Methodology and key: European Business School Ranking 2016

This is the 13th annual Financial Times ranking of European business schools. It is based on the combined performance of Europe’s leading schools across the main rankings of programmes published by the FT in 2016: MBA, executive MBA, masters in management and non-degree executive education programmes. The online MBA, masters in finance and top MBAs for entrepreneurship rankings are not included.

A European rank is produced for each type of programme. The schools’ performances in the MBA, EMBA and MiM rankings account for 25 per cent each. For executive education, the scores obtained for customised and open programmes each account for 12.5 per cent.

The ranking measures the schools’ quality and breadth of programmes. Schools must participate in all five rankings in order to be eligible for a full score. Schools that take part in one ranking only are eligible for only one-quarter of the total score.

An indexed score is created for each ranking. These scores are then added together, according to the weighting outlined above, creating a combined total for each school. This overall score is divided by the number of rankings in which a school features to calculate an average score — a derived measure of quality. This is added to the combined total score to generate a final score by which the schools are ranked.

Scores are not simply based on aggregation of published ranking positions. They are calculated using Z-scores, formulae that reflect the range between the top and bottom school, for the individual criteria that make up each component ranking.

The following rules are specific to the FT composite European ranking:

• Programmes that were ranked outside the published table (outside the top 100 MBA programmes, for example) are taken into consideration. They are those shown in the table with an asterisk;

• Schools ranked with a joint programme receive a proportional share of the programme’s indexed score. For example, Insead receives 50 per cent of the score achieved by its joint EMBA programme delivered with Tsinghua University;

• If a school is ranked more than once in the same ranking, a combined weighted score is awarded. For example, Insead receives 50 per cent of the score achieved by its own single EMBA programme (already having 50 per cent of the score achieved by its joint programme);

• Finally, schools must have a minimum weight of 25 per cent to be eligible. For example, schools ranked in one joint programme only will not be considered.

Keys to the 2016 ranking

Weights for ranking criteria are shown in brackets as a percentage.

MBA (25)

European rank: position among European schools that took part in the 2016 FT global MBA ranking.

Salary today $: average alumni salary three years after graduation, in US$ adjusted for purchasing power parity (PPP). Includes weighted data from the current and two previous years, where available.

Salary increase: percentage increase in average alumni salary pre-MBA to today, three years after graduation. Includes weighted data from the current and two previous years where available.

EMBA (25)

European rank: Position among European schools that took part in the 2016 EMBA ranking.

Salary today $: average three years after graduation, in US$ adjusted for purchasing power parity. Includes weighted data from the current and two previous years where available.

Salary increase: percentage increase in average alumni salary pre-EMBA to today, three years after graduation. Includes weighted data from this and two previous years where available.

Masters in Management (25)

European rank: position among European schools that participated in 2016 FT MiM ranking.

Salary today $: average salary three years after graduation, US$ adjusted for purchasing power parity. Includes weighted data from the current and two previous years where available.

Executive Education

Open programmes (12.5): Position among European schools that participated the FT ranking of open-enrolment programmes in 2016.

Custom programmes (12.5): Position among European schools that participated the FT ranking of customised programmes in 2016.

Faculty

Female faculty: percentage of female full-time faculty.

International faculty: percentage of full-time faculty whose citizenship differs from their country of employment.

Faculty with doctorates: percentage of full-time faculty with a doctoral degree.

Judith Pizer of Jeff Head Associates acted as the FT’s database consultant