The management and impact of international rankings on reputation in higher education

AbstractThe University of Manchester, Louise Simpson, Master of PhilosophyThe impact of international rankings on corporate reputation management in higher education, 2011The way the commercial sector creates and manages reputation and measures itself against competitors is well documented. However, there is less attention paid to reputation management in higher education, a service sector that bridges the gap between public and private and drives national and global economies. Universities themselves have not been very interested in proactive reputation management and peer benchmarking, even if they are immensely proud of their ‘reputations’; also, there has been no transparent ways of assessing and comparing global university reputation until recently. However, the advent of world higher education rankings has shone a public light on university success. This study suggests that because rankings are visible and of value as a fast track way of navigating the complex university world for the public, they are being used proactively and strategically by universities to amplify reputation. Whether or not the methodology is perfect, or academics acknowledge them, university leaders know they are the nearest global proxy for reputation in higher education and cannot be ignored. Higher ranked positions are now appearing as strategic goals for universities and as such are indicators of both reputation and corporate success. To test this theory, this study examined whether university senior managers and leaders plan for ranking advancement, and use positive rankings in public relations activities to amplify their profile. The research found that most universities use rankings as part of deliberate and strategic reputation management. Over half admit to investing in strategies to support a higher ranking, with slightly fewer aiming for a numerical position. Those who were strategic about aiming for a higher ranking, were also more likely to go up in the rankings, which suggests that deliberation and tactics bear fruit. Crossing major thresholds (getting into the top 50) is deemed to be more important than achieving a specific number. Student recruitment was not felt to be affected by falls in ranking, but rises in ranking were likely to result in increased applications from international students and more partnership interest from world leading universities. Thus a fall in ranking is not perceived to be excessively damaging but a rise is very thought to be highly beneficial. Whilst rankings per se may not offer a complete picture of a university’s reputation, the public’s interest in rankings, if not the rankings themselves, has pushed universities to adopt more competitive strategic and corporate planning and proactive reputational management. In this way, universities become endorsers of ranking, and give the public renewed assurance that rankings are indeed valid measures of reputation.