Wharton takes a stand on MBA ranking surveys
Ryan K. Miller, WG'05
Issue date: 4/12/04 Section: News
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Last Tuesday, in an email addressed to students, alumni, faculty, and staff, Dean Harker announced that Wharton would no longer distribute student or alumni e-mail lists for surveys, including Business Week's upcoming MBA survey. Harvard Business School made a similar announcement on the same day.
One reason cited for the decision was reducing the sheer number of surveys students and alumni are being asked to complete. Harker emphasized the importance of reducing survey fatigue amongst alumni and improving response rates of internal stakeholder surveys. From the administrative side, there is also a significant amount of work required to administer the surveys.
Michael Baltes explained, "What makes this exercise so time intensive is that each survey not only asks different questions, but at different times of the year... the school is customizing data collection for each commercial enterprise, which then packages it in its own way and sells it."
Another reason given for the decision was a concern over privacy and misuse of email lists. In a conversation with the Wharton Journal, Jennifer Merritt, Business Week B-schools editor, cited the publication's reputation for respecting the privacy and security of the email lists it has received from schools. Additionally, she expressed Business Week's intention to rank both Wharton and Harvard (provided that Business Week is able to gather a reliable and sizable sample of student surveys), emphasizing student feedback as a critical component of its methodology. On Business Week's web site, students from Wharton's and HBS' Class of 2004 were invited to email mba2004@businessweek.com if they were willing to take surveys for the Fall rankings.
Student feedback from the current graduating class, coupled with data from two prior student surveys, comprises 45% of Business Week's ranking. Merritt expressed confidence in Business Week's ability to solicit a sufficient number of responses but indicated that they were still evaluating the methodological implications of soliciting survey responses without Wharton's or Harvard's cooperation. Merritt made clear the importance of data integrity:
One reason cited for the decision was reducing the sheer number of surveys students and alumni are being asked to complete. Harker emphasized the importance of reducing survey fatigue amongst alumni and improving response rates of internal stakeholder surveys. From the administrative side, there is also a significant amount of work required to administer the surveys.
Michael Baltes explained, "What makes this exercise so time intensive is that each survey not only asks different questions, but at different times of the year... the school is customizing data collection for each commercial enterprise, which then packages it in its own way and sells it."
Another reason given for the decision was a concern over privacy and misuse of email lists. In a conversation with the Wharton Journal, Jennifer Merritt, Business Week B-schools editor, cited the publication's reputation for respecting the privacy and security of the email lists it has received from schools. Additionally, she expressed Business Week's intention to rank both Wharton and Harvard (provided that Business Week is able to gather a reliable and sizable sample of student surveys), emphasizing student feedback as a critical component of its methodology. On Business Week's web site, students from Wharton's and HBS' Class of 2004 were invited to email mba2004@businessweek.com if they were willing to take surveys for the Fall rankings.
Student feedback from the current graduating class, coupled with data from two prior student surveys, comprises 45% of Business Week's ranking. Merritt expressed confidence in Business Week's ability to solicit a sufficient number of responses but indicated that they were still evaluating the methodological implications of soliciting survey responses without Wharton's or Harvard's cooperation. Merritt made clear the importance of data integrity: