Identification and modelling of winners and qualifiers for management institutes: evidence from India

Mushrooming of management institutes in the nooks and corners of cities in India has created a struggle amongst these institutes to gain and sustain market shares. Amidst the struggle, some institutes continue to outperform others. The objective of this paper is to understand the reasons for their performance. This paper identifies characteristics on the basis of which graduates select MBA institutes through focus group discussions, categorises them as winning and qualifying criteria, as propounded by Hill (2000), based on their potential to provide a competitive edge using the Delphi method and develops an integrated framework of their interactions through interpretive structural modelling (ISM). The findings suggest that in the category of winners, location and infrastructure are the most important factors for students. The admission process is not at all important for them and in the qualifying category; approval of the institute by a regulatory authority is their priority. The results obtained and discussed can provide clarity and focus to the administrators (owners or managers) of management institutes in designing suitable strategies for surviving in the competitive environment.?