Magazines to include Wharton in rankings

Last week when the Wharton and Harvard graduate business schools announced they would no longer provide e-mail lists to commercial organizations like BusinessWeek and U.S. News and World Report, the organizations were quick to respond.

BusinessWeek emphasized the importance of survey and ranking feedback for the benefit of both its readers and the schools, and said that it will continue to include the schools in its rankings.

In an editorial after the decision, the magazine requested Wharton and Harvard students complete the survey anyway. Those students will have to e-mail the publication directly.

The decision has caused a stir in the academic community, which has relied heavily on rankings as a method of comparison between schools.

We believe the rankings are "a way to measure whether or not the schools -- which were increasingly educating the corporate world's managers -- were doing a good job of preparing them for the management ranks," BusinessWeek B-schools Department Editor Jennifer Merritt wrote in an e-mail interview. We "owe it to schools to give them as much information as we can, without compromising privacy, about what those customers have to say."

In announcing the decision last week, Wharton Dean Patrick Harker wrote an extensive e-mail to the entire Wharton community explaining the rationale behind the move.

Merritt contested Harker's claim of a possible lack of "transparency" among rankings in periodicals, given their commercial nature and alleged need to differentiate their publications.

"BusinessWeek collects student and recruiter survey data, reports it and tabulates it as it is," Merritt said. "There is no bias or skewing. There is no editorial agenda."

Other schools have reportedly not followed suit with Wharton and Harvard, despite their position as two of the nation's premier business schools.

According to Merritt, "no other school has followed at this time, and almost every school has said they'll continue to participate" in the rankings.

Within the University community, reactions to the decision are mixed.

"It's good in a way. A lot of people get bogged down by rankings, so this will help them choose a program more catered to their career interests," second-year Wharton MBA student Naveen Todi said. "On the other hand, rankings are important and contribute to the reputation and perception of the schools."

Fellow second-year MBA Allison Cuff applauded Wharton's decision.

"I think it's a good thing because there's too much focus on rankings," Cuff said. Business schools "try to game the system, and they lose focus on what's really important."

Cuff echoed Harker's statement that the academic community places an overemphasis on the rankings.

"I don't like it when people focus on metrics all the time," Cuff said. "It might not even be reflective of anything."

BusinessWeek will continue as best it can, and has recieved some student response.

According to Merritt, BusinessWeek has already received "more than 100 [e-mails] as of early this morning."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.