Four French business schools from the world’s top 100 produce the caliber of graduates most attractive to international recruiters, according to the Global Recruiters’ Top 100 Business Schools Report. The report, released next week by the MBA information specialists QS TopMBA.com, uniquely sources the opinions of the world’s leading international MBA recruiters, a methodology that has made it increasingly relevant since its inception in 1993. It is available on 21 January 2008 at topmba.com/research.

French schools in the top 100 are as follows (alphabetically)

• ESCP-EAP

• ESSEC Business Scholl, Paris

• HEC MBA Program

• INSEAD Paris

The report, which canvassed opinions from 489 human resources managers and MBA recruiters from 35 countries – more international respondents than any other MBA employer survey provides the definitive list of business schools whose MBA students are currently most attractive to international recruiters. They are featured alphabetically by region: 35 schools in the US, the Canadian five, 32 schools in Europe, 23 schools in Asia-Pacific and 5 schools in Latin America.

It also includes recruiters’ business school preferences by specialization, with international comparisons between schools in areas including International Management, Finance, Marketing, Entrepreneurship and Corporate Governance. The results, as well as other QS research, will be among the topics discussed at seminars and panel discussions at the QS World MBA Tour.

Helle Jensen, Admissions Manager at INSEAD business school says, The TopMBA survey provides a uniquely relevant perspective for the majority of applicants who seek an MBA to improve their career prospects.”

The report is an alternative to traditional business school rankings, which are increasingly coming under fire from many quarters and will see the Wall Street Journal move away from producing an MBA ranking. The Wharton School and Harvard Business School have led a chorus of voices questioning the value of overall rankings, in preference for tools which allow candidates to create a personalized ranking. The results of the report will be added to TopMBA.com/Scorecard, allowing MBA applicants to search and rank schools according to their own personal criteria.

Nunzio Quacquarelli, Managing Director of QS and author of the report, says: “The report is an invaluable list of the ‘best’ business schools but it should not be interpreted as a ranking because many additional factors must be considered when evaluating schools. However, in canvassing the opinions of hundreds of the world’s top international MBA recruiters, each of whom do thorough and exhaustive research on business schools themselves, we have found an important method in assisting aspiring MBAs to make informed choices about suitable business schools in each region.”

Other Highlights from the Global Recruiters’ Top 100 Business Schools Report

• The report differs from the Financial Times rankings in being an alphabetical listing and not a ranking.

• North America has the most schools – 40 – in the Top 100. This compares to 32 in Europe (a decrease from 2006) and 23 in Asia-Pacific (an increase from 2006) and five in Latin America.

• Harvard Business School and The Wharton School remain the most popular schools with employers around the world, for the fifth successive year.

• Only Kenan-Flagler (UNC), Marshall (Southern Cal), Darla Moore (SC) and Richard Ivey (W. Ontario) entered an otherwise consistent North American Top 20 compared to 2006.

• INSEAD and London Business School remain the two most popular European business schools with recruiters.

• New in the top 30 in Europe in 2007 are: ESCP-EAP, Ashridge, EM Lyon, Lancaster, Mannheim Business School and Warsaw University of Technology.

• There are 23 Asia-Pacific business schools in the Top 100, up from 10 in 2006

• The top ten preferred schools in the Asia-Pacific region comprise three Singapore schools, four Australian schools, one Indian and two from China.

• A return to aggressive hiring by consultancies and multinationals, as well as the increasing geographic spread of MBA employers in all sectors, resulted in a 22% increase in overall demand for MBAs and an average 4% increase in MBA compensation in 2007.

Quacquarelli believes that the research shows that schools in the list cannot be complacent. “Among the 22 new entrants this year are 13 schools in Asia benefiting from the region’s recruitment boom and their own efforts to increase faculty and student quality. This is putting pressure on European and North American schools to remain front-of-mind for employers who can only visit a limited number of campuses in any recruiting season.”

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