¹Department of Business Studies, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

Correspondence: Linda Wedlin, Department of Business Studies, Uppsala University, Kyrkogårdsgatan 10C, Box 513, Uppsala 751 20, Sweden. Tel: +46 18 471 1351; Fax: +46 18 471 6810; E-mail: linda.wedlin@fek.uu.se

Abstract

How are business school rankings shaping the international management education field? This paper investigates the role of classification mechanisms such as rankings in forming organizational fields, and asks to what extent rankings are influencing organizations to become more alike. Using a qualitative study of European business schools and their responses to international rankings, I show how the rankings are shaping and codifying an organizational template on which business schools form identities and identification with the field. The rankings codify this template by defining belongingness to a group, specifying measures for competition and comparison, and by promoting role models. Through the template, isomorphic pressures are mediated by the use of both specific and ambiguous criteria for performance, and in the way the template guides and channels imitation processes. This way, the template secures similarity and recognition of 'belonging together' in the field while allowing for considerable variation in organizational practices and identities.