When Knowledge Wins: Transcending the Sense and Nonsense of Academic Rankings

“Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.” —Albert Einstein Has university scholarship gone astray? Do our academic assessment systems reward scholarship that addresses the questions that matter most to society? Using international business as an example, we highlight the problematic nature of academic ranking systems and question if such assessments are drawing scholarship away from its fundamental purpose. We call for an immediate examination of existing ranking systems, not only as a legitimate scholarly question vis-a-vis performance—a conceptual lens with deep roots in management research—but also because the very health and vibrancy of the field are at…