Business school rankings: the love‐hate relationship

Abstract

Purpose The paper seeks to describe the rationale behind the Financial Times business school rankings and some of the problems inherent in developing and publishing them. Design/methodology/approach The rationale behind the Financial Times business school rankings is discussed, as are the ways in which business schools use the rankings. Findings Business schools have an ambivalent relationship to business schools rankings, openly criticising them but using favourable aspects of the rankings in their schools' marketing. Originality/value Business school rankings are probably here to stay. Most business schools are developing ways of using them for their own purposes.