There is fierce competition among the top MNCs to select the best minds of the country. At the same time, a company’s position in students’ perception becomes equally important. The final selection of top MNCs and the best minds of the country are based on the evaluation of a number of alternatives in terms of a number of criteria. This problem may become a very difficult one when the criteria are expressed in different units or the pertinent data is difficult to be quantified. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is an effective approach in dealing with this kind of decision problems. The main objective of the present study is to identify and relate the factors contributing to the placement prospects of students from a B-school while selecting a company. The study attempts to relate students’ placement-related variables with the overall rating or brand value of the companies in which they may get placements. The factors/variables considered to have a bearing on the brand value of companies are: job profile, company image, salary, growth, and HR policy. The study also attempts to relate these factors with seven selected companies, which are Indian Tobacco Company Limited (ITC), Proctor & Gamble (P&G), Cadbury, Nestle, Johnson & Johnson (J&J), Glaxo Smith Kline (GSK), and Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL).

The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) technique, developed by Saaty (1980, 1990 and 1994), uses a process of pair-wise comparisons to determine the relative importance (and thus the priority) of alternatives in a multi-criteria decision-making process. AHP involves decomposing a complex and unstructured problem into a set of variables that are organized into a hierarchy. It enables decision makers to make choices among a number of alternatives and criteria by formulating priorities and making a series of tradeoffs. Although the AHP technique was originally developed for solving multi-criteria decision-making problems, its practicality and versatility have allowed AHP to be widely applied in many different areas—including marketing (Wind and Saaty, 1980) and accounting/auditing (Arrington et al., 1984). Zahedi (1989) using simple multi-attribute value function (Belton and Gear, 1983), multi-criteria decision analysis (Triantaphyllou et al., 1994), and data flow problem (Wang and Raz, 1991) provided a comprehensive study by using the application of AHP. In addition to this, Sato (2004) extended the use of AHP technique in measuring the human perception about multiple choice and AHP. Moreover, Wabalickis (1988) employed the AHP technique for justification of FMS. Though, AHP technique had been widely used in different areas, it has also been criticized by some authors. Dyer and Wendell (1985) and Dyer (1990) critically analyzed the limitations of AHP properties. Belton and Gear (1983) identified the shortcoming of Saaty’s method of analytic hierarchies.

Management Research Journal, Strategy Designed for Selection Using AHP Approach, A Study of B-School Students’ Perception and Hiring