Table notesAlthough the headline ranking figures show changes in the data year to year, the pattern of clustering among the schools is equally significant. Some 300 points separate the top school from the school ranked number 50. The top nine schools, from Harvard Business School to the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, form the elite group of outstanding providers of open enrolment programmes. The second group runs from Babson Executive Education to the University of Michigan Ross School of Business and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, which are jointly ranked 28. Sixty points separate these top and bottom schools. The third group is headed by Essec Management Education, which scored over 170 points more than the school ranked 50.
Footnotes1. These data are for information only and are not used in the rankings.
2. The provision of advanced information on programme content and the participant selection process.
3. The flexibility of the course and appropriateness of class size, structure and design.
4. Contemporary and appropriate teaching materials and a suitable mix of academic rigour and practical relevance.
5. The quality of the teaching and the extent to which teaching staff worked together to present a coherent programme.
6. The extent to which other participants were of the appropriate managerial/academic level, the international mix of the class and the interaction between course participants.
7. The relevance of new skills to the workplace, the ease with which they were implemented and the extent to which the course encouraged new ways of thinking.
8. The level of follow-up offered after participants returned to their workplace and networking opportunities with other participants.
9. The degree to which participant and company expectations were met.
10. The quality of food and accommodation.
11. The quality of teaching accommodation and IT and library facilities.
12. The percentage of female participants.
13. Amalgamates the percentage of participants from outside the business school's base country and its region (e.g. North America, Europe, Asia etc.).
14. Amalgamates growth in income and percentage of repeat business.
15. Programmes run outside the business school's base country and its region.
16. The quantity and quality of programmes taught in conjunction with other business schools.
17. The mix of faculty by nationality and gender.