????2010年11月11日，南方衛理公會大學(Southern Methodist University)考克斯商學院(Cox School of Business)的幾位院長焦急不安地等待著?！渡虡I周刊》(BusinessWeek)編輯正在網上發布兩年一度的最佳全日制MBA排行榜?，F場發布會采用由低到高的次序，從當年排名最低的學校開始，一直至排名最高的院校。

????圍攏在電腦旁的管理層看到，第18名（考克斯商學院2008年的排名）是紐約大學(New York University)斯特恩商學院(Stern School of Business)。接下來又有更多院校的排名被公布，但仍然沒有考克斯商學院。達特茅斯塔克商學院(Tuck School of Business)位列第14名，隨后是康奈爾大學(Cornell University)約翰遜學院(Johnson School)。

????考克斯商學院去哪兒了？是不是沖進前10強了？最終，這所學院的位次定格在了第12名，這是該校有史以來在《商業周刊》排行榜的最高排名。實際上，這也是該校在五大最具影響力商學院排行榜中獲得的最高名次。簡短地慶賀了一番之后，考克斯商學院的工作人員立即起草新聞稿，迫不及待地向外界宣揚該校排名驟升6位的壯舉。

????然而，《商業周刊》對這份排行榜不太滿意，甚至略顯尷尬?！懊總€人都在說它沒有通過氣味測試，”2011年接受社交網站Poets&Quants采訪時，《商業周刊》副主編婁?拉維爾這樣說道?！拔覀兎治隽艘幌庐a生這種結果的原因，結論是，我們的榜單上有一些MBA雇主很少提到的學校，比如考克斯商學院。盡管雇主基礎不夠雄厚，但少數提到這所學校的雇主卻都對它贊不絕口?！?/p>

????這份雜志隨后改變了排名方法，更加青睞那些擁有更大、盡管有時不太熱情的雇主基礎的學校。結果，考克斯商學院2012年的排名一下子驟降17位，跌至第29名。但不管是就MBA項目、教職員工，還是就學生質量而言，這所學校沒有發生任何變化。事實上，考克斯商學院變得更好了，原因恰恰在于，《商業周刊》兩年前授予的高排名為它帶來了更多申請人。

????但現如今，它的MBA項目已經暴跌至前所未有的名次：從2008年的第18名，2010年的第12名，跌至2012年的第29名。這個結果讓考克斯商學院的官員目瞪口呆?！拔覀兎浅Ｕ痼@，因為一切工作都已經結束后改變了排名方法，”考克斯商學院研究生項目副院長馬爾西?阿姆斯特朗說?！半m然這肯定是合法的，他們肯定有權這樣做，但在我看來，這樣做似乎非常不道德。坦白講，讓我們震驚的并不是我們的排名暴跌，而是他們對排名體系做出重大調整的原因——他們不喜歡我們的名次。”

????不管喜不喜歡，考克斯商學院并不打算退出慘烈的排行榜爭奪戰?！叭绻偁帉κ侄荚趨⒓舆@種老鼠賽，你就不能不陪著玩，”阿姆斯特朗指出?！叭思椅诸D(Wharton)或哈佛商學院(Harvard)可以決定不參加，但大多數商學院根本沒得選。”

????無論愛也好，恨也罷，商學院無力承受忽略排行榜的嚴重后果。申請人、校友和雇主特別看重各大排行榜。調查顯示，排行榜是MBA申請人最經常參考的信息源，它的影響力高于同事、親朋好友、在校生、校友或MBA招生顧問的意見。

????On November 11, 2010, the deans at Southern Methodist University's Cox School of Business were on edge. BusinessWeek editors were online, releasing the magazine's biennial ranking of the best full-time MBA programs in a live countdown from the lowest-ranked school that year to the highest.

????As Cox administrators gathered around their computers, they watched No. 18 -- Cox's rank in 2008 -- go to New York University's Stern School of Business. A few more schools were announced, but still no SMU. Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business came in at No. 14, followed by Cornell University's Johnson School.

????Where was Cox? Had it cracked the top 10? Finally, the school popped up at No. 12, its highest rank ever in the BusinessWeek survey. Indeed, it was the highest rank ever achieved by the school in any of the top five most influential rankings of business schools. Cox's staff indulged in a brief celebration and drafted press releases trumpeting the school's six-point rise.

????BusinessWeek, however, was less satisfied with the results, even slightly embarrassed by them. "Everyone was saying it didn't pass the smell test," explained BusinessWeek associate editor Lou Lavelle in a 2011 interview with Poets&Quants. "We looked at why that was happening and the reason was we had some schools, like SMU, which had very few [MBA job] recruiter mentions -- not a really deep base of recruiters -- but that small base was wildly enthusiastic about the school."

????The magazine then changed its methodology to favor schools with larger, and sometimes less enthusiastic, recruiter bases. As a result, SMU's business school slid 17 spots to No. 29 in 2012. Nothing at the school had changed: not the MBA program, not the faculty who teach there, or the quality of students. If anything, the program had gotten better, thanks to the higher rank BusinessWeek assigned the school two years earlier, which brought the school more applicants.

????But now SMU's MBA program had plunged in an unprecedented way: from 18th in 2008 to 12th in 2010 to 29th in 2012. Cox officials were flabbergasted. "We were absolutely astonished because the methodology was changed after everything was complete," says Marci Armstrong, Cox's associate dean of graduate programs. "While that's certainly legal, and they certainly have the right to do it, to me it seemed incredibly unethical.... It was stunning to be really honest with you -- not that we would move in the ranking, but that they would make a substantial change in the rankings because they didn't like how we were ranked."

????Like it or not, Cox isn't about to withdraw from the rankings rat race. "You can't not play the game if your competitor schools are doing the same," Armstrong points out. "If you're a Wharton or Harvard, you can make a decision not to participate, but for the majority of schools, it's not a choice we can make."

????Hate them or love them, B-schools ignore rankings at their peril. Applicants, alumni, and employers obsess over them. And surveys have shown that rankings are the most regularly consulted source for MBA applicants -- more influential than work colleagues, family and friends, current students, alumni, faculty, or MBA admissions consultants.