Learning Process

• Learn by Doing
• The Ivey Approach to Cases
• The Case Study Learning Process: Three Important Steps

Learn by Doing

The Ivey Executive MBA program is an integrated management development experience that you will share in its entirety with your classmates.

The program is structured to give you both the critical elements of business leadership and an ability to deal with the complex cross-enterprise challenges facing organizations at home and abroad.

Our approach is practical, provides you immediate value, and is suited to experienced managers or professionals. Throughout the program, we challenge you to solve real problems faced by real managers.

Our curriculum is more than a list of courses, each taken independently. Instead we integrate our modules so you experience a program in its true sense.
This becomes particularly evident as we explore the complex cross-enterprise issues that organizations face today: launching new initiatives, entering new markets, integrating merged organizations, and so on. We call this “Real World Leadership”

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The Ivey Approach to Cases

Why are Cases Used to Teach and Learn at Ivey?

Business cases are the most effective way to bring business reality into the classroom. Cases allow for a focus on broad-based business issues rather than simply studying theory or examining narrow functional issues. Since 1922, cases have been the foundation of teaching and learning at Ivey. Ivey professors regularly develop new cases ensuring that the EMBA curriculum in Toronto and Hong Kong remains relevant and our faculty retains strong ties with the corporate world.

Ivey is the largest producer of cases after Harvard Business School, and the world’s foremost producer of Asian case studies. Top-tier Canadian and International business schools use Ivey case studies to support discussions on theory – at Ivey, the case is central to the learning method.

The Case Study Class – A Dynamic Environment

Business cases are carefully selected by faculty to facilitate discussions and teach specific business concepts. A typical case-class begins with the professor asking; "What are the challenges here?", "What are you going to do about them?" and "Why?"

The case class unfolds as a facilitated debate exploring the merits of various points of view. Ivey professors will then generalize beyond the specifics of a particular Ivey case situation to other contexts, concluding with a discussion of the implications for your own organization.

The Power of the Case Study Method

Through the experience of analyzing hundreds of business cases, the speed and agility with which you'll tackle business challenges will accelerate.

You will take away the technical skills and knowledge all business leaders need, as well as a deep-seated understanding of the sequence of steps required to assess a business challenge, make strategic decisions, and develop implementation plans with the perspective of how they impact all areas of an organization and beyond. And you will remember the lessons. Case method learning sticks in memory better and longer than other learning methods.

In addition to cases, Ivey employs a variety of techniques and resources, including special guest presentations, simulations, and demonstrations to provide you with a full spectrum of learning opportunities.

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The Case Study Learning Process:
Three Important Steps

Step #1 Independent Study

You begin by working through a case yourself, analyzing the data and developing your own ideas so you can formulate your position, before meeting with your assigned team. Over time, you will become more efficient in sorting relevant from irrelevant information and more able to make great decisions.

Step #2 Learning Team

Your Learning Team is a small, hand picked group which allows each participant to benefit from the collective experience of colleagues from the class. . Together, you will discuss and debate each case in depth to deepen your appreciation for the issues and potential actions. As your assumptions are challenged, new ways of thinking about issues will be stimulated. In addition to analyzing cases, you will spend some time with your team comparing experiences, working on field projects, and honing your presentation skills.

Step #3 Class Discussion

Facilitated by the professor, class discussions always prove to be lively, wide ranging discussions that often produce surprising points of view and alternatives. It is in class that participants are encouraged to generalize concepts beyond the case and apply them to their own situations, which many participants feel is the real take home value of the program.

Each of our class modules is about four hours in length, which allows us to cover 1-2 cases per module. With over 130 class modules, you get repeated opportunities to test and strengthen your analytical and decision-making abilities and apply your tactical skills inside and outside the classroom with your peers and faculty. Over the course of the program, you’ll learn through first-hand experience what it’s like to be in the decision maker’s seat and you will benefit from the exposure to the wide breadth of high level, senior management people and situations.

That's why you'll learn far more at Ivey.

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