Robert Morse (Director of Data Research, U.S. News & World Report), Undergrad Business Rankings Have Positive Effect on B-Schools:
The U.S. News undergraduate business school rankings are having a number of “very positive outcomes that can favorably affect the nature of undergraduate business programs.” That is one key conclusion from “Behind the Curtain of the Beauty Pageant: An Investigation of U.S. News Undergraduate Business Program Rankings,” a 2010 dissertation by Pam Perry, Associate Dean and Director, Undergraduate Programs at the University of Arizona Eller College of Management.
Perry’s paper analyzed the U.S. News undergraduate business school rankings to determine what impact they were having on business education. … Based on a detailed analysis of U.S. News survey respondents, Perry concludes that the stability of the top 50 undergraduate business rankings have had a positive effect on business eduction. Below are some of what Perry calls “the good behaviors” from the rankings:
1. Because over the last twenty years the U.S. News undergraduate business program rankings have changed very little, the stable membership in the top 50 [greatly reduces] the competition and provides an “annual pageant” with little negative fall-out, as ranking outcomes are small and movement is insignificant. …
5. Given the appeal of rankings to stakeholders, especially students, the competition for top marks [in the ranking] has created a market-driven model of consumer service [at b-schools]. …
8. Faculty can be the big winners in this ranking game. As a result, well-known faculty become brands themselves and often attract other star faculty while brightening the reputation of a given school.
