Phase I

Arriving at the list of top 30 schools to be ranked: The first phase of the research focused on short-listing the top 30 B-schools that were to be ranked using the ACNielsen Winning Brands model in the second phase of the research. Respondents were asked for the list of B-schools that they would consider applying to (for aspirants) or recruiting from (for employers). The top 30 schools that were considered by MBA aspirants and hr managers were taken forward to the second phase.

A sub-objective of the first phase was also to understand the parameters that a student considers important for including a B-school in his or her consideration set. These parameters were further built into the second phase to understand the drivers of consideration and perception for each B-school on each of these parameters.

Target audience

MBA aspirants: Students planning to take the cat (Common Admission Test) and other MBA entrance tests (a mix of general graduates and those with professional qualification was ensured).

HR heads of organisations: Human resources managers of organisations that have been recruiting from B-schools for the past three years at least (a mix of managers from companies with turnovers less than Rs 500 crore and more than Rs 500 crore was ensured)

The centres where the survey was carried out were Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Mumbai, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, and Bangalore. The sample size was 400.

Phase II

Ranking of the B-schools using 'ACNielsen Winning Brands', ACNielsen ORG-MARG's proprietary brand equity measurement tool: The short-listed 30 B-schools were put through the 'Winning BrandsTM' brand equity measurement model. The 'Winning BrandsTM', brand equity measurement model is focused on understanding the key drivers (perceptions regarding the tangible and the intangible aspects) of decision-making used by the target audience.

Taking into consideration parameters such as favourite school, recommended school, and the price premium commanded by a brand, the model calculates the Brand Equity Index (BEI) for each school. These BEI scores were used to rank the schools.

The BT-ACNielsen ORG-MARG B-school survey team: (L-R) Swaminathan N., Pattabhi Raman, Sachin Angane, Vidya Sen, Seethaa Sethuraman, and Aparna Nachane

Target audience

• Aspiring MBAs: Students planning to take the cat and other MBA entrance tests (a mix of general graduates and those with professional qualification was ensured).
• MBA students
• Young executives with three-to-five years experience
• Functional heads
• HR heads (recruiters)

The centres where the survey was carried out were Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Mumbai, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, and Bangalore. The sample size was 427. The break-up of the survey sample was as follows. MBA aspirants (84), current MBAs (97), young executives (78), functional heads (92), hr heads (76).