Regular readers of the Business Today-ACnielsen Best B-schools in India survey would know that the magazine has been ranking B-schools in India for eight years now. Like the previous two years (2003 and 2004), this year's survey has been conducted in partnership with ACnielsen ORG-MARG, using their proprietary Winning Brands model. The survey was conducted in two phases. In the first phase, we shortlisted the 30 B-schools that were to be ranked. How did we do that? By asking respondents-at this stage, there were just two categories: MBA wannabes and hr heads (recruiters)-to name the B-schools they would consider applying to (in the case of aspirants) or recruiting from (recruiters). 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 students with graduate or post-graduate degree in a professional or general course was ensured.

HR heads of organisations: Human resource managers of organisations that have been recruiting from B-schools for the past three years at least (a mix of managers from companies with revenues less than Rs 500 crore and more than Rs 500 crore was ensured). The survey, both in phases one and two, was carried out across Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow and Mumbai. A total of 449 respondents were interviewed. All the respondents were interviewed face-to-face.

Phase II

The objective of the second phase of the survey was to rank the 30 shortlisted B-schools, using ACnielsen's brand equity measurement tool, the Winning Brands model. At this stage, the universe of respondents was increased to include three more categories: Current MBAs, Young Executives and Functional Heads.

Associations for each school were obtained on various parameters. These attributes were further classified into eight factors (See Classification of Attributes). The Winning Brands brand equity measurement model is focussed 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 of the 30 B-schools. The BEIs were, then, used to rank the B-schools.

In a competitive market, "winning brands" have a BEI of between 3 and 4. Monopoly brands (that is, the cream of the crop) have BEI scores between 4 and 6 or higher. Excellent or distinct brands have scores between 2 and 3. Those schools that score below 2 have a lot of catching up to do.