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Recently, there have been several efforts to develop ranking systems for universities. Increasing competititon and need for competitiveness as a result of globalization, knowledge based economy and growing interest of information related to higher education institutions due to increasing mobility of people all served for the remarkable popularity of ranking systems. Many researchers and organizations have put effort into developing a ranking framework by focusing on different criteria and following various methodologies. These ranking systems produce different ranks for the same institution due to methodological differences which stem from selection of indicators, weights, data collection and analysis. Thus, this study analyzes conceptual and methodological differences in university ranking systems and concentrates on the situation in Turkey. Literature review demonstrates that there is a larger than expected need for a national ranking system for Turkey so as to identify the position of a specific university compared to others. In strategic management context, it is especially important for policy makers to develop and deploy strategies associated with the higher education system. In this aspect, this study concentrates on developing a ranking system which provides information transparency for the strategic management of higher education institutions. Moreover, this study's focus is more specific and the case of ranking of management departments is examined so as to construct a foundation for a national field based ranking system. In this regard, a framework for ranking of management departments in Turkey is proposed. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.