Are you watching out for your favorite MBA program in the Financial Times, The Economist, Forbes, US News or Bloomberg Businessweek rankings? Do these rankings influence your decision in favoring one program over others?

Don't worry, you're not the only one. Although the value of MBA rankings has often been doubted (cf., for instance, Poets & Quants or QS Top MBA), rankings influence MBA candidates and business schools alike and create a "race to the top". Although rankings apply different methodologies, in essence, they all emphasize salary and salary progression of MBA graduates. Is this good or bad?

MBA Rankings hinder schools in preparing MBA students for future challenges

A new report by two Cambridge professors, in partnership with the UN Global Compact, claims that ranking methodologies shape the way business schools educate their students and that a focus on salary and salary progression fails to prepare for future challenges such as sustainability. Instead, rankings should reduce the importance of salary for achieving ranking positions and avoid penalizing schools whose graduates start work in non-profit organizations. Moreover, MBA rankings should include a program's course content, teaching quality, and business ethics.

• Read the full report on Business School Rankings for the 21st Century