a top-10 position. So, create categories and let them get in there! Easy...

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  7. While MDI is a very good B-School and will almost surely be among the top 10 B-Schools in the country, it certainly didn't deserve it's 4th place, ahead of even IIML and XL.

    Also, I have a huge issue with ICFAI Hyderabad being 10th. I am from Hyderabad and the year I gave CAT, a number of people in my batch also gave the ICFAI exam - and everyone I know who gave the exam got through. While the difficulty of the entrance exam should not be a measure of B-School rating, I think the ICFAI process dilutes the quality of the students coming in because the filters are almost non-existent.

    The extremely large batch size and almost non-existent infrastructure in the ICFAI buildings (can hardly be called campus) in Hyderabad are also points against ICFAI.

    Finally, when you look at their placements, quite a few ICFAI graduates join as 'trainees' or on probation - however, this goes with the disclaimer that I can only talk about the ICFAI graduates I personally know - and there are quite a few of them. And even after the trainee/ probation period is over and they become full time employees, their pay is substantially less than that of someone from an IIMK/IIMI or XIMB etc (again, only talking from my personal experiences).

    However, when you look at all the ifs and buts and conditionalities that go in with any 'facts' and 'figures' associated with B-Schools, and more so with their placements - objectivity seems to be an increasingly difficult goal to achieve.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Its same old story year after year..... ICFAI ahead of many good B-Schools of country....i wonder why this time FORE i not present in the top-10 college list.

    These ranking have definately started loosing credibility....i belong to SJMSOM and have prefered it over colleges like IIFT and XL.

    About 80% of our batch had some or other IIM calls and some of them have even converted I & K and i can say with 100% confident NONE of my current batchmate even applied for ICFAI.

    I think the only purpose that these rankings serves these days is to provide some matter to fill up an issue of these business magazine.

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  9. I am at IIM-I. I gave up MDI to come here and many of my batchmates did the same. The best ppl always choose IIM over the private schools. Why isn't this fact recognised in these B-School surveys.

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  10. @Rashmi...

    Looks like you fancy yourself as the "Definitive Guide to B School Rankings"

    Just come out of your IIM halo, there are lot many things happening around us.

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  11. MBA's are highly overrated. I wish magazines would cover people who actually make a difference rather than those who pass exams and then sell soap or shuffle money around for the rest of their lives.

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  12. Maybe they placed ICFAI there because there is no other B school from Hyd city or even the state - ISB is there, but they opted out, I believe.

    I'd choose ISB or IIMs over any of the schools anyday.

    cheers
    -P

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  13. For example UTI Bank offers 'Deputy manager' positions at XIMB but 'Executive' positions at ICFAI Hyd.
    ===========

    I guess it depends on the candidates previous work experience too. I suppose, IIMs, XIMB and XLRI prefer people with work experience. And ICFAI does not, it takes in no work-ex people too.

    I did clear XLRI test and interviews, but they put me on waiting list, since I had zero work exp. Going by the talk in the hall where interviews were being held, they preferred ppl with work experience.

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  14. not exactly the first time i see amity engaging in surrogate advertising stategy..i saw this in the other b school rating as well...buisness today i ting...but the article must be read by all...quite hilarious actualy

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  15. At the British council Eduacation Fair, I informed the In Charge, International Relations that FMS was set up in consultation with HBS. He thought the IIMs were the oldest Bschool in the country.

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  16. Can anyone express their opinion about SP JAIN
    How good is the institute ?? with regard to the student quality , faculty , industry interaction and last but not the least placements

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  17. can anyone tell me about icfai mumbai..how is the institute? u can mail me at pinaky.bhowmik@gmail.com..thnx

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  18. hello everyone.. can someone please tell me if ICFAI Hyd MBA have recognition outside india... I have been selected there but i plan to pursue my studies (a doctorate in a university outside
    ) .. so can someone please throw some light on this.. are there any icfai passouts outside india doing a pHD or DBA?

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  19. hello friends . can anybody tell me how is ICFAI kolkata?

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  20. plese email me about ICFAI kolkata

    ReplyDelete
  21. can anyone tell me how is ICFAI kolkata.plz email me on saz191@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  22. can anyone tell me about the recognitionstatus of amity business school noida?
    plz mail me at sakshi.singla@rediffmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  23. can sumone tell me how is welingkars???

    anonymous

    ReplyDelete
  24. aloke,
    well could u inform me how IFIM bangalore got in to ranking under private b school.its... please mail me at aloke21@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete

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