The B-schools were ranked based on objective data. The ranking based on perceptions was done separately. The perception survey was carried at site indiabschools.com supplemented by field visits of mdra staff to some B-schools.
For objective data, a questionnaire was sent to over 700 B-schools. Over 250 business schools responded. The validation exercise was carried out by a special team which cross-checked the data given by various management institutes from secondary sources available, field visits and also through interviews with recruiters. The institutes that gave inflated data were dropped from the survey. Some reputed institutes like imt Ghaziabad and iim Kozhikode could not be ranked as they had sent the data after the cut-off date.For objective ranking, the B-schools were evaluated against the following four broad parameters:
These were further divided into sub-parameters as shown below. The marks were allotted in a particular category by normalising against the topper in that category. For example, if marks for maximum salary are 50 and the highest maximum salary offered at a B-school is Rs 12 lakh, then marks allocated to an institute where maximum salary offered is Rs 6 lakh were (6/12) X 50 = 25. Sectoral schools (either having entry restrictions like only engineers or offering only specialised courses) were listed separately although they have been evaluated along with the other B-schools on the same parameters.
Inputs from industry and academicians were taken while finalising the parameters and sub-parameters. The recommendations at the workshop on rating and ranking of B-schools sponsored by the human resource development ministry at iim Bangalore which was attended by mdra director Premchand Palety were also considered. This workshop was attended by directors of more than 50 management institutes from all over the country. A preliminary survey was also conducted among relevant stakeholders. The final parameters and sub-parameters, and the weightages given to each of them, were finalised by a committee consisting of representatives from industry and academia and headed by Outlook deputy editor Sandipan Deb.
In the perception survey carried out on www.indiabschools.com, more than 3,000 students, 250 faculty members of various B-schools and over 300 corporate executives participated. The students and faculty members were asked to rank top B-schools in the country and in the state on various aspects. The ranking that they gave to their own institute was discounted. To get a truly fair picture, the B-schools were ranked based on the rating they received from students and faculty of other B-schools. The recruiters were asked to evaluate B-schools on the quality of students, the quality of industry-related research and the innovativeness of the management development programmes (MDPS). Further details on methodology are available at indiabschools.com.
The MDRA team, led by director Palety, consisted of Ram Swarup Mahapatra, Naveen Bhatt, Tanmay Pradhan and Ajay Kumar.
