2007 Global Recruiters' Top 100 Business Schools

Including: Recruiters' Preferred Business Schools in Ten Specialist Fields

The Global Top 100 Business Schools report originated in the early 1990s, as an alternative to business school rankings. The 2007 research provides the definitive list of business schools currently preferred by the most international recruiters. Human resources (HR) managers and recruiters worldwide were surveyed. QS believes that it offers a unique insight into the value of the MBA, especially given the fact that most MBA students take the qualification to enhance their career. The research is intended to be of interest and use to the internationally mobile MBA recruiter and applicant and all individuals and institutions worldwide interested in international business education and recruitment trends. This report contains a summary of the survey results, with tables of the full data.

1. Introduction

1.1 The QS Preference Methodology

QS TopMBA.com International Recruiter Survey 2007 reflects recruiters' preferences and is not a ranking. The QS approach distinguishes itself from rankings by simply identifying which are the most popular schools in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America with international recruiters. QS asked international recruiters to select the schools they consider for MBA hiring. Recruiters that focus on domestic hiring are not included in the survey and QS recognises that many excellent schools that cater predominantly for their local recruitment market may, therefore, not appear in the tables.

1.2 Why Recruiter Preference?

QS believes that recruiters and HR decision makers worldwide have among the most objective and informed opinions as to which are the best business schools. When an HR department selects a business school, to sponsor an employee on an MBA programme, the decision will often be the result of an intensive research exercise, evaluating the strength of faculty, the facilities and the relevance of the course to the employee and the company's needs.

Similarly, when HR managers choose from which business schools to recruit, they will draw from a wide range of information sources. They will evaluate their experience of MBA alumni currently working at the firm and canvass their opinions; they will assess the quality and efficiency of schools' career services and the reputation of the school, globally and locally. HR decision makers look beyond rankings and examine the facilities, the course content and the quality of students. The better the performance within an organisation of MBAs recruited from particular schools, the more likely those schools are to feature well in this research. Year on year, this survey reveals remarkable consistency in school selection by many of our recruiter respondents. Allegiance to particular schools is not gained or lost by one good or bad student, but by a sustained experience over several years.

1.3 The Global Marketplace

International MBA recruiting is no longer the domain of a few prestigious US and European companies. A growing number of HR managers in Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe are informed about MBA education. Managers in these regions have also been asked to share their views on the schools they would prioritise for MBA hiring. In today's global economy, an HR manager in a large organisation anywhere in the world is expected to be informed and knowledgeable about the MBA marketplace. All will find this research useful. An MBA education and MBA career opportunities have become truly global, attracting as much interest in Beijing and Buenos Aires, as they do in Boston or Birmingham. Many companies, in banking, consulting, healthcare, utilities, transportation, technology, telecoms and other sectors, continue to favour an MBA education, both for their own executives and as a source of new talent.

In recognition of the global dimension, QS research chooses to present the Global Top 100 Business Schools not as a list of the top 100 worldwide, but as the top 40 in each of North America; the top 32 in Europe, the top 23 in Asia Pacific and the top 5 in Latin America (Total 100). The authors believe that this is a better reflection of recruitment needs worldwide.