Wharton tops FT's global ranking for research effect beyond academia

[Wharton San Francisco at Hills Brothers Plaza in San Francisco, California]
JHVEPhoto/iStock Editorial via Getty Images

The University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School has been recognized as the world’s most influential business school for research that shapes real-world decision-making, according to the _Financial Times_ Research Insights 2025 ranking.

Nearly half of the 50 institutions on the list are based in the United States, underscoring the dominance of U.S. schools in both resources and English-language scholarship. Following Wharton are Harvard Business School, Stanford Graduate School of Business and the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. Rotterdam School of Management (Erasmus University) leads European institutions in 14th place, just ahead of Hong Kong University Business School and Oxford’s Saïd Business School.

The FT’s methodology assessed peer-reviewed work from the past five years, emphasizing studies that are widely cited, referenced in policy or think-tank reports, downloaded by professionals, or discussed online. Additional weight was given to research aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and to teaching cases used in executive and MBA programs.

Wharton ranked first overall and also led in positive academic citations, SDG-related work, downloads, and online attention. Harvard placed highest for the production of teaching case studies, followed by Western University’s Ivey Business School and the University of Virginia’s Darden School. For policy citations, the University of Chicago’s Booth, Harvard and UC Berkeley’s Haas schools scored top marks.

The results arrive amid growing debate over whether business academia remains too detached from practice. To address that concern, the accreditation body AACSB has partnered with scholarly societies to create new frameworks for measuring research impact beyond citations.

Other experts called for a sharper focus on local and applied outcomes, and some academics warned that overemphasizing measurable impact could undermine scholarly independence, the FT reported.

FT RESEARCH INSIGHTS RANKING 2025: MEASURING IMPACT

SCHOOL NAME
COUNTRY
RANK

University of Pennsylvania: Wharton
US
1

Harvard Business School
US
2

Stanford Graduate School of Business
US
3

University of Chicago: Booth
US
4

MIT: Sloan
US
5

University of California at Berkeley: Haas
US
6

Columbia Business School
US
7

Yale School of Management
US
8

Northwestern University: Kellogg
US
9

New York University: Stern
US
10

University of Michigan: Ross
US
11

Cornell University: Johnson
US
12

University of Southern California: Marshall
US
13

Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University
Netherlands
14

HKU Business School
Hong Kong
15

University of Oxford: Saïd
UK
16

Arizona State University: Carey
US
17

University of Virginia: Darden
US
18

Duke University: Fuqua
US
19

National University of Singapore Business School
Singapore
20

Insead
France
21

London Business School
UK
22

Singapore Management University: Lee Kong Chian
Singapore
23

Copenhagen Business School
Denmark
24

Western University: Ivey
Canada
25

University of Texas at Austin: McCombs
US
26

University of Zurich
Switzerland
27

University of Toronto: Rotman
Canada
28

SDA Bocconi School of Management
Italy
29

Iese Business School
Spain
30

Polimi School of Management
Italy
31

CUHK Business School Hong
Kong
32

University of Washington: Foster
US
33

Michigan State University: Broad
US
34

IMD Business School
Switzerland
35

Ceibs
China
36

University of Cambridge: Judge
UK
37

University of North Carolina: Kenan-Flagler
US
38

Warwick Business School
UK
39

Melbourne Business School
Australia
40

University of St Gallen
Switzerland
41

Stockholm School of Economics
Sweden
42

Nanyang Business School, NTU Singapore
Singapore
43

HEC Montreal
Canada
44

Tias Business School, Tilburg University
Netherlands
45

University of British Columbia: Sauder
Canada
46

University of Maryland: Smith
US
47

University of Florida: Warrington
US
48

Washington University: Olin
US
49

Texas A&M University: Mays
US
50

Click to enlarge

Source: Financial Times

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