FT Global MBA Rankings: ISB, IIM-A fare poorly

The only two management schools from India that made it to the global rankings have slipped down further from last year.

The Hyderabad-based Indian School of Business (ISB) and Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) have again slipped in the Global Top MBA Rankings 2013 of the Financial Times, London.

While ISB has slipped 14 notches to rank 34th this year against 20th last year, IIM-A has slipped 15 places to 26th from 11th position in 2012.

In 2011, IIM-A ranked 11th and ISB ranked 13.

IIM-A debuted in 2011, with its one-year post graduate programme for executives.

Samir Barua, Director, IIM-A, surprised at the ranking, said: "We really need to look at the details of this and work on the dimensions on which we have not fared well."

ISB and IIM-A are the only Indian business schools featured on the FT ranking, now in its 15th edition.

Participating B-Schools must be internationally accredited and the management programme must have run for at least four consecutive years.

This year, 155 business schools from 28 countries took part.

This year saw Harvard Business School return to the top spot after eight years.

Stanford Graduate School of Business, last year's topper, was second. The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania was third, London Business School was fourth and Columbia Business School fifth.

Ajit Rangnekar, Dean, ISB, said: "The truth is that a school's performance does not change like this year on year.

There seems to be  a much greater reflection of  economic development and to some extent I am hoping that as the economy picks up, we will all pick up again."

Adding: "FT uses a purchasing power adjuster, which has gone against us. So, instead of showing an increase in net salary, in equivalent to US dollars, the salary has actually slipped by five per cent. That has definitely hurt us.

Second, salaries in the US, UK and China seem to have gone up substantially, so the net effect of both factors is that Indian B-schools have been pushed back."

The rankings are based on surveys of business schools and their alumni who graduated in 2009.