Bengaluru: The Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIM-B) has secured leading positions in the QS Business Master’s and Global MBA Rankings 2027, while also placing among the top 20 business schools globally in LinkedIn’s latest ranking.

IIM-B’s Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP), Post Graduate Programme in Business Analytics (PGPBA) and Executive Post Graduate Programme in Management (EPGP) have retained the top positions in India in their respective QS categories.

IIM-B programmes feature strongly in QS rankings

In the global QS rankings, IIM-B’s PGP has been placed 31st in the Master’s in Management (MiM) category.

The institute’s PGPBA secured 60th position in the QS Master’s in Business Analytics rankings, while the EPGP was ranked 64th in the QS Global MBA 2027 rankings.

The PGP recorded strong scores in indicators including academic standing, employability and value for money. It secured a score of 83.6 for employer reputation and employment rate and was placed 18th globally for employability, the highest ranking achieved by an Indian institution in that indicator.

Commenting on the performance, Prof U Dinesh Kumar, IIM-B director-in-charge, said the PGP’s results in the QS rankings reflected the strength of an education model combining applied business learning, evidence-led teaching, industry engagement and leadership development.

IIM Bangalore ranks 20th in LinkedIn global list

IIM-B also secured the 20th position in LinkedIn’s latest ranking of the Top 100 Business Schools globally.

The ranking evaluates full-time MBA programmes based on career-related outcomes, alumni networks, leadership potential and gender diversity.

Stanford Graduate School of Business topped the list, followed by Harvard Business School and The Wharton School. INSEAD was ranked fourth, while the Indian School of Business (ISB) was the highest-ranked Indian institution at fifth position.

Among Indian institutions, IIM Ahmedabad was ranked 19th globally, followed by IIM Bangalore at 20th and IIM Calcutta at 21st.

The other Indian institutions in the global top 100 were IIM Lucknow, ranked 31st; IIM Indore, 33rd; Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), 62nd; and IIM Udaipur, 83rd.

Eight Indian institutions featured in the LinkedIn list, including six IIMs, ISB and IIFT.

US institutions dominate LinkedIn top 10

US business schools occupied seven of the top 10 positions in LinkedIn’s ranking.

Stanford, Harvard and Wharton took the first three positions. MIT Sloan School of Management was sixth, followed by Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business at seventh, Columbia Business School at eighth and Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management at ninth.

London Business School was ranked 10th, while INSEAD was the highest-ranked institution from outside the US and UK within the top 10.

The ranking reflects career-related outcomes and other professional indicators rather than solely academic performance.

Five pillars used for LinkedIn ranking

According to LinkedIn’s methodology, the ranking assesses business schools across five pillars: hiring and demand, ability to advance, network strength, leadership potential and gender diversity.

The first four pillars carry equal weight, while gender diversity is assigned half the weight.

The hiring and demand indicator draws on LinkedIn’s hiring and recruiter InMail data for graduates from the 2020-2025 cohorts.

The methodology also considers factors such as promotions, alumni progression into director- and vice-president-level positions, alumni connections, entrepreneurship and C-suite experience.

Eligibility criteria for institutions

To qualify for the LinkedIn ranking, programmes had to be full-time MBA programmes accredited by either the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) or the European Foundation for Management Development Quality Improvement System (EQUIS).

Institutions were also required to have at least 1,500 alumni, including a minimum of 400 graduates from the 2020-2025 cohort.

IIM-B’s performance across the two international rankings places its management, business analytics and executive programmes among the institutions assessed through different measures of academic reputation, employability and career outcomes.