By
Frank Large
Co-Founder - WebInfoCo and Director - The MBA Program Information Site

(As Director of the site - Frank is not a 'Guest' - but given the interest in Rankings, we thought it appropriate to feature this article which is based on one written by Frank for a national newspaper)

Business School Rankings - a controversial subject

Business schools are surrounded by some confusion. The main cause is their main product - the MBA program. The problem is that MBAs are often inadequately understood, so potential students often find it difficult to make an informed choice.

The confusion comes in part from the proliferation of offerings. There are now over 1000 MBA programs on offer in the USA, over 690 in Europe - of which 348 are in the UK, and over 525 in the rest of the world, with the greatest concentration in the Asia Pacific region. South Africa is the most recent example of the boom which has led to this situation - 10 years ago there were 5 or 6 programs - now there are 46 , with 78% of them from foreign Schools.

But it is also the nature of these programs which causes confusion. Whilst in some respects they differ little- for example 75 % of them are general management programs- this is no longer the standard product that existed as little as 10 years ago. Now only 42% are full time programs. The majority are part time, modular and distance. This last term can mean a variety of things and even full time programs are now sometimes delivered through evening only lectures. Some modular programs are in fact full time, as the periods between attendance modules requires full time project work. Over 90% of programs are in English, but there are available in 23 other languages, with Spanish the most common. Many programs require several years of experience before entry - these are sometimes called Executive programs. But Executive can also means a part time program which has been accelerated in some way, and is shorter. So - the potential student, probably about to spend upwards of £15000, is faced by a bewildering array of marginally differentiated products, often described by differing terminology.

Business Schools - with some notable exceptions- have generally not been good at explaining themselves, so the market has increasingly looked to other sources to help make sense of this confusing world. The press are the main source of such information. The frequent articles, features and supplements reflect the interest in this subject - and of course the Schools' desire to advertise their wares. Recently - following a practice well established in the USA - the press has taken not only to reporting but also to judging Schools and programs. Their readers want to know how Schools and programs rate against each other, and the press has provided rankings.

Readers like rankings, but in general the Schools do not. The European Schools in particular argue that they are misleading - as they often do not compare like with like, and use a narrow range of often inappropriate measures. They point out that recruiters' views of programs, salary increases for graduates etc, are irrelevant measures of part time, modular and distance - ie the majority of programs.

Such league tables are hotly contested, and some Schools have boycotted them - but they are growing , because they seem to tell potential customers what they need to know. They relate to quality, but more obviously reputation - a matter of some interest for all Schools but of critical importance for the minority that are in the prestige MBA market. But this is just one factor that underpins the success of Schools and MBA programs. Their success is built on two factors - not only must they be good - but they must be known. Prominence and prestige are the two most desirable characteristics of an MBA program - both for the School and the student. Being known and being known to be good is the ultimate, but being known is the essential aspect. Schools want their programs, and graduates want their degrees to be instantly recognised and also respected.

Prominence has been largely overlook in the assessment of MBA programs, despite the fact that this can be a factual and therefore less controversial measure. Such a measure of MBA programs is now available - thanks to another channel of communication which has been established between Business Schools and their market - the Web site. Directory based Web sites provide constantly updated information on a large number of MBA programs to enable potential students to get details, make comparisons and make more informed choices - rapidly and with minimum effort. They are an increasingly important link at a time when the majority of the enquiries received by major Schools now arrive by E mail, and when Schools are increasingly abandoning the printed prospectus and saving considerable print and mail costs - and for enquirers - considerable delay.

The MBA Program Information Site here at www.MBAinfo.com is the most comprehensive and probably the most often used site. It provides detailed information on 2200 MBA programs from 1100 Schools in 125 countries world-wide. Several thousand people per day from all over the world visit the site to get information. They look for particular programs or search on certain criteria to find the programs that suit their needs. By analysing over 300,000 such visits during 1999, a measure of the worldwide prominence or popularity of the programs of particular Schools can be obtained.

Some predictable - but also some surprising facts emerge. The top 10 most 'popular' programs in the world received over 10% of all visits to the site The most prominent MBA programs in the USA included, predictably, those from Harvard, Stanford and Columbia, but also those from Colorado and Colorado State Universities and the University of Dallas. In the UK the top 10 programs were not only from London Business School, Cambridge, Warwick, Henley and the Open University - but they also included Oxford Brookes University. Top spot UK was taken by Heriot Watt - which was also Number 6 in the world. The rest of Europe featured INSEAD(France), IMD(Switzerland), IESE(Spain) but also EAP(France). The rest of the world's top 10 was dominated by Canadian and Australian Schools - with Waterloo ( Canada ) in top spot and Melbourne in second place- but also featuring GIMT, a private School in South Africa at number three

The MBA is the principal product in the most market oriented sector of higher education. Given the internationalisation of business, increased communication, and the ability to deliver programs to individuals wherever they are, the complexity and competitiveness of this pioneer educational market place can only increase. But to work effectively the market must not only have influence - it must be well informed. That is the weakness of the present situation - one which all parties should have an interest in improving. Together they must aim to provide facts but also to facilitate judgement. If a more complete picture is to be presented, it will require greater collaboration between those who are the providers and those who can help in the communication process.