Research activity is a potential platform around which institutional brands could be built to counter media rankings of management schools which causes much heartburn to many in India. This paper examines the propensity for stating the centrality of research amongst the top tier management schools in India in their self-descriptions, which could drive their brand building efforts by creating appropriate knowledge structures in the minds of relevant public. Based on the publicly communicated research activities at these management schools, the paper takes a look at the centrality of research in their brand building efforts and concludes that though the potential to build organizational identity and brand around research activity exists, these top tier management schools need to consciously make the commitment and take the plunge.

With the mushrooming of management schools and the MBA degree acquiring a cult status, the media in India too has jumped onto the `ranking business'. These rankings attempt to shape the perceptions and choices of the impressionable students, who aspire to get good management education as a gateway to a fast-track corporate career.

Whereas a high rank pleases the stakeholders of the school, particularly when it is lesser known or is considered less prestigious, a lower rank causes a lot of heartburn, more so when the institute is generally considered to be a prestigious one.

An article by Joydeep Ray(2005) claimed that IIMs have decided not to participate in surveys ranking business schools. Perhaps, younger IIMs cannot afford to be ranked lower than other non-IIM management schools. The same article says that the IIMs would, however, participate in overseas business school surveys. This is not surprising, non-IIM schools too tend to criticize rankings if they are ranked lower, and some schools eventually opt out of such surveys.

Top Tier Management, All India Council for Technical Education, AICTE, Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, AACSB, Attention Interest Desire and Action Model, AIDA Model, Research & Knowledge Transfer, Strategic Brand Management, Indian Institute of Management.