D&B launches inaugural edition of 'India's Leading Business Schools'

Public sector companies get more aggressive with recruitment accounting for 7% of total placements in 2009 as compared to 4% in 2007: Dun &Bradstreet Study

Dun & Bradstreet, the world’s leading provider of global business information, knowledge and insight, released the inaugural edition of its publication, ‘India's Leading Business School’s on October 14, 2010.

The publication profiles 168 University affiliated as well as private Business Schools in India that fall under the purview of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and/or governed by the Ministry of Human Resource Development. Apart from profiling, the publication also provides detailed insights on the operational aspects, infrastructure, placements, challenges faced, growth drivers and future plans of these business schools. To understand the functional and operational dynamics of business schools, the respondent business schools were divided into three categories, based on their average placement salaries in 2009.                                              

Speaking at the launch, Mr. Kaushal Sampat, President & CEO – India, Dun & Bradstreet, said,” The increasing demand for management education in all major cities in India along with the Government’s role in ensuring better access to higher education has had a positive impact on the economic growth of our country.  D&B’s study on the leading business schools reveals that although private sector companies continue to remain the biggest employers of management professionals, the domestic public sector companies have become more aggressive with recruitment accounting for 7% of total placements in 2009 as compared to 4% in 2007.

The study further indicates that there is a 22% increase in the number of students with work experience opting for management studies. In terms of placement, our study also reveals that in 2009 around 61% of the management schools offered more than 85% placement”, he added.   

About D&B’s India's Leading Business Schools:
‘India’s Leading Business School’ is Dun and Bradstreet India’s (D&B India) recognition of the prominent business schools in the country. Business Schools covered in the publication have affiliations and recognitions with the Foreign Universities, Central Universities, State Universities, Deemed Universities, Private Universities, AICTE, AIU, UGC, MHRD and Institutes of National Importance. The publication is based on direct responses received from business schools.

To invite nominations from various business schools, questionnaires were sent out to business schools sourced from MHRD, UGC, AIU, NAAC, AICTE and D&B’s internal database. Additionally, mass media channels such as advertisements in leading business news dailies were used to invite participation in the publication. Every effort was made to reach out to all business schools and ensure their response to the questionnaire. Business schools that did not respond to the questionnaire have been excluded from the publications.

For the purpose of this publication, the total number of students provided are for the batch passing out in 2009. Business Schools have been listed on various parameters such as total number of full time faculty, region wise and total intake capacity of the students. A standardised format has been used for reporting the information of the business schools.

Key highlights:

• Establishment of business schools gathered momentum in the post liberalisation period, owing to a spiraling demand for talented professionals. The survey reveals that nearly 53% of the surveyed business schools were founded during 1990-2000, while 32% of them were established post 2000.
• While the private sector continues to be the biggest employers of management professionals, it is worth mentioning that domestic public sector companies have been aggressive in the last year. The survey revealed that the public sector companies accounted for 7% of total placements in 2009 as compared to 4% in 2007. 
• In the study, Category I business schools clearly outperform other institutes in the study in terms of placements. Category I business schools placed 98% of its batch in 2009. Overall, the surveyed business schools achieved 87.46% for the same period. 
• Composition and quality of faculty have a direct bearing on the performance of business schools. On this front too, Category I institutes are clear leaders in the study – over half of the faculty in Category I business schools have doctoral degrees – substantially higher than the rest of the institutes. 
• An increasing number of students with work experience are opting for management studies - an indication of the fact that many professionals prefer to upgrade their skills to remain competitive. The survey has revealed that the number of students with work experience opting for management studies increased by 22% y-o-y in the 2009 batch. 
• Marketing and finance, the two most preferred specialisations, registered a decline in their overall share in 2009 batch.  On the other hand, the share of students opting for retail management studies increased to touch 4% of the overall number of students.
• One of the prerequisites for imparting quality education is to maintain a lower faculty to student ratio. On an average, the faculty-to-student ratio of all business schools taken together stood at a respectable level 1:11.4. The Category I schools emerged as the best in terms of faculty to student with a ratio of 1:8.6 and the Category III schools had the highest faculty  to student ratio of 1:13.2 
• The increasing cost of managing business schools and lack of quality faculty emerged as the two biggest challenges faced by the business schools in the country.
• To meet the challenges posed by globalisation of management education in India, the study found that business schools consider collaborations with international universities/associations, development of infrastructure and global accreditation as top priority.
• Category I business schools account for 16% of total intake capacity of the surveyed schools. On the other hand, category II and category III business schools cover 55% and 28% respectively.
• Average intake capacity of category I schools is the highest at 210 students per business school followed by category II and category III with 168 and 137 students per business school respectively.
• Average number of classrooms per business school for the surveyed schools stood at 13 per school with category I business schools leading with 17 classrooms per school.
• Around 93% of the surveyed business schools provide hostel accommodation to students, which can accommodate a total of 30,112 students.
• The surveyed business schools are well equipped with latest technology and have a high student to computer ratio of 1:1.03.

D&B’s ‘India’s Leading Business Schools’ was launched by Dr. Stephen D’Silva, Director, Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies and Mr. Alok Bharadwaj, Senior Vice President, Canon India was the Key Note Speaker.  A panel discussion on “Taking Indian Business Schools to the Next Level” followed thereafter.

About Dun & Bradstreet (D&B):
Dun & Bradstreet (NYSE:DNB), the world's leading source of global business information, knowledge and insight, has been enabling companies to Decide with Confidence® for over168 years.  D&B's global commercial database contains more than 162 million business records. The database is enhanced by D&B's proprietary DUNSRight® Quality Process, which transforms the enormous amount of data collected daily into decision-ready insight. Through the D&B Worldwide Network -an unrivaled alliance of D&B and leading business information providers around the world customers gain access to the world's largest and highest quality global commercial business information database.

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