Empowering business educators in developing countries

Ivey School of Business making extensive case collection available

LONDON, ON, July 19 /CNW/ - Business cases are one of the most powerful building blocks of management education. The Richard Ivey School of Business is taking a definitive step to make cases more accessible in the least developed countries around the world.

University faculty members in 39 countries with per capita GDP of less than $2,000 a year will now be able to use all cases from Ivey Publishing's catalogue of more than 7,000 cases at no charge.

This includes countries such as Zimbabwe, with an estimated GDP in 2009 of $200, Rwanda, with an estimated GDP of $1,000; and Cambodia, with an estimated GDP of $1,900. Please see the full list below.

Distributing to more than 100 countries, Ivey Publishing is the world's second largest producer and distributor of comprehensive, decision-oriented cases.

"Case teaching is a strong way of communicating management education to current business students and to the next generation of business leaders," said Paul Beamish, Director of Ivey Publishing and Professor at Ivey Business School.

"This is definitely a good initiative. Ivey is one of the leading business schools in the world. Exposure to Ivey cases will give students a good grounding in business, it will help improve the quality of management in companies and it is also good for the economy in those countries," said Elie Chrysostome, Associate Professor of Strategic Management and International Business at the State University of New York College at Plattsburgh. He is originally from Benin, one of the 39 countries whose universities are now able to access the case collection at no charge.

Faculty members in eligible countries are required to register with Ivey Publishing (cases.ivey.uwo.ca) to access the cases. The cases can only be used in-country and cannot be electronically distributed.

"Case-based teaching allows students to act as real business managers and to effectively apply theory to real situations," said Beamish, who is also the Director of Ivey's Asian Management Institute and Director of Ivey's Engaging Emerging Markets Research Centre.

Ivey Publishing is the largest producer of Asian case studies in the world. Ivey is the top producer of China-based cases, including hundreds available in Chinese. Through case-teaching workshops and case-writing workshops conducted in partnership with universities in developing regions, Ivey has contributed significantly in advancing case-based business education around the world. To keep Ivey Publishing's case collection current, Ivey adds 200 classroom-tested case studies each year.

The 39 countries eligible to participate: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Eritrea, Ethiopia, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Kenya, Liberia, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Niger, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The Richard Ivey School of Business, The University of Western Ontario

The Richard Ivey School of Business (www.ivey.ca) at The University of Western Ontario is one of the top business schools in the world and is the home of Canada's first MBA and business PhD programs. Ivey offers undergraduate and graduate (MBA, MSc, Executive MBA, and PhD) degree programs along with Executive Development programs. The School has campuses in London (Ontario), Toronto, and Hong Kong.

The University of Western Ontario

Founded in 1878, The University of Western Ontario (www.uwo.ca) is one of Canada's oldest universities. Western has about 30,000 undergraduate and graduate students and about 3,500 full-time faculty and staff members. Through its 12 Faculties, and three affiliated Colleges, the University offers more than 400 different majors, minors and specializations. Research is an integral part of the University's mission and external support for research projects exceeds $250 million per year.

For further information: Paul Beamish, Director of Ivey Publishing; Director, Engaging Emerging Markets Research Centre and Professor at Ivey Business School, 519-661-3237, [email protected]; Gregory Yantz, Senior Manager of Ivey Publishing, 519-661-4134, [email protected]; Mary Weil, Manager, Media & Public Relations, Richard Ivey School of Business, 416-203-0664, [email protected]