Who do you want teaching you? Do you prefer a brainy researcher who can break concepts to their most minute points? Or, would you learn more from a grizzled veteran, whose war stories show how those concepts work in practice? Both approaches bring great value to the classroom. Question is, which schools strike the best balance? According to students, ESADE takes the crown, besting USC Marshall and Cornell Johnson in terms of their mix, Not surprisingly, Columbia Business School and NYU Stern rank among the ten best. Renowned research schools, both can also draw c-level adjuncts from a wealth of industries in the New York City ecosystem. Indeed, location matters here, with IMD being the only MBA program in this dimension that is not located near a major metropolitan area.