KOREASCHOLAR

This paper proposes a conceptual model for understanding the determinants of business school reputation from a company’s perspective, and further, investigates the potential effect that business school reputation has during the recruitment process. Although extant research enhanced the knowledge of business school reputation enormously (e.g. Corley & Gioia, 2000; Rindova, Williamson, & Petkova, 2010), business school reputation from the stakeholder perspective of practitioners has been largely underrepresented. Instead researchers have focused on examining business school education from students’ and academics’ perspectives (e.g. Baden-Fuller, Ravazzolo, & Schweizer, 2000). However, only few studies examine all three constituencies: students, firms and academics (e.g. Safón, 2009; Vidaver-Cohen, 2007). Reputation is pertinent as it reduces uncertainty among stakeholders and foremost, serves as signal to evaluate the quality of a product or service (Fombrun & Shanley, 1990, p. 237). For example, in the context of business schools recruiters assess the quality of graduates by recruiting candidates directly “off campus”. Thus, practitioners are regarded as a stakeholder group that exerts a powerful influence on business schools (Safón, 2007, p. 218). That is, successful alumni not only influence the perception of prospective and current students directly, but more generally contribute to external perceptions as part of rankings and media (e.g. Glick, 2008, p. 19). Hence, it is pivotal for business school management to know what drives the reputation of the institution in order to invest in and leverage on the most important determinants. Responding to a more holistic approach of business school reputation (e.g. Safon, 2009), the proposed conceptualization of business school reputation moves beyond prior literature to an understanding of multiple factors, internal and external, that influence business school reputation. Based on empirical qualitative data from semi-structured interviews with 12 recruiters from multidisciplinary backgrounds, in terms of industry and experience and extant literature, four main determinants of business school reputation were identified. These determinants include Media Coverage, Quality, Alumni and the Institution itself and are in line with prior research findings (e.g. Armstrong & Sperry, 1994; Sweitzer & Volkwein, 2009). Adding to the above, it is also evident that business school reputation has an influence on the selection process during recruitment (e.g. Safon, 2009). Therefore, this study not only contributes to the discussion on business school reputation from a multiple stakeholder perspective in identifying main drivers of reputation, but also on its influence on the recruitment process. Thus, the scarcity of research on business school reputation from practitioner’s perspective calls for a theory-based conceptual model for further foundation of research. By addressing these research gaps, this study makes several contributions. First, examining business school reputation from a practitioner’s perspective expands existing literature on business school reputation. Second, the proposed conceptual framework advances the importance of business school reputation from a management perspective with regard to its influence on the recruitment process.

• Sandra C. S. Männel(Ludwig-Maximilian-University Munich, Germany)