Anyone who thinks university league tables are elitist should take a detailed study business schools. The hubris surrounding the Russell Group of leading universities within the UK pales compared to the fuss over the worldwide business school rankings.
Stanford, Harvard, Wharton and MIT inside the Usa; London Business School, Said Oxford, Judge Cambridge and Warwick within the UK; INSEAD in France; IE and IESE in Spain; and IMD in Switzerland all jockey for position on the top of the arena rankings in addition to a handful of others. They’re expensive, top-end schools that sprinkle their brands on those clever, confident and rich enough to enroll in them.
Like it or not, the rankings matter, at the least to the faculties themselves and to the firms and consultancies that fight over their alumni. London’s Cass Business School writes to alumni with the result of each table. When it took an extremely slight tumble in a single of them two years ago, Cass assured its graduates the problem was being addressed.
It’s an inexact science, however, since the tables favour various factors. The Financial Times’s Global MBA Rankings bases 40% of its weighting on pre- and post-MBA salaries, Business Week emphasises student satisfaction and The Economist includes new career opportunities.
Recruiters appear to agree that the college can add or detract from the worth of an MBA. But additionally they say that beyond the stardust names, employers would be bothered less with the varsity an applicant attended than with the understanding, skills and experience it gave them.
League tables let you know little about things which could make an incredible difference, akin to the volume of group work, links with employers in sectors that interest you, opportunities for work experience and staff with recent and relevant experience, says Gary Rees, leader of the MBA programme at Portsmouth Business School.
Several international bodies, including the Association of MBAs (AMBA) inside the UK, accredit courses, giving a stamp of acclaim for the teaching and facilities.
Business schools are good at marketing so prospective students should do their best to get beneath the blurb, says Andrew Crisp. And he should know. A co-founding father of CarringtonCrisp, the upper education marketing specialists, he advises schools on their branding.
“Students must transcend the promoting and use social media to trace down alumni,” he says. “The college ought to be ready to put you involved with alumni in addition and its careers service should be capable of offer you a concept of the employers that recruit from them,” he says.
Find out more: FT global rankings; Business Week rankings; The Economist rankings
Swiss success ‘A big consideration was the calibre of my classmates’
The lookup a global experience persuaded Chris Scroggie to pay £56,000 on an MBA at IMD, the head-ranking business school in Switzerland.
The concentrate on leadership and private development inside the programme and the possibility to work with global companies also influenced his decision. As did the 11-month duration of the course, which meant less day out of the workforce.
“It wasn’t as much about what i wouldn’t get at UK business schools but more concerning the school that was going to be the simplest fit for what i wished out of my MBA,” he says.
“a huge consideration for me was the calibre of my classmates. My class of 90 students from 45 nationalities had a regular age of 31 and average work experience of 7 years. We started working with companies in South Africa, on a global consulting project and to work with a start-up company.”
Before starting his MBA Chris spent five years at BDO, the worldwide accountancy network, first as a senior executive for business restructuring after which as a company finance executive for its healthcare advisory team.
After graduating in December 2011 he landed a task with Eli Lilly as a pricing manager. “Whilst the MBA required a totally considerable investment, both financially and personally, i’ve got indubitably that it was worth it,” he says. “Not only within the new opportunity and salary i’ve got now but for the educational and leadership training it gave me and, obviously, the various new friends i’ve got around the world.”
