Like accreditations, rankings are an important basis in the decision-making process. With both, business schools demonstrate that they fulfill the international standards. However, which business school an applicant ultimately decides on should not be made solely dependent on these criteria. The personal impression of the institution, the quality of the faculty, the location of the school and of course the structure and contents of the MBA program especially count here.

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Christian Homburg is President of Mannheim Business School and Professor of Marketing at the University of Mannheim in Germany. Christian Homburg ranks first in the Handelsblatt-Ranking of german-speaking professors for Business Administration.

Rankings are useful in that they provide an easy way to compare a range of MBA programs based on certain criteria.  They can save a candidate time and effort when researching programs. However, it’s important to realize that each publication uses different methods to compile rankings – some are more reliant on alumni feedback, others on faculty opinion, and so on.  We advise candidates to take a broad view, and consult all the major rankings rather than just focus on one.  We recommend candidates decide which program features are important to them; for example, internationalism of faculty, alumni salary, gender balance etc, and make their comparison based on those criteria.

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Rachel Waites is Associate Director, Corporate and Student Recruitment at the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business

Rankings to some extent reflect the past as they are partly based on alumni surveys. Typically alumni are surveyed some years after graduation to quantify career-effects of their MBA studies. Rankings are certainly valuable, but do not tell the full story. Selecting the MBA that’s right for you is a very personal decision and should involve a careful assessment of all that makes a good MBA, including  diversity of the student population, balance between academic rigor and practical applications, career services and learning environment.

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Jan Henk van der Werff is Director Corporate Sales and Recruitment at Tias Nimbas Business School and former vice president, Europe at University of Phoenix. He has profound experience in international business education and is engaged in projects in USA, Brasil, Mexico and India.

Rankings are an important quality indicator for MBA programs. Also, when taking a look at the various dimensions (career progress, work experience, international students, etc.) of a ranking, future students may gain valuable insights into the individual characteristics of the programs. But when it comes to making the final decision for the right MBA program, there are also other criteria that need to be taken into consideration: Has the program an international outlook and worldwide acknowledged accreditations, what about the practical applicability of the contents delivered, how is the faculty selected, are there additional opportunities to gain practical experience such as field studies, guest speaker presentations or company visits, etc.

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Univ.Prof. Bodo B. Schlegelmilch Ph.D., D.Litt., Dean WU Executive Academy and Institute for International Marketing Management

Global business school rankings by respected media such as the Financial Times, Forbes, and BusinessWeek, are certainly one of the indicators used by b-school candidates in their search for the ideal MBA program. But any ranking should be viewed in context. Rankings portray how well a b-school fits a specific set of criteria – each media group measures different criteria – at a specific point in time. Candidates should read the fine print concerning ranking processes so they know what each ranking really measures. For example, in some rankings, CEIBS scores well in such areas as: value for money (meaning the return on the investment of CEIBS education vis-a-vis the salary increase after graduation), diversity of both student base and faculty, international experience during the MBA program, and international mobility in employment after graduation.

Other important factors should include whether or not the b-school of your choice is accredited by reputable organizations both inside its home market and internationally, the quality of its faculty, the size, scope and strength of the school’s alumni network (CEIBS boasts the largest alumni network among China-based international business schools, with 10,000 alumni). Finally, a school’s commitment to ethical leadership and social responsibility should factor in.

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Dr. Lydia J. Price is Professor of Marketing, Associate Dean and Academic Director of the MBA Program at CEIBS.