爱恨交织：商学院与排行榜的那些不为人知的秘密

    2010年11月11日，南方卫理公会大学(Southern Methodist University)考克斯商学院(Cox School of Business)的几位院长焦急不安地等待着。《商业周刊》(BusinessWeek)编辑正在网上发布两年一度的最佳全日制MBA排行榜。现场发布会采用由低到高的次序，从当年排名最低的学校开始，一直至排名最高的院校。

    围拢在电脑旁的管理层看到，第18名（考克斯商学院2008年的排名）是纽约大学(New York University)斯特恩商学院(Stern School of Business)。接下来又有更多院校的排名被公布，但仍然没有考克斯商学院。达特茅斯塔克商学院(Tuck School of Business)位列第14名，随后是康奈尔大学(Cornell University)约翰逊学院(Johnson School)。

    考克斯商学院去哪儿了？是不是冲进前10强了？最终，这所学院的位次定格在了第12名，这是该校有史以来在《商业周刊》排行榜的最高排名。实际上，这也是该校在五大最具影响力商学院排行榜中获得的最高名次。简短地庆贺了一番之后，考克斯商学院的工作人员立即起草新闻稿，迫不及待地向外界宣扬该校排名骤升6位的壮举。

    然而，《商业周刊》对这份排行榜不太满意，甚至略显尴尬。“每个人都在说它没有通过气味测试，”2011年接受社交网站Poets&Quants采访时，《商业周刊》副主编娄•拉维尔这样说道。“我们分析了一下产生这种结果的原因，结论是，我们的榜单上有一些MBA雇主很少提到的学校，比如考克斯商学院。尽管雇主基础不够雄厚，但少数提到这所学校的雇主却都对它赞不绝口。”

    这份杂志随后改变了排名方法，更加青睐那些拥有更大、尽管有时不太热情的雇主基础的学校。结果，考克斯商学院2012年的排名一下子骤降17位，跌至第29名。但不管是就MBA项目、教职员工，还是就学生质量而言，这所学校没有发生任何变化。事实上，考克斯商学院变得更好了，原因恰恰在于，《商业周刊》两年前授予的高排名为它带来了更多申请人。

    但现如今，它的MBA项目已经暴跌至前所未有的名次：从2008年的第18名，2010年的第12名，跌至2012年的第29名。这个结果让考克斯商学院的官员目瞪口呆。“我们非常震惊，因为一切工作都已经结束后改变了排名方法，”考克斯商学院研究生项目副院长马尔西•阿姆斯特朗说。“虽然这肯定是合法的，他们肯定有权这样做，但在我看来，这样做似乎非常不道德。坦白讲，让我们震惊的并不是我们的排名暴跌，而是他们对排名体系做出重大调整的原因——他们不喜欢我们的名次。”

    不管喜不喜欢，考克斯商学院并不打算退出惨烈的排行榜争夺战。“如果竞争对手都在参加这种老鼠赛，你就不能不陪着玩，”阿姆斯特朗指出。“人家沃顿(Wharton)或哈佛商学院(Harvard)可以决定不参加，但大多数商学院根本没得选。”

    无论爱也好，恨也罢，商学院无力承受忽略排行榜的严重后果。申请人、校友和雇主特别看重各大排行榜。调查显示，排行榜是MBA申请人最经常参考的信息源，它的影响力高于同事、亲朋好友、在校生、校友或MBA招生顾问的意见。

    On November 11, 2010, the deans at Southern Methodist University's Cox School of Business were on edge. BusinessWeek editors were online, releasing the magazine's biennial ranking of the best full-time MBA programs in a live countdown from the lowest-ranked school that year to the highest.

    As Cox administrators gathered around their computers, they watched No. 18 -- Cox's rank in 2008 -- go to New York University's Stern School of Business. A few more schools were announced, but still no SMU. Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business came in at No. 14, followed by Cornell University's Johnson School.

    Where was Cox? Had it cracked the top 10? Finally, the school popped up at No. 12, its highest rank ever in the BusinessWeek survey. Indeed, it was the highest rank ever achieved by the school in any of the top five most influential rankings of business schools. Cox's staff indulged in a brief celebration and drafted press releases trumpeting the school's six-point rise.

    BusinessWeek, however, was less satisfied with the results, even slightly embarrassed by them. "Everyone was saying it didn't pass the smell test," explained BusinessWeek associate editor Lou Lavelle in a 2011 interview with Poets&Quants. "We looked at why that was happening and the reason was we had some schools, like SMU, which had very few [MBA job] recruiter mentions -- not a really deep base of recruiters -- but that small base was wildly enthusiastic about the school."

    The magazine then changed its methodology to favor schools with larger, and sometimes less enthusiastic, recruiter bases. As a result, SMU's business school slid 17 spots to No. 29 in 2012. Nothing at the school had changed: not the MBA program, not the faculty who teach there, or the quality of students. If anything, the program had gotten better, thanks to the higher rank BusinessWeek assigned the school two years earlier, which brought the school more applicants.

    But now SMU's MBA program had plunged in an unprecedented way: from 18th in 2008 to 12th in 2010 to 29th in 2012. Cox officials were flabbergasted. "We were absolutely astonished because the methodology was changed after everything was complete," says Marci Armstrong, Cox's associate dean of graduate programs. "While that's certainly legal, and they certainly have the right to do it, to me it seemed incredibly unethical.... It was stunning to be really honest with you -- not that we would move in the ranking, but that they would make a substantial change in the rankings because they didn't like how we were ranked."

    Like it or not, Cox isn't about to withdraw from the rankings rat race. "You can't not play the game if your competitor schools are doing the same," Armstrong points out. "If you're a Wharton or Harvard, you can make a decision not to participate, but for the majority of schools, it's not a choice we can make."

    Hate them or love them, B-schools ignore rankings at their peril. Applicants, alumni, and employers obsess over them. And surveys have shown that rankings are the most regularly consulted source for MBA applicants -- more influential than work colleagues, family and friends, current students, alumni, faculty, or MBA admissions consultants.