Clustering of International Business Schools (Updated)

Question

There is another thread about this that hasn't been updated in a few years and with which some people had disagreements as the information became outdated so I'm starting a new one. As someone who has been actively looking into international business schools, I think a thread like this is very helpful.

I will actively keep this one updated and will take people's feedback into account based on reasoning, volume, etc. I firmly believe that with the volatile nature of rankings, clusters are actually far more helpful than the actual number on a given ranking. The schools aren't in any particular order within each cluster (since that's the whole point). A couple of data points I used for the clusters include the Financial Times ranking and the Forbes ranking, which I think are solid in their methodology for international business schools. I focused more heavily on the salary figures from Forbes 5 years out to cluster the schools since I think that's a good proxy for a school's cluster. For example, Forbes shows us that IMD ($226,000), INSEAD ($209,000), and LBS ($210,000) are the only international B-schools where grads make above $180,000 on average 5 years out, hence the Ultra Elite clustering. IE ($175,000) comes next after a sizeable gap hence the Elite clustering.

This is obviously a little subjective but the point of it is to cluster how these schools are perceived in terms of reputation, prestige, and pedigree.

I didn't include Regional Elites here since I think they might deserve their own thread and are generally pretty obvious within each country.

Ultra Elite   
London Business School (LBS)
INSEAD
IMD

Elite   
IESE
HEC Paris
Cambridge (Judge)
IE
Oxford (Said)

Near Elite   
SDA Bocconi
ESADE
Cranfield
Warwick
Ceibs
HKUST

Trans Elite   
Imperial College
Lancaster
City University (Cass)
Mannheim Business School
Rotterdam School of Management
University of Toronto (Rotman)
University of Western Ontario (Ivey)

Islay · Answer

I guess I should have added that I'm also asking for people's thoughts on whether the clustering above makes sense. Would love to hear if anyone would like to concur or challenge the grouping.

ARINGO · Answer

Islay, your clustering makes sense! I'd also add schools like  Schulich  and  Rotman  in Canada, and  NUS  and  Nanyang  in Singapore.

theincredible · Answer

Islay  : I think this is a great initiative!! The previous thread was not very useful as it is not a true reflection of changing perspectives in the last years. 
Please add HHL Leipzig and WHU- Otto Beisheim too in the list of trans elite schools.

Islay · Answer

I actually live in Canada so I'm familiar with the Canadian business school landscape. Schulich has definitely fallen hard over the past 10 years and many top tier companies have stopped recruiting from there.

Rotman and Ivey are considered the top 2 in Canada which I think could warrant being in the Trans Elite bucket. I was originally thinking of them more as regional elites though. But a case can be made for a Trans Elite grouping given that there is some (although limited) international recognition. I'll include them for now.

Regarding the NUS and Nanyang in Singapore, I would consider them more to be regional elites.

Does that make sense?

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Islay · Answer

Thanks! Wouldn't those schools be regional elites? They rarely even appear on any global MBA ranking.

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Islay · Answer

bump.. any other opinions?

bumba1988 · Answer

I am a bit surprised that Manchester Alliance is not on the list.

Clustering of International Business Schools (Updated)

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