Mumbai: A report by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) on the value of MBA programmes around the world in terms of graduate employability has shown Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad , is among the top three business schools in the Asia-Pacific region. IIM-A stands at second position in the region.

But, Indian business schools failed to feature among the top three schools across the world, in terms of subject specialisation. The report, looking into MBA graduate employability, has identified London Business School, INSEADFrance and Harvard Business School as the preferred choice of international recruiters. The QS Global 200 Business Schools Report provides an alternative to traditional MBA rankings, by highlighting the value of MBA programmes around the world, according to the qualification’s endconsumer, the MBA employer.

The report points to a leading cluster of 39 ‘elite global’ business schools spread across North America (22), Europe (14) and Asia-Pacific (3). While in the US, 15 ‘elite global’ schools are unsurpassed, the report showed that only Harvard Business School boasts a comparable employer reputation to the London Business School and INSEAD-France. Nunzio Quacquarelli, managing director of QS, said, “This year’s report finds a record number of companies turning towards hiring MBAs, underlining the value of the qualification in today’s globalised economy.

This edition of the QS Global 200 Business Schools Report reveals the graduates of Europe’s top business schools are increasingly in demand for their ability to lead and innovate in the workplace and for transferring best practice management skills to fast-growing emerging economies around the world.” While Europe and North America dominate in terms of overall employability and salaries, it was found candidates at Indian schools emerged as the world’s most academically qualified. “Average GMAT scores at Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore and Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad are the highest in the world, comfortably ahead of any of the top schools from Europe or the US,” said the QS release.

Further, it showed that graduates from top European schools earned higher average salaries than their North American counterparts. Graduate salaries at Europe’s schools averaged $109,300 (Rs 59.5 lakh), compared to $101,100 (Rs 55 lakh) in North America. However, while Europe’s schools performed well for employability and graduate salaries, when it came to subject specialisation, the US schools dominated.

For the study, 3,000-plus responses from employers of business school graduates were taken. The respondents were asked to identify the business schools they preferred to recruit from.

Respondents also identified business schools they deemed to produce excellent hires in 10 areas of elective specialisation — finance, strategy, marketing, entrepreneurship, corporate social responsibility, information management, innovation, leadership, operations management, and international management.