Not surprised by fall in ranking

NHH is ranked as number 44 in the Financial Times' annual ranking of the 75 best business schools in Europe. That is down 13 places. NHH Rector Jan I Haaland is not surprised

06.12.2011 - Red.

'We were expecting this. In 2010, NHH participated in four out of five sub-categories in the ranking, while this year, we have only participated in two. That is the main reason why we have fallen on the list. The more of FT's rankings we participate in, and the higher we are ranked in each of them, the higher we will come in the overall ranking,' says Rector Haaland.

Because of the Financial Times' requirements with regard to the number of respondents in the questionnaire surveys, NHH was only eligible to take part in two rankings this year.

'The margins are small, and we plan to work more systematically to ensure that we include the required number of respondents in future. That is challenging in relation to the Executive MBA programme and custom programmes, because we have small classes. The response rate therefore needs to be high,' says Haaland.

NHH has climbed steadily on the overall European Business Schools ranking in recent years, from number 57 in 2007 to number 31 in 2010. The last time NHH only participated in two rankings, it came in at number 47 out of 65.

This year, HEC Paris was awarded the top spot in the ranking, followed by Insead and London Business School in second and third place. These three schools have been at the top of the list in recent years. The best Nordic school is Stockholm School of Economics at number 19. Copenhagen Business School was ranked as number 40, which is down 17 spots.

European Business Schools summarises five sub-rankings produced by the Financial Times every year (see the fact box below). In 2011, NHH participated in the ranking of the best Masters in Management (siviløkonom) study programmes and open non-degree study programmes (Executive Education Open Programmes). NHH was ranked number 43 in the world for Masters in Management programmes, while it was number 19 in Europe for Executive Education Open Programmes.

Facts:
The European Business Schools ranking is based on five different sub-rankings; Global MBA, Executive Education Open Programmes, Executive Education Custom Programmes, Masters in Management and Executive MBA. The rankings are weighted relatively similarly, but the overall ranking favours institutions that participate in several rankings.