The dean of the business school at a major university in your state has contacted students in your class to develop a plan for improving its national ranking among business schools. The school recently dropped 10 places in the rankings, and the dean wants to restore the school’s perceived luster. The dean provided the following list of variables on which the national ranking is based.

▪ Written assessment by deans from peer institutions on a scale of 1 to 5

▪ Written assessment by recruiters on a scale of 1 to 5

▪ Average GPA of incoming students

▪ Acceptance rate of student applications (a lower percentage is better)

▪ Average starting salary of the school’s most recent graduates

▪ Percentage of graduates employed on the date of graduation

▪ Percentage of graduates employed three months after graduation

▪ Average SAT (for the undergraduate program) and GMAT (for the MBA program) scores for entering students

The business school has a goal of improving its ranking by 10 places in two years. Brainstorm ideas and develop a ten-point action plan that will list the steps the dean can take to achieve this goal. To develop the plan, think carefully about actions the school might take to improve its ranking on any or all of the measured variables listed above.

After writing down your ideas, meet in small groups of three or four students to share ideas and select the most helpful action steps that will be part of the action plan recommended to the business school dean.