A recent study by faculty from IIM Lucknow, IIM Calcutta, and IIT Delhi reveals that the growing obsession with global rankings in management academia is causing significant academic and ethical challenges—particularly in the Global South.
Published in the journal Management Learning, the research argues that this fixation is steering institutions away from meaningful, socially relevant knowledge creation in favor of chasing international validation. The study warns that this trend feeds into imperialist structures within capitalism, promotes elitism, and encourages questionable scholarly practices.
“Indian management institutes are caught in a paradox—trying to project an ‘Indian’ identity globally while heavily relying on Western ranking systems for credibility,” said Dr. Priyanshu Gupta, Assistant Professor of Business Sustainability at IIM Lucknow.
The Problems with Rankings
According to the researchers, the pursuit of rankings:
- Creates an artificial scarcity of excellence by spotlighting only elite institutions.
- Diverts attention from building robust academic infrastructure across the broader education ecosystem.
- Fuels predatory publishing and encourages scholars to prioritize Western academic frameworks over contextually relevant issues.
“Instead of focusing on research that addresses pressing societal challenges, academics are often compelled to conform to publication norms dictated by top-ranked journals,” Gupta noted.
The paper also critiques the commercialization of academic labor, pointing out how scholars contribute unpaid time and effort to review and edit work for profit-driven publishing houses, all while facing job insecurity.
The Bigger Picture
“We’ve reached a point where faculty talk more about where their research is published than what they’re working on,” Gupta said. “That shift undermines the real purpose of academic inquiry.”
A Call for Change
The researchers advocate for a reimagined academic culture in management studies—one that:
- Rejects ranking-driven pressures
- Prioritizes meaningful, locally relevant research
- Challenges rigid academic hierarchies
The study ultimately calls for management scholars to reclaim their voice and purpose, moving away from validation by rankings and toward research that truly serves society.
