The Homa Files

In a prior post, we looked at changes in Business Week’s rankings of MBA program in the 10-year period from from 2000 to 2010.

The key observations:

• 13 MBA programs (e.g. HBS, Wharton, Kellogg) held their top 30 positions – plus or minus a spot or two – between 2000 and 2010
• 6 MBA programs were in the 2000 Top 30 and improved their position by 6 or more spots between 2000 and 2010
• University of Chicago  jumped 9 spots to take over the #1 ranking
• 6 MBA programs that weren’t in the Top 30 in 2000 broke into the 2010 Top 10
• 5 MBA programs dropped a whopping 15 places or more from 2000 to 2010 (more on that later, too)
• Another 6 MBA programs dropped 5 spots or between 2000 to 2010

Also in a prior post, we observed that among the 6 MBA programs that weren’t in the Top 30 in 2000 and broke into the 2010 Top 10, SMU is the shining star.

SMU came out of nowhere – unranked as late as 2006 – and soared to #12 in 2010.

They did it with A+ Teaching and A+ Career Services … that earned them a #6 ranking with Corporate Recruiters and a #12 ranking overall.overall.

While SMU’s formula reflects mucho common sense, it’s not exactly conventional approach.

More often, MBA programs try to boost their rankings through intensified faculty research.

The logic: publish in academic journals, get recognized as thought-leaders, attract better students and recruiting companies … and a virtuous cycle becomes unstoppable.  Makes dense.

Our neighbor, the University of Maryland’s Smith School of Business tried that approach … with some disappointing results.

In 2000, Maryland was  at #27.

Given its relatively low #33 rating in Intellectual Capital, Maryland turned up the research jets.

Successful?

Well, Maryland’s ranking in Intellectual Capital skyrocketed to #2 … trailing only Duke – a perennial research giant.

What happened to it’s overall ranking?

Maryland dropped 15 spots … out of the Top 30 … to #42.

Ouch.

Source: Business Week – 2000 & 2010 MBA Rankings

* * * * *

BTW: The #3 program in Intellectual Capital is Wake Forest.

Its overall rank?

According to Business Week … #47.

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Tags: MBA Rankings

This entry was posted on March 28, 2012 at 6:59 am and is filed under Academics - Research, MBA Degree, MBAs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.