Methodology

In the second phase, 108 recruiters in 10 cities (metros and Tier-I cities across the geographies) were contacted and asked to select and rank the top B-schools from the master list as well as those from within their zone. A list of 100 colleges was finalised for the field survey. “Satisfaction levels” on the performance of B-school graduates whom they had recruited during the past three years was also taken to prepare a “Recruiters’ Satisfaction Index”. Subsequently, trained field researchers visited 89 institutes (seven institutes refused to participate in the survey; they were not ranked) to administer structured questionnaire-based face-to-face interviews among senior faculty members (both permanent and visiting) and final year students from different streams. In all, 539 successful interviews were conducted all over the country (43 cities in 18 states).

An array of information was taken from the senior faculty and students about their institute—they also rated and appraised their institute on various sub-parameters, which included satisfaction against expectations. In a parallel exercise, an objective questionnaire was also designed and put on Outlook’s website. Then, based on the expert panel, the weights were decided for the various data inputs: ranking scores allotted by the recruiters (50 per cent), own-institute satisfaction rating by faculty and students (30 per cent), and faculty and students’ ranking of B-schools (10 per cent each).

First, the cumulative satisfaction ratings obtained from students and faculties for every sub-parameter were normalised against the highest rating obtained for that particular sub-parameter. Marks were then calculated using the weights decided by the expert panel. The ranking score given by the recruiters, faculty and students were then divided among the five parameters in proportion of the weights allotted by the experts. This total score for each institute was used to assign the final rankings.

The MBA Pie: How We Split It