IIM-A among top three in Asia-Pacific for B-school graduate employability: Report

IIM-A stands at the second position in the region, but Indian business schools failed to feature among the top three schools across the world, in terms of subject specialisation

A report by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) on the value of MBA programmes around the world in terms of graduate employability has shown Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A), is among the top three business schools in the Asia-Pacific region. IIM-A stands at second position in the region. But, Indian business schools failed to feature among the top three schools across the world, in terms of subject specialisation.

The report, looking into MBA graduate employability, has identified London Business School, INSEAD-France and Harvard Business School as the preferred choice of international recruiters.

The QS Global 200 Business Schools Report provides an alternative to traditional MBA rankings, by highlighting the value of MBA programmes around the world, according to the qualification’s end-consumer, the MBA employer.
  

TOP B-SCHOOLS (MBA GRADUATE EMPLOYABILITY)
Region	2012 position	Institute	Country
North America	1	Harvard	US
	2	Stanford	US
	3	Kellogg, Northwestern	US
Latin America	1	Tecnologico de Monterrey	Mexico
	2	Pontificia Universidad  Católica de Chile	Chile
	3	Business School Sao Paulo	Brazil
Europe	1	INSEAD	France
	2	London Business School	UK
	3	IMD	Switzerland
West Asia & Africa	1	University of Cape Town	South Africa
	2	American University in Cairo	Egypt
	3	University of Witwatersrand	South Africa
Asia-Pacific	1	INSEAD-Singapore	Singapore
	2	IIM Ahmedabad	India
	3	NUS Business School	Singapore

The report points to a leading cluster of 39 ‘elite global’ business schools spread across North America (22), Europe (14) and Asia-Pacific (3). While in the US, 15 ‘elite global’ schools are unsurpassed, the report showed that only Harvard Business School boasts a comparable employer reputation to the London Business School and INSEAD-France.

Nunzio Quacquarelli, managing director of QS, said, “This year’s report finds a record number of companies turning towards hiring MBAs, underlining the value of the qualification in today’s globalised economy. This edition of the QS Global 200 Business Schools Report reveals the graduates of Europe’s top business schools are increasingly in demand for their ability to lead and innovate in the workplace and for transferring best practice management skills to fast-growing emerging economies around the world.”
 

TOP B-SCHOOLS (SPECIALISATION)
Specialisation	Top 3 business schools	Country	Specialisation	Top 3 business schools	Country
Finance	Wharton	US	Information  management	MIT-Sloan	US
	Chicago, Booth	US		Harvard	US
	London Business School	UK		INSEAD	France
International  management	INSEAD	France	Strategy	Harvard	US
	Harvard	US		INSEAD	France
	Wharton	US		Wharton	US
Marketing	Kellogg, Northwestern	US	Leadership	Harvard	US
	Wharton	US		Wharton	US
	Harvard	US		INSEAD	France
Entrepreneurship	Harvard	US	Corporate social responsibility	Harvard	US
	Stanford	US		Stanford	US
	Wharton	US		INSEAD	US
Operations  management	MIT-Sloan	US	Innovation	Stanford	US
	Harvard	US		MIT-Sloan	US
	Wharton	US		Harvard	US

While Europe and North America dominate in terms of overall employability and salaries, it was found candidates at Indian schools emerged as the world’s most academically qualified. “Average GMAT scores at Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore and Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad are the highest in the world, comfortably ahead of any of the top schools from Europe or the US,” said the QS release.

Further, it showed that graduates from top European schools earned higher average salaries than their North American counterparts. Graduate salaries at Europe’s schools averaged $109,300 (Rs 59.5 lakh), compared to $101,100 (Rs 55 lakh) in North America.

However, while Europe’s schools performed well for employability and graduate salaries, when it came to subject specialisation, the US schools dominated.

For the study, 3,000-plus responses from employers of business school graduates were taken. The respondents were asked to identify the business schools they preferred to recruit from. Respondents also identified business schools they deemed to produce excellent hires in 10 areas of elective specialisation — finance, strategy, marketing, entrepreneurship, corporate social responsibility, information management, innovation, leadership, operations management, and international management.