With the launch of the PaGaLGuY B-school Rankings 2010 today, we figured it was a good time to illustrate the typical b-school student’s direction of thinking about B-school Rankings.

Ever wondered why students from the top 10 b-schools never contest a rankings or the methodology of a rankings? Clearly, having made their way into the coveted-est of colleges, they must be intellectually more capable of dissecting a ranking methodology to uncover its merits and demerits.

B-schoolers from institutes ranked below 10 typically fall in one of the three categories:

1. The Constructive Thinkers: While accepting the rankings (either honestly or with skepticism), they will constructively debate the merits and demerits of the methodology and suggest improvements. They will genuinely take interest in the methodology and concurrently read up similar methodologies in other domains of market research to understand the subject better. If they disagree with the rankings, they will make no bones about it, but at the same time also see the constraints that the researchers faced and make peace with it through honest and constructive dialogue. They are a ranking agency’s delight.
2. The Sour Grape Eaters: This variety waits eagerly for the rankings season all year. Their worldview is acutely empirical, which is to say, that all is well for them as long as the result is to their liking. If a rankings generated using a game of darts or the wisdom of a voodoo gypsy lady accords their b-school a ranking of their liking, they will embrace the ranking as fair, just, amazing, awesome, credible and whatnot. But the moment a ranking is not to their liking, all hell will break loose. With the new found analyst in them, they will cursorily glance over the methodology of the rankings to selectively look for reasons why the ranking is such a big black spot on the science of market research. Armed with this self-serving data and complete disregard to reason, they will let themselves loose on forums and message boards acting as intellectuals and try to convince others (and themselves) that the said methodology is flawed, the publishers unholy worshipers of Satan and that aspirants should refrain from looking at rankings as they are all misleading. The above comic is about this variety. The Sour Grape Eaters hold majority among b-schoolers with an opinion on rankings. How to identify them? Whenever you see a b-schooler posting repeated messages, repeating himself, indulging in personal attacks, making rampant generalizations, acting insecure, you know he/she is a Sour Grape Eater. Actually, if he repeats himself even once, it’s a good enough sign that he is worried that people are not listening to him enough. In all his posts, he is Eric Cartman with his mickey taken out of him, desperately screaming, “Respect my authority coz my b-school rocks!”.
3. Givers of a Damn: Regardless of how they are ranked, this variety doesn’t care about rankings. Happy in their bliss, they are enjoying b-school life and know that good/bad rankings are inevitable and not worthy of losing sleep over. If their b-school gets a rankings that it is happy with, they will participate in the celebratory party with all their vigour. If the rankings isn’t satisfactory, life will go on for them. Like for all Zen Monks, we have huge repect for them.

Now as you view the PaGaLGuY Rankings and their discussions, try to spot b-schoolers and see which of the above category they fit in! ?

Concept and Illustrations by chuck_gopal, graphics by Apurv. Deepak Gopalakrishnan aka Chuck aka chuck_gopal is a PG Wodehouse and Iron Maiden freak, who learned how to make better presentations and contextually use words of superfluous character length during his stint at MICA. He works in Bombay, and in his spare time, apart from scaring aspirants with cartoons like these, attends gigs, blogs and tweets.