Design the Career You Want
Ivey’s elective courses allow you to pursue targeted skills and expertise in your areas of interest. You are free to create your own MBA specialization by choosing the courses that suit your desired career path. You may select up to 12 elective courses as you customize the program to your liking. Alternatively, you may choose one of our prearranged specializations. Either way you choose, your MBA from Ivey Business School will prepare you for career success.
Choose Your Elective Courses
Create the curriculum that best suits your career goals. Choose electives across a wide range of specializations to make your MBA your own.
Includes responsible governance, portfolio management, derivatives & risk management, and investment banking & capital markets
Ivey is proud to be a CFA Program Partner School. This designation indicates that Ivey's curriculums contain much of the Candidate Body of Knowledge (CBOK) from the CFA Program.
For further information about Finance at Ivey, visit the Ben Graham Institute for Value Investing.
Finance Courses Offered
You will learn hands-on how brands are managed, how brands cope with competitive and environmental threats and opportunities, and how brands are handled in the channel by both manufacturers and retailers.
*Courses subject to change.
The course is intended to teach you the fundamentals of the value investing approach to investment management as developed by Graham and Dodd. The substantive areas covered will be: the fundamental assumptions and approaches to value investing, techniques for assessing fundamental value based on traditional and value investing-based valuation, the design of strategies for searching efficiently for value investing opportunities, and the structuring of value-based portfolios to control for risk.
*Courses subject to change.
The course strikes a balance between conceptual analysis, skill development, and applications. To this end, the course material includes cases, textbook chapters, and articles written in practitioners’ journals—directed to executives and high level manager. Relevant and current articles from the public press are also discussed. The course also includes exercises/projects using real-time data, and guest speakers. Applications span the markets for commodities and energy products, foreign exchange, stocks, and fixed income instruments. Industries covered include airlines, automakers, oil and gas, telecommunications, computer hardware and software, biotechnology, hedge funds, university foundations, and investment and commercial banks.
*Courses subject to change.
The course takes the perspective of an institutional investor and deals with important issues such investors face including the development of investment policies, the implementation of investment strategies, and the management of risk.
*Courses subject to change.
This course focuses on the financial challenges facing mid-sized companies that are growing rapidly or have the potential for rapid growth. Some of the topics to be addressed include government assistance programs, joint ventures, bank financing, franchising, mezzanine financing, private placements, leveraged buyouts, merchant banking, venture capital and initial public offerings.
*Courses subject to change.
During your time in Costa Rica, Portugal and Silicon Valley you’ll visit local businesses, make connections with business leaders, join in 'cultural plunge' team activities, and learn how businesses operate successfully in these economic climates.
*Courses subject to change.
Students will learn how financial managers create shareholder value using both sides of the balance sheet, namely capital structure and financing choices, and their acquisition, sale, or restructuring of corporate assets. The emphasis will be on the institutional arrangements and processes, valuation and modeling techniques, and the fit with corporate strategy.
*Courses subject to change.
Data Management will give you a foundational understanding and skills to work with data. Through the use of hands-on examples, we will explore the design and implementation of the kinds of multi-user transactional databases that you are likely to routinely encounter in your future work. You will learn how to query relational databases using a powerful computer programming language called SQL, that allows you to combine relatively few operations to answer almost any data question imaginable. You will also get a practical introduction to popular data management and analytical tools such as Hadoop, MongoDB, Python, and Tableau. With the explosion in number and volume of data sources, and the increased focus on analytics and on “Big Data” in general, it is more important than ever that you develop the skills to understand, design, access and analyze data. These skills will be essential to your future as a decision maker.
*Courses subject to change.
This course will be taught from three different yet interrelated perspectives - Accounting, Finance and Strategy.
- The Accounting sessions (Module 1) will focus on corporate accountability and the role of disclosure, reporting and performance metrics in achieving corporate governance. This enables a discussion of the regulatory and best practice frameworks that enable corporate actors to govern responsibly. The module also addresses investor demands for the integration of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) metrics in executive compensation. Students are encouraged to be critical of the efficacy, measurement and completeness of metrics used in directing executives’ attention to financial, environmental and social goals.
- The Finance sessions (Module 2) will focus on the role of governance rules and practices in how decisions are made to balance the interests of a company’s many stakeholders. The module will start by examining the relationship between governance and strategic risk taking (or avoiding). Since governance is designed to manage the Agency Problem, we will consider the role of control and how management does (should?) make important financial, strategic and social decisions.
- The Strategy sessions (Module 3) will focus on deepening our understanding of the phrase “in the best interests of the corporation” from the Canadian Business Corporations Act. We will examine this from the perspective of senior leaders such as CEOs, business unit leaders, former CEOs and founders. In addition, we will discuss court decisions that have impacted our understanding of the above phrase and the role of activist investors and boards in decisions that impact whether an organization survives or prospers. Finally, we assess corporate governance from a stakeholder perspective, e.g., debtholders.
*Courses subject to change.
Corporate strategy deals with issues critical to the success of the multi-business firm. How such firms create corporate advantage across several businesses operating in many different industries (as opposed to competitive advantage within one industry). This course develops an understanding of the strategic logic for, and internal management practices of, the multi-business enterprise, as well as the skills required to manage and lead this type of firm. The course is different from, and adds to the knowledge gained in, the Developing and Executing Strategies course.
*Courses subject to change.
The course is organized around six sets of activities critical to managerial success, each involving face-to-face interaction and a high degree of interpersonal skill: Selecting Employees; Coaching for Exceptional Performance; Resolving Conflict; Getting Commitment to Goals and Standards; Conducting Performance Reviews; and Managing Problem Employees.
*Courses subject to change.
The course is composed of three parts. The first part of the course covers the broad perspective of purchasing and supply management. The second part of the course addresses logistics activities in the supply chain, including transportation, distribution, planning and forecasting and customer service strategies. The balance of the course focuses on supply chain strategy and deals with opportunities to develop and implement initiatives to create competitive advantage. Every effort is made to make the methodology as interesting and exciting as possible. This course uses a variety of approaches, including a classroom simulation exercise.
*Courses subject to change.
This course extends the Designing and Executing Strategies Module by focusing on competitive interaction. Building on the economic foundations of competitive interaction, the first part of the course analyzes several aspects of game theory thinking and how this thinking can be incorporated into the strategy building process. The behavioral aspects of competition will complement the economic view. The course includes a series of cases on specific firm-level interactions are aimed at building skills in the development of competitive conjectures.
*Courses subject to change.
A basic premise of this course is that while a manager needs analytical skills to develop optimal solutions to problems, a broad array of negotiation skills is needed to get these solutions accepted and implemented. The course will allow you to develop these skills experientially (through participation in negotiation role-play exercises) and to understand negotiation in useful analytical frameworks.
*Courses subject to change.
This elective will shed light on the reality and plausibility of putting the financial sector at the service of society. Finance is arguably one of the most important sectors today. It is an industry which, not only due to its complexity but also due to its damaged reputation in the recent crisis, can potentially provide real solutions to pressing social concerns despite its seeming to be a most unlikely candidate. The course is designed so as to follow the money through the investment chain. We will explore how the flow of capital travels from the savers to the corporations in which the money is ultimately invested. Throughout, we will reflect on the potential flaws in the system and how to address them.
*Courses subject to change.
This course includes analytics with applications drawn from finance, such as trading strategy, portfolio optimization, European/American Option pricing. The following analytical techniques are covered: simulation, optimization, various distributions (e.g. discrete, triangular, uniform, normal, lognormal), Binomial tree, use of Excel add-ins @Risk and Evolver, and VBA programming.
*Courses subject to change.
Includes new venture creation, entrepreneurial finance, managing high growth companies, and managing people for exceptional performance.
With the support of the Western Morrissette Institute for Entrepreneurship, Powered by Ivey, MBA students have the opportunity to receive a Certificate in Entrepreneurship. Requirements include completion of a set of career-focused elective courses and real-world experiences like the Ivey New Venture Project that will best position you to begin your entrepreneurial journey.
Ivey also offers The Ivey MBA Entrepreneurship Fellowship, a scholarship for professionals with achievements and an interest in entrepreneurship and start-ups. Prospective candidates are dedicated in pursuing a career in entrepreneurship and will have access to an array of resources and coaching.
Entrepreneurship Courses Offered
The New Venture is an entrepreneurial, team-based Ivey Field Project (IFP) that takes students through the process of:
- developing and refining an idea for a new venture
- researching and analyzing the opportunity
- building a detailed and compelling Business Model and Plan
- creating and presenting an "Investor Pitch" to an external review panel or potential investors.
New Venture Project (and Entrepreneurship Certificate) Students have the opportunity to apply their business knowledge to identify and develop a commercial enterprise with teams of skilled individuals. Their concept is then strenuously tested and refined through participation in entrepreneurial skill-building classes (such as the case-based New Venture Creation course), high-profile business plan competitions, and coaching sessions with Ivey faculty and established Entrepreneurs-in-Residence. New Venture Project culminates with the submission of a written plan and a live 'investor pitch' to an external venture review panel. Over the years, New Venture Project has led to the formation of several new businesses.
MBA teams taking the New Venture stream can also apply to the Western Accelerator at the end of the course, and continue working on launching their venture during their final semester for course credit.
For more information, please contact Morrissette Entrepreneurship.
Find out more information on this program and how to apply by contacting the Ivey New Venture Project Facilitator.
*Courses subject to change.
The purpose of this course is to explore the many dimensions of new venture creation and growth and to foster innovation and new business formations in independent and corporate settings. Initially you will focus on opportunity recognition, followed by exploring a wide range of issues that often face entrepreneurs in the processes of new venture creation and growth.
*Courses subject to change.
This course focuses on the financial challenges facing mid-sized companies that are growing rapidly or have the potential for rapid growth. Some of the topics to be addressed include government assistance programs, joint ventures, bank financing, franchising, mezzanine financing, private placements, leveraged buyouts, merchant banking, venture capital and initial public offerings.
*Courses subject to change.
The purpose of this course is to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are needed to create and manage a high growth company. In essence, the course addresses the holistic and systemic nature of firm growth and what it takes to create and sustainably manage a high-growth company. The students will also develop a real-world perspective on the management and challenges of high growth by studying a current high-growth firm.
*Courses subject to change.
The foundation of the course is the three circle model of family business, which identifies roles of ownership, management and family. These three circles overlap by varying degrees (depending on business stage) in family-controlled business. The cases and lectures will focus on the areas of overlap and what is the best approach to good governance within and between each of the three circles. The course takes specific care to identify both the strengths of this business structure and the weaknesses. Upon completion of the course, students should be better equipped to deal positively within their own family business or in their business careers dealing with family-controlled enterprise. This course offers insights that are most helpful to three types of audiences: One; students that come from Business Families and who expect to play a key role in their family enterprises. Two; students that expect a career in investment banking, financial services or consulting, where there will be a high degree of interaction with Business Families. Third; entrepreneurs who recognize that over the next decade a substantial number of family owned companies will change generational ownership, and many of these will be acquisition and merger candidates.
*Courses subject to change.
This course explores the implications of economic inequality and diversity for business. How are “opportunities”, both within organizations and in society more generally, created and constrained by social stratification? Does inequality and diversity affect innovation and productivity? These issues are explored in cross-national perspective, with particular emphasis on liberal democracies.
*Courses subject to change.
This course will introduce you to Canadian business law and give you an understanding of general legal principles as they apply to business.
*Courses subject to change.
The course is composed of three parts: purchasing and supply management; logistics activities in the supply chain; and supply chain strategy.
*Courses subject to change.
Most Ivey graduates pursue careers in companies whose primary customers are businesses rather than consumers. This requires a keen understanding of business buying behaviour, which is quite different than consumer behaviour. In addition, many of these companies employ as sales force as their chief means of competing for market share and growing the business. This is the elective at Ivey that is designed specifically for this segment. This is a case-based course, focused on growth marketing strategies and best practice tactics to create and capture value, with a high return on the investment in marketing and sales costs.
*Courses subject to change.
The 4 P’s of the course are: Persuasion, Presentation, Practice, Performance, with special emphasis on “hands on” personal experiencing.
*Courses subject to change.
The course is organized around six sets of activities critical to managerial success, each involving face-to-face interaction and a high degree of interpersonal skill: Selecting Employees; Coaching for Exceptional Performance; Resolving Conflict; Getting Commitment to Goals and Standards; Conducting Performance Reviews; and Managing Problem Employees.
*Courses subject to change.
A basic premise of this course is that while a manager needs analytical skills to develop optimal solutions to problems, a broad array of negotiation skills is needed to get these solutions accepted and implemented. The course will allow you to develop these skills experientially (through participation in negotiation role-play exercises) and to understand negotiation in useful analytical frameworks.
*Courses subject to change.
This course is focused at the level of a senior executive with responsibilities in one or more of operations, finance, marketing, human resources, supply chain, or distribution. It critically addresses high-level issues such as implementing strategy, operations infrastructure, operational design, and operating in a crisis. This course will rely primarily on cases to illustrate the necessary topics across many industries, including health care, insurance, financial services, technology, and consumer discretionary, retail, and others.
*Courses subject to change.
Management of services is a general management course that integrates material from several disciplines, especially operations, marketing, human resources and strategy. The course takes both a strategic as well as an operational perspective and seeks to improve your understanding of organizations that produce services instead of (and in addition to) goods.
*Courses subject to change.
The course provides a learning journey that takes a deep dive into your own character strengths as a platform for multi-level leadership: self, others, organization, and society.
*Courses subject to change.
This course is for MBA students interested in innovation processes, innovation management, and building competitive advantage through innovation. While it will be of interest to students interested in Entrepreneurship, this course’s focus is balanced between established firms and new ventures.
*Courses subject to change.
We pose the central question: Has information and communication technology (ICT) produced a better society? If so, for whom? What are the managerial challenges associated with this phenomenon? How do you lead with technology without causing or exacerbating bias, inequality, increasing privacy and security risks etc. The course will be broken into parts so that we can:
- Analyze management opportunities and challenges via frameworks for critically engaging with claims of social change wrought by technological change;
- Explore challenges for management in contemporary topics embedding a systems thinking perspective – i.e. management and cybersecurity (media/social media/fake news/cyberwarfare); management and systems design/agency/liability (algorithmic bias, autonomous vehicle liability, predictive policing/credit scoring) and management and governance including privacy/transparency);
- Evaluate the future of work via automation/infomating; microwork/gig economy; collaboration and coordination in knowledge work; knowledge work and artificial intelligence and the future of professions.
*Courses subject to change.
Ivey is proud to be a CFA Program Partner School. This designation indicates that Ivey's curriculums contain much of the Candidate Body of Knowledge (CBOK) from the CFA Program.
For further information about Finance at Ivey, visit the Ben Graham Institute for Value Investing.
Finance Courses Offered
You will learn hands-on how brands are managed, how brands cope with competitive and environmental threats and opportunities, and how brands are handled in the channel by both manufacturers and retailers.
*Courses subject to change.
The course is intended to teach you the fundamentals of the value investing approach to investment management as developed by Graham and Dodd. The substantive areas covered will be: the fundamental assumptions and approaches to value investing, techniques for assessing fundamental value based on traditional and value investing-based valuation, the design of strategies for searching efficiently for value investing opportunities, and the structuring of value-based portfolios to control for risk.
*Courses subject to change.
The course strikes a balance between conceptual analysis, skill development, and applications. To this end, the course material includes cases, textbook chapters, and articles written in practitioners’ journals—directed to executives and high level manager. Relevant and current articles from the public press are also discussed. The course also includes exercises/projects using real-time data, and guest speakers. Applications span the markets for commodities and energy products, foreign exchange, stocks, and fixed income instruments. Industries covered include airlines, automakers, oil and gas, telecommunications, computer hardware and software, biotechnology, hedge funds, university foundations, and investment and commercial banks.
*Courses subject to change.
The course takes the perspective of an institutional investor and deals with important issues such investors face including the development of investment policies, the implementation of investment strategies, and the management of risk.
*Courses subject to change.
This course focuses on the financial challenges facing mid-sized companies that are growing rapidly or have the potential for rapid growth. Some of the topics to be addressed include government assistance programs, joint ventures, bank financing, franchising, mezzanine financing, private placements, leveraged buyouts, merchant banking, venture capital and initial public offerings.
*Courses subject to change.
During your time in Costa Rica, Portugal and Silicon Valley you’ll visit local businesses, make connections with business leaders, join in 'cultural plunge' team activities, and learn how businesses operate successfully in these economic climates.
*Courses subject to change.
Students will learn how financial managers create shareholder value using both sides of the balance sheet, namely capital structure and financing choices, and their acquisition, sale, or restructuring of corporate assets. The emphasis will be on the institutional arrangements and processes, valuation and modeling techniques, and the fit with corporate strategy.
*Courses subject to change.
Data Management will give you a foundational understanding and skills to work with data. Through the use of hands-on examples, we will explore the design and implementation of the kinds of multi-user transactional databases that you are likely to routinely encounter in your future work. You will learn how to query relational databases using a powerful computer programming language called SQL, that allows you to combine relatively few operations to answer almost any data question imaginable. You will also get a practical introduction to popular data management and analytical tools such as Hadoop, MongoDB, Python, and Tableau. With the explosion in number and volume of data sources, and the increased focus on analytics and on “Big Data” in general, it is more important than ever that you develop the skills to understand, design, access and analyze data. These skills will be essential to your future as a decision maker.
*Courses subject to change.
This course will be taught from three different yet interrelated perspectives - Accounting, Finance and Strategy.
- The Accounting sessions (Module 1) will focus on corporate accountability and the role of disclosure, reporting and performance metrics in achieving corporate governance. This enables a discussion of the regulatory and best practice frameworks that enable corporate actors to govern responsibly. The module also addresses investor demands for the integration of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) metrics in executive compensation. Students are encouraged to be critical of the efficacy, measurement and completeness of metrics used in directing executives’ attention to financial, environmental and social goals.
- The Finance sessions (Module 2) will focus on the role of governance rules and practices in how decisions are made to balance the interests of a company’s many stakeholders. The module will start by examining the relationship between governance and strategic risk taking (or avoiding). Since governance is designed to manage the Agency Problem, we will consider the role of control and how management does (should?) make important financial, strategic and social decisions.
- The Strategy sessions (Module 3) will focus on deepening our understanding of the phrase “in the best interests of the corporation” from the Canadian Business Corporations Act. We will examine this from the perspective of senior leaders such as CEOs, business unit leaders, former CEOs and founders. In addition, we will discuss court decisions that have impacted our understanding of the above phrase and the role of activist investors and boards in decisions that impact whether an organization survives or prospers. Finally, we assess corporate governance from a stakeholder perspective, e.g., debtholders.
*Courses subject to change.
Corporate strategy deals with issues critical to the success of the multi-business firm. How such firms create corporate advantage across several businesses operating in many different industries (as opposed to competitive advantage within one industry). This course develops an understanding of the strategic logic for, and internal management practices of, the multi-business enterprise, as well as the skills required to manage and lead this type of firm. The course is different from, and adds to the knowledge gained in, the Developing and Executing Strategies course.
*Courses subject to change.
The course is organized around six sets of activities critical to managerial success, each involving face-to-face interaction and a high degree of interpersonal skill: Selecting Employees; Coaching for Exceptional Performance; Resolving Conflict; Getting Commitment to Goals and Standards; Conducting Performance Reviews; and Managing Problem Employees.
*Courses subject to change.
The course is composed of three parts. The first part of the course covers the broad perspective of purchasing and supply management. The second part of the course addresses logistics activities in the supply chain, including transportation, distribution, planning and forecasting and customer service strategies. The balance of the course focuses on supply chain strategy and deals with opportunities to develop and implement initiatives to create competitive advantage. Every effort is made to make the methodology as interesting and exciting as possible. This course uses a variety of approaches, including a classroom simulation exercise.
*Courses subject to change.
This course extends the Designing and Executing Strategies Module by focusing on competitive interaction. Building on the economic foundations of competitive interaction, the first part of the course analyzes several aspects of game theory thinking and how this thinking can be incorporated into the strategy building process. The behavioral aspects of competition will complement the economic view. The course includes a series of cases on specific firm-level interactions are aimed at building skills in the development of competitive conjectures.
*Courses subject to change.
A basic premise of this course is that while a manager needs analytical skills to develop optimal solutions to problems, a broad array of negotiation skills is needed to get these solutions accepted and implemented. The course will allow you to develop these skills experientially (through participation in negotiation role-play exercises) and to understand negotiation in useful analytical frameworks.
*Courses subject to change.
This elective will shed light on the reality and plausibility of putting the financial sector at the service of society. Finance is arguably one of the most important sectors today. It is an industry which, not only due to its complexity but also due to its damaged reputation in the recent crisis, can potentially provide real solutions to pressing social concerns despite its seeming to be a most unlikely candidate. The course is designed so as to follow the money through the investment chain. We will explore how the flow of capital travels from the savers to the corporations in which the money is ultimately invested. Throughout, we will reflect on the potential flaws in the system and how to address them.
*Courses subject to change.
This course includes analytics with applications drawn from finance, such as trading strategy, portfolio optimization, European/American Option pricing. The following analytical techniques are covered: simulation, optimization, various distributions (e.g. discrete, triangular, uniform, normal, lognormal), Binomial tree, use of Excel add-ins @Risk and Evolver, and VBA programming.
*Courses subject to change.
With the support of the Western Morrissette Institute for Entrepreneurship, Powered by Ivey, MBA students have the opportunity to receive a Certificate in Entrepreneurship. Requirements include completion of a set of career-focused elective courses and real-world experiences like the Ivey New Venture Project that will best position you to begin your entrepreneurial journey.
Ivey also offers The Ivey MBA Entrepreneurship Fellowship, a scholarship for professionals with achievements and an interest in entrepreneurship and start-ups. Prospective candidates are dedicated in pursuing a career in entrepreneurship and will have access to an array of resources and coaching.
Entrepreneurship Courses Offered
The New Venture is an entrepreneurial, team-based Ivey Field Project (IFP) that takes students through the process of:
- developing and refining an idea for a new venture
- researching and analyzing the opportunity
- building a detailed and compelling Business Model and Plan
- creating and presenting an "Investor Pitch" to an external review panel or potential investors.
New Venture Project (and Entrepreneurship Certificate) Students have the opportunity to apply their business knowledge to identify and develop a commercial enterprise with teams of skilled individuals. Their concept is then strenuously tested and refined through participation in entrepreneurial skill-building classes (such as the case-based New Venture Creation course), high-profile business plan competitions, and coaching sessions with Ivey faculty and established Entrepreneurs-in-Residence. New Venture Project culminates with the submission of a written plan and a live 'investor pitch' to an external venture review panel. Over the years, New Venture Project has led to the formation of several new businesses.
MBA teams taking the New Venture stream can also apply to the Western Accelerator at the end of the course, and continue working on launching their venture during their final semester for course credit.
For more information, please contact Morrissette Entrepreneurship.
Find out more information on this program and how to apply by contacting the Ivey New Venture Project Facilitator.
*Courses subject to change.
The purpose of this course is to explore the many dimensions of new venture creation and growth and to foster innovation and new business formations in independent and corporate settings. Initially you will focus on opportunity recognition, followed by exploring a wide range of issues that often face entrepreneurs in the processes of new venture creation and growth.
*Courses subject to change.
This course focuses on the financial challenges facing mid-sized companies that are growing rapidly or have the potential for rapid growth. Some of the topics to be addressed include government assistance programs, joint ventures, bank financing, franchising, mezzanine financing, private placements, leveraged buyouts, merchant banking, venture capital and initial public offerings.
*Courses subject to change.
The purpose of this course is to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are needed to create and manage a high growth company. In essence, the course addresses the holistic and systemic nature of firm growth and what it takes to create and sustainably manage a high-growth company. The students will also develop a real-world perspective on the management and challenges of high growth by studying a current high-growth firm.
*Courses subject to change.
The foundation of the course is the three circle model of family business, which identifies roles of ownership, management and family. These three circles overlap by varying degrees (depending on business stage) in family-controlled business. The cases and lectures will focus on the areas of overlap and what is the best approach to good governance within and between each of the three circles. The course takes specific care to identify both the strengths of this business structure and the weaknesses. Upon completion of the course, students should be better equipped to deal positively within their own family business or in their business careers dealing with family-controlled enterprise. This course offers insights that are most helpful to three types of audiences: One; students that come from Business Families and who expect to play a key role in their family enterprises. Two; students that expect a career in investment banking, financial services or consulting, where there will be a high degree of interaction with Business Families. Third; entrepreneurs who recognize that over the next decade a substantial number of family owned companies will change generational ownership, and many of these will be acquisition and merger candidates.
*Courses subject to change.
This course explores the implications of economic inequality and diversity for business. How are “opportunities”, both within organizations and in society more generally, created and constrained by social stratification? Does inequality and diversity affect innovation and productivity? These issues are explored in cross-national perspective, with particular emphasis on liberal democracies.
*Courses subject to change.
This course will introduce you to Canadian business law and give you an understanding of general legal principles as they apply to business.
*Courses subject to change.
The course is composed of three parts: purchasing and supply management; logistics activities in the supply chain; and supply chain strategy.
*Courses subject to change.
Most Ivey graduates pursue careers in companies whose primary customers are businesses rather than consumers. This requires a keen understanding of business buying behaviour, which is quite different than consumer behaviour. In addition, many of these companies employ as sales force as their chief means of competing for market share and growing the business. This is the elective at Ivey that is designed specifically for this segment. This is a case-based course, focused on growth marketing strategies and best practice tactics to create and capture value, with a high return on the investment in marketing and sales costs.
*Courses subject to change.
The 4 P’s of the course are: Persuasion, Presentation, Practice, Performance, with special emphasis on “hands on” personal experiencing.
*Courses subject to change.
The course is organized around six sets of activities critical to managerial success, each involving face-to-face interaction and a high degree of interpersonal skill: Selecting Employees; Coaching for Exceptional Performance; Resolving Conflict; Getting Commitment to Goals and Standards; Conducting Performance Reviews; and Managing Problem Employees.
*Courses subject to change.
A basic premise of this course is that while a manager needs analytical skills to develop optimal solutions to problems, a broad array of negotiation skills is needed to get these solutions accepted and implemented. The course will allow you to develop these skills experientially (through participation in negotiation role-play exercises) and to understand negotiation in useful analytical frameworks.
*Courses subject to change.
This course is focused at the level of a senior executive with responsibilities in one or more of operations, finance, marketing, human resources, supply chain, or distribution. It critically addresses high-level issues such as implementing strategy, operations infrastructure, operational design, and operating in a crisis. This course will rely primarily on cases to illustrate the necessary topics across many industries, including health care, insurance, financial services, technology, and consumer discretionary, retail, and others.
*Courses subject to change.
Management of services is a general management course that integrates material from several disciplines, especially operations, marketing, human resources and strategy. The course takes both a strategic as well as an operational perspective and seeks to improve your understanding of organizations that produce services instead of (and in addition to) goods.
*Courses subject to change.
The course provides a learning journey that takes a deep dive into your own character strengths as a platform for multi-level leadership: self, others, organization, and society.
*Courses subject to change.
This course is for MBA students interested in innovation processes, innovation management, and building competitive advantage through innovation. While it will be of interest to students interested in Entrepreneurship, this course’s focus is balanced between established firms and new ventures.
*Courses subject to change.
We pose the central question: Has information and communication technology (ICT) produced a better society? If so, for whom? What are the managerial challenges associated with this phenomenon? How do you lead with technology without causing or exacerbating bias, inequality, increasing privacy and security risks etc. The course will be broken into parts so that we can:
- Analyze management opportunities and challenges via frameworks for critically engaging with claims of social change wrought by technological change;
- Explore challenges for management in contemporary topics embedding a systems thinking perspective – i.e. management and cybersecurity (media/social media/fake news/cyberwarfare); management and systems design/agency/liability (algorithmic bias, autonomous vehicle liability, predictive policing/credit scoring) and management and governance including privacy/transparency);
- Evaluate the future of work via automation/infomating; microwork/gig economy; collaboration and coordination in knowledge work; knowledge work and artificial intelligence and the future of professions.
*Courses subject to change.
Includes consumer marketing, strategic brand management, marketing strategy, and social media analytics & digital marketing
To prepare for a career in Marketing, Ivey ensures that you learn the basic Marketing fundamentals from courses in the core curriculum, including the responsibilities of profit/loss, human capital, sales, and negotiation.
Along with integrated, action-oriented learning such as the SABRE Marketing Simulation, you will have the confidence and real-world experience necessary to manage some of the world's leading brands.
Marketing Courses Offered
In this course brands are viewed as assets that need to be developed, nurtured, and used to generate a return for the firm. You will learn hands-on how brands are managed, how brands cope with competitive and environmental threats and opportunities, and how brands are handled in the channel by both manufacturers and retailers.
*Courses subject to change.
Students looking to gain a deeper understanding of the linkages between marketing and corporate strategy, either because you are aiming for a career in marketing or because you believe, as I do, that a deep understanding of marketing is essential to business success.
We will tackle a variety of questions including:
- How do you build competitive advantage in the marketplace?
- Which markets and consumers do you serve?
- Who are your competitors? How do you understand your role/position in the market and ecosystem?
The course consists of a rich mix of topical case discussions, conceptual lecture-discussions, and guest speakers who share their real-world experience. The overarching objective of the pedagogy of this course is to bring the real-world into the classroom and develop mental models for understanding and solving big problems.
*Courses subject to change.
You will learn hands-on how brands are managed, how brands cope with competitive and environmental threats and opportunities, and how brands are handled in the channel by both manufacturers and retailers.
*Courses subject to change.
During your time in Costa Rica, Portugal and Silicon Valley you’ll visit local businesses, make connections with business leaders, join in 'cultural plunge' team activities, and learn how businesses operate successfully in these economic climates.
*Courses subject to change.
Most Ivey graduates pursue careers in companies whose primary customers are businesses rather than consumers. This requires a keen understanding of business buying behaviour, which is quite different than consumer behaviour. In addition, many of these companies employ as sales force as their chief means of competing for market share and growing the business. This is the elective at Ivey that is designed specifically for this segment. This is a case-based course, focused on growth marketing strategies and best practice tactics to create and capture value, with a high return on the investment in marketing and sales costs.
*Courses subject to change.
While students will learn about the economics of strategy, incentives and information, this course is NOT a rehash of “Econ 101” (or of PKP). Rather than over-emphasizing theory, the course stresses “thinking economically”. It uses the tools of microeconomics to understand the business environment and to facilitate better managerial decision-making. Understanding markets helps managers think systematically about strategy and resource allocation. A series of cases and simulations guide students through real business situations, while forcing them to think methodically about their competitors, customers and the public policy environment in which they operate. Emphasis is on real-world business topics. Current articles from the business press motivate many sessions. Students will use economic concepts and data analysis to develop frameworks and tools that will help them be better decision-makers.
Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:
- Explain a wide-array of business phenomena using economic thinking.
- Identify the fundamental elements of competitive strategy and pricing decisions.
- Analyze and critique news stories describing public policy and business decisions.
- Apply economic concepts to investment decisions.
*Courses subject to change.
This course explores the implications of economic inequality and diversity for business. How are “opportunities”, both within organizations and in society more generally, created and constrained by social stratification? Does inequality and diversity affect innovation and productivity? These issues are explored in cross-national perspective, with particular emphasis on liberal democracies.
*Courses subject to change.
The third decade of the twenty-first century is an era of AI-powered digital marketing and social media influencers. The advances in digital technology and access to abundant digital data have given rise to important questions on their effective and responsible usage. Business leaders need to leverage AI and digital data responsibly to gain competitive advantage. Hence, they need to keep themselves abreast of the latest trends in the field. This course will help you understand network structure, online buyer behavior and digital advertising strategy. You will also learn to build and track performance of a digital marketing plan. The goal is for students to learn frameworks and methods that will allow them to develop valuable and actionable marketing insights from various digital sources.
*Courses subject to change.
The purpose of this course is to explore the many dimensions of new venture creation and growth and to foster innovation and new business formations in independent and corporate settings. Initially you will focus on opportunity recognition, followed by exploring a wide range of issues that often face entrepreneurs in the processes of new venture creation and growth.
*Courses subject to change.
You will learn hands-on how brands are managed, how brands cope with competitive and environmental threats and opportunities, and how brands are handled in the channel by both manufacturers and retailers.
*Courses subject to change.
The course is composed of three parts: purchasing and supply management; logistics activities in the supply chain; and supply chain strategy.
*Courses subject to change.
A basic premise of this course is that while a manager needs analytical skills to develop optimal solutions to problems, a broad array of negotiation skills is needed to get these solutions accepted and implemented. The course will allow you to develop these skills experientially (through participation in negotiation role-play exercises) and to understand negotiation in useful analytical frameworks.
*Courses subject to change.
The course is organized around six sets of activities critical to managerial success, each involving face-to-face interaction and a high degree of interpersonal skill: Selecting Employees; Coaching for Exceptional Performance; Resolving Conflict; Getting Commitment to Goals and Standards; Conducting Performance Reviews; and Managing Problem Employees.
*Courses subject to change.
The course is composed of three parts. The first part of the course covers the broad perspective of purchasing and supply management. The second part of the course addresses logistics activities in the supply chain, including transportation, distribution, planning and forecasting and customer service strategies. The balance of the course focuses on supply chain strategy and deals with opportunities to develop and implement initiatives to create competitive advantage. Every effort is made to make the methodology as interesting and exciting as possible. This course uses a variety of approaches, including a classroom simulation exercise.
*Courses subject to change.
This course extends the Designing and Executing Strategies Module by focusing on competitive interaction. Building on the economic foundations of competitive interaction, the first part of the course analyzes several aspects of game theory thinking and how this thinking can be incorporated into the strategy building process. The behavioral aspects of competition will complement the economic view. The course includes a series of cases on specific firm-level interactions are aimed at building skills in the development of competitive conjectures.
*Courses subject to change.
We pose the central question: Has information and communication technology (ICT) produced a better society? If so, for whom? What are the managerial challenges associated with this phenomenon? How do you lead with technology without causing or exacerbating bias, inequality, increasing privacy and security risks etc.
The course will be broken into parts so that we can:
- Analyze management opportunities and challenges via frameworks for critically engaging with claims of social change wrought by technological change;
- Explore challenges for management in contemporary topics embedding a systems thinking perspective – i.e. management and cybersecurity (media/social media/fake news/cyberwarfare); management and systems design/agency/liability (algorithmic bias, autonomous vehicle liability, predictive policing/credit scoring) and management and governance including privacy/transparency);
- Evaluate the future of work via automation/infomating; microwork/gig economy; collaboration and coordination in knowledge work; knowledge work and artificial intelligence and the future of professions.
*Courses subject to change.
Includes sustainable finance, global supply chain management, responsible governance, and managing risks in organizations.
Using the Ivey Case-Method, every day in the classroom mimics the real-life role of a consultant. From dissecting and analyzing a problem from all angles to making recommendations, getting buy-in on decisions, presenting solutions, and implementing - you will spend 365 days using this consulting framework.
Corporate Strategy and Leadership Courses Offered
This elective will shed light on the reality and plausibility of putting the financial sector at the service of society. Finance is arguably one of the most important sectors today. It is an industry which, not only due to its complexity but also due to its damaged reputation in the recent crisis, can potentially provide real solutions to pressing social concerns despite its seeming to be a most unlikely candidate. The course is designed so as to follow the money through the investment chain. We will explore how the flow of capital travels from the savers to the corporations in which the money is ultimately invested. Throughout, we will reflect on the potential flaws in the system and how to address them.
*Courses subject to change.
You will learn hands-on how brands are managed, how brands cope with competitive and environmental threats and opportunities, and how brands are handled in the channel by both manufacturers and retailers.
*Courses subject to change.
The course is composed of three parts: purchasing and supply management; logistics activities in the supply chain; and supply chain strategy.
*Courses subject to change.
Corporate strategy deals with issues critical to the success of the multi-business firm. How such firms create corporate advantage across several businesses operating in many different industries (as opposed to competitive advantage within one industry). This course develops an understanding of the strategic logic for, and internal management practices of, the multi-business enterprise, as well as the skills required to manage and lead this type of firm. The course is different from, and adds to the knowledge gained in, the Developing and Executing Strategies course.
*Courses subject to change.
During your time in Costa Rica, Portugal and Silicon Valley you’ll visit local businesses, make connections with business leaders, join in 'cultural plunge' team activities, and learn how businesses operate successfully in these economic climates.
*Courses subject to change.
The course is organized around six sets of activities critical to managerial success, each involving face-to-face interaction and a high degree of interpersonal skill: Selecting Employees; Coaching for Exceptional Performance; Resolving Conflict; Getting Commitment to Goals and Standards; Conducting Performance Reviews; and Managing Problem Employees.
*Courses subject to change.
The course is composed of three parts. The first part of the course covers the broad perspective of purchasing and supply management. The second part of the course addresses logistics activities in the supply chain, including transportation, distribution, planning and forecasting and customer service strategies. The balance of the course focuses on supply chain strategy and deals with opportunities to develop and implement initiatives to create competitive advantage. Every effort is made to make the methodology as interesting and exciting as possible. This course uses a variety of approaches, including a classroom simulation exercise.
*Courses subject to change.
This course extends the Designing and Executing Strategies Module by focusing on competitive interaction. Building on the economic foundations of competitive interaction, the first part of the course analyzes several aspects of game theory thinking and how this thinking can be incorporated into the strategy building process. The behavioral aspects of competition will complement the economic view. The course includes a series of cases on specific firm-level interactions are aimed at building skills in the development of competitive conjectures.
*Courses subject to change.
This course will be taught from three different yet interrelated perspectives - Accounting, Finance and Strategy.
- The Accounting sessions (Module 1) will focus on corporate accountability and the role of disclosure, reporting and performance metrics in achieving corporate governance. This enables a discussion of the regulatory and best practice frameworks that enable corporate actors to govern responsibly. The module also addresses investor demands for the integration of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) metrics in executive compensation. Students are encouraged to be critical of the efficacy, measurement and completeness of metrics used in directing executives’ attention to financial, environmental and social goals.
- The Finance sessions (Module 2) will focus on the role of governance rules and practices in how decisions are made to balance the interests of a company’s many stakeholders. The module will start by examining the relationship between governance and strategic risk taking (or avoiding). Since governance is designed to manage the Agency Problem, we will consider the role of control and how management does (should?) make important financial, strategic and social decisions.
- The Strategy sessions (Module 3) will focus on deepening our understanding of the phrase “in the best interests of the corporation” from the Canadian Business Corporations Act. We will examine this from the perspective of senior leaders such as CEOs, business unit leaders, former CEOs and founders. In addition, we will discuss court decisions that have impacted our understanding of the above phrase and the role of activist investors and boards in decisions that impact whether an organization survives or prospers. Finally, we assess corporate governance from a stakeholder perspective, e.g., debtholders.
*Courses subject to change.
The "Leadership Under Fire" course is designed to bring the insights of good leadership developed over generations of military service to the students at the Ivey Business School. The course aims to increase awareness of "leadership of self" with a specific focus on leadership character and commitment to the role of leadership. This is a challenging course that aims to stretch students – mentally, physically, and emotionally. Mental adversity and persistence are key features of the four days that we'll spend in the "the field." The course features Ivey instructors, current and former members of the Canadian Forces, and business executives.
*Courses subject to change.
While students will learn about the economics of strategy, incentives and information, this course is NOT a rehash of “Econ 101” (or of PKP). Rather than over-emphasizing theory, the course stresses “thinking economically”. It uses the tools of microeconomics to understand the business environment and to facilitate better managerial decision-making. Understanding markets helps managers think systematically about strategy and resource allocation. A series of cases and simulations guide students through real business situations, while forcing them to think methodically about their competitors, customers and the public policy environment in which they operate. Emphasis is on real-world business topics. Current articles from the business press motivate many sessions. Students will use economic concepts and data analysis to develop frameworks and tools that will help them be better decision-makers.
Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:
- Explain a wide-array of business phenomena using economic thinking.
- Identify the fundamental elements of competitive strategy and pricing decisions.
- Analyze and critique news stories describing public policy and business decisions.
- Apply economic concepts to investment decisions.
*Courses subject to change.
The unprecedented risk and uncertainty all organizations have experienced with the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted for all the importance of having strategies in place for managing high levels of risk and uncertainty. When facing risk and uncertainty, organizational outcomes depend on the quality of leaders’ decision making and risk management practices. This course draws on insights from cognitive psychology, economics, statistics, and decision sciences to examine good and bad risk management practices at the individual and organizational levels. Frameworks and practices to improve risk management will be introduced. We will study the role of emotion, affect, and intuitive thinking in risk decisions. We’ll look at how behaviour is shaped by context and existing mental models. Risk management will be explored via case analysis, discussion, exercises, guest presentations and a project. Best practices including some analytical models will be introduced, although this course is more qualitative and behavioural. This course complements courses that focus on the analytical aspects of risk management by focusing on the human and organizational aspects.
*Courses subject to change.
This course explores the implications of economic inequality and diversity for business. How are “opportunities”, both within organizations and in society more generally, created and constrained by social stratification? Does inequality and diversity affect innovation and productivity? These issues are explored in cross-national perspective, with particular emphasis on liberal democracies.
*Courses subject to change.
The course provides a learning journey that takes a deep dive into your own character strengths as a platform for multi-level leadership: self, others, organization, and society.
*Courses subject to change.
You will learn hands-on how brands are managed, how brands cope with competitive and environmental threats and opportunities, and how brands are handled in the channel by both manufacturers and retailers.
*Courses subject to change.
The purpose of this course is to explore the many dimensions of new venture creation and growth and to foster innovation and new business formations in independent and corporate settings. Initially you will focus on opportunity recognition, followed by exploring a wide range of issues that often face entrepreneurs in the processes of new venture creation and growth.
*Courses subject to change.
The course strikes a balance between conceptual analysis, skill development, and applications. To this end, the course material includes cases, textbook chapters, and articles written in practitioners’ journals—directed to executives and high level manager. Relevant and current articles from the public press are also discussed. The course also includes exercises/projects using real-time data, and guest speakers. Applications span the markets for commodities and energy products, foreign exchange, stocks, and fixed income instruments. Industries covered include airlines, automakers, oil and gas, telecommunications, computer hardware and software, biotechnology, hedge funds, university foundations, and investment and commercial banks.
*Courses subject to change.
A basic premise of this course is that while a manager needs analytical skills to develop optimal solutions to problems, a broad array of negotiation skills is needed to get these solutions accepted and implemented. The course will allow you to develop these skills experientially (through participation in negotiation role-play exercises) and to understand negotiation in useful analytical frameworks.
*Courses subject to change.
Students will learn how financial managers create shareholder value using both sides of the balance sheet, namely capital structure and financing choices, and their acquisition, sale, or restructuring of corporate assets. The emphasis will be on the institutional arrangements and processes, valuation and modelling techniques, and the fit with corporate strategy.
*Courses subject to change.
The purpose of this course is to examine the ways in which business value arises in creative enterprises, and especially how design, technology, and management increasingly interact to generate new creative business possibilities. We frame our examination in terms of an historic transition from industrial to innovation-based economies, identifying major points of difference between traditional management principles, processes, and practices and those better suited to innovation-based value creation.
*Courses subject to change.
This course aims to prepare students to understand and navigate the dynamics of power and politics in and across organizations.
By the end of the course, students should be able to:
- Diagnose power and politics, both where they come from and why they matter to leaders and organizations;
- understand the strategy and tactics of using power;
- increase their skills in using power;
- appreciate the dilemmas that power dynamics present to both individuals and organizations; and
- develop a personal approach to power and politics in organizations.
*Courses subject to change.
The course begins with a discussion of the Canadian context - policy, population health issues, globalization and health - focusing on a systems view of the health sector. The course then looks at issues related to population health, health care delivery, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals. Most classes consist of cases and/or issue discussions and may include classroom guests.
*Courses subject to change.
We pose the central question: Has information and communication technology (ICT) produced a better society? If so, for whom? What are the managerial challenges associated with this phenomenon? How do you lead with technology without causing or exacerbating bias, inequality, increasing privacy and security risks etc. The course will be broken into parts so that we can:
- Analyze management opportunities and challenges via frameworks for critically engaging with claims of social change wrought by technological change;
- Explore challenges for management in contemporary topics embedding a systems thinking perspective – i.e. management and cybersecurity (media/social media/fake news/cyberwarfare); management and systems design/agency/liability (algorithmic bias, autonomous vehicle liability, predictive policing/credit scoring) and management and governance including privacy/transparency);
- Evaluate the future of work via automation/infomating; microwork/gig economy; collaboration and coordination in knowledge work; knowledge work and artificial intelligence and the future of professions.
*Courses subject to change.
Includes global strategy, negotiations for leaders, corporate strategy, global supply chain management, and an international study trip.
Ivey's MBA curriculum has been built to ensure that students have an understanding of global business issues. Integrated with this everyday focus on global learning is the opportunity for students to take a custom designed set of career-focused elective courses for those interested in pursuing careers in International Management.
These courses, combined with Ivey's globally focused curriculum and hands-on learning opportunities like the International Study Trip and LEADER Project, will give you the confidence and real-world experience necessary to succeed as a leader anywhere in the world.
International Management Courses Offered
During your time in Costa Rica, Portugal and Silicon Valley you’ll visit local businesses, make connections with business leaders, join in 'cultural plunge' team activities, and learn how businesses operate successfully in these economic climates.
*Courses subject to change.
The course is composed of three parts. The first part of the course covers the broad perspective of purchasing and supply management. The second part of the course addresses logistics activities in the supply chain, including transportation, distribution, planning and forecasting and customer service strategies. The balance of the course focuses on supply chain strategy and deals with opportunities to develop and implement initiatives to create competitive advantage. Every effort is made to make the methodology as interesting and exciting as possible. This course uses a variety of approaches, including a classroom simulation exercise.
*Courses subject to change.
A basic premise of this course is that while a manager needs analytical skills to develop optimal solutions to problems, a broad array of negotiation skills is needed to get these solutions accepted and implemented. The course will allow you to develop these skills experientially (through participation in negotiation role-play exercises) and to understand negotiation in useful analytical frameworks.
*Courses subject to change.
Corporate strategy deals with issues critical to the success of the multi-business firm. How such firms create corporate advantage across several businesses operating in many different industries (as opposed to competitive advantage within one industry). This course develops an understanding of the strategic logic for, and internal management practices of, the multi-business enterprise, as well as the skills required to manage and lead this type of firm. The course is different from, and adds to the knowledge gained in, the Developing and Executing Strategies course.
*Courses subject to change.
The course is composed of three parts: purchasing and supply management; logistics activities in the supply chain; and supply chain strategy.
*Courses subject to change.
To prepare for a career in Marketing, Ivey ensures that you learn the basic Marketing fundamentals from courses in the core curriculum, including the responsibilities of profit/loss, human capital, sales, and negotiation.
Along with integrated, action-oriented learning such as the SABRE Marketing Simulation, you will have the confidence and real-world experience necessary to manage some of the world's leading brands.
Marketing Courses Offered
In this course brands are viewed as assets that need to be developed, nurtured, and used to generate a return for the firm. You will learn hands-on how brands are managed, how brands cope with competitive and environmental threats and opportunities, and how brands are handled in the channel by both manufacturers and retailers.
*Courses subject to change.
Students looking to gain a deeper understanding of the linkages between marketing and corporate strategy, either because you are aiming for a career in marketing or because you believe, as I do, that a deep understanding of marketing is essential to business success.
We will tackle a variety of questions including:
- How do you build competitive advantage in the marketplace?
- Which markets and consumers do you serve?
- Who are your competitors? How do you understand your role/position in the market and ecosystem?
The course consists of a rich mix of topical case discussions, conceptual lecture-discussions, and guest speakers who share their real-world experience. The overarching objective of the pedagogy of this course is to bring the real-world into the classroom and develop mental models for understanding and solving big problems.
*Courses subject to change.
You will learn hands-on how brands are managed, how brands cope with competitive and environmental threats and opportunities, and how brands are handled in the channel by both manufacturers and retailers.
*Courses subject to change.
During your time in Costa Rica, Portugal and Silicon Valley you’ll visit local businesses, make connections with business leaders, join in 'cultural plunge' team activities, and learn how businesses operate successfully in these economic climates.
*Courses subject to change.
Most Ivey graduates pursue careers in companies whose primary customers are businesses rather than consumers. This requires a keen understanding of business buying behaviour, which is quite different than consumer behaviour. In addition, many of these companies employ as sales force as their chief means of competing for market share and growing the business. This is the elective at Ivey that is designed specifically for this segment. This is a case-based course, focused on growth marketing strategies and best practice tactics to create and capture value, with a high return on the investment in marketing and sales costs.
*Courses subject to change.
While students will learn about the economics of strategy, incentives and information, this course is NOT a rehash of “Econ 101” (or of PKP). Rather than over-emphasizing theory, the course stresses “thinking economically”. It uses the tools of microeconomics to understand the business environment and to facilitate better managerial decision-making. Understanding markets helps managers think systematically about strategy and resource allocation. A series of cases and simulations guide students through real business situations, while forcing them to think methodically about their competitors, customers and the public policy environment in which they operate. Emphasis is on real-world business topics. Current articles from the business press motivate many sessions. Students will use economic concepts and data analysis to develop frameworks and tools that will help them be better decision-makers.
Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:
- Explain a wide-array of business phenomena using economic thinking.
- Identify the fundamental elements of competitive strategy and pricing decisions.
- Analyze and critique news stories describing public policy and business decisions.
- Apply economic concepts to investment decisions.
*Courses subject to change.
This course explores the implications of economic inequality and diversity for business. How are “opportunities”, both within organizations and in society more generally, created and constrained by social stratification? Does inequality and diversity affect innovation and productivity? These issues are explored in cross-national perspective, with particular emphasis on liberal democracies.
*Courses subject to change.
The third decade of the twenty-first century is an era of AI-powered digital marketing and social media influencers. The advances in digital technology and access to abundant digital data have given rise to important questions on their effective and responsible usage. Business leaders need to leverage AI and digital data responsibly to gain competitive advantage. Hence, they need to keep themselves abreast of the latest trends in the field. This course will help you understand network structure, online buyer behavior and digital advertising strategy. You will also learn to build and track performance of a digital marketing plan. The goal is for students to learn frameworks and methods that will allow them to develop valuable and actionable marketing insights from various digital sources.
*Courses subject to change.
The purpose of this course is to explore the many dimensions of new venture creation and growth and to foster innovation and new business formations in independent and corporate settings. Initially you will focus on opportunity recognition, followed by exploring a wide range of issues that often face entrepreneurs in the processes of new venture creation and growth.
*Courses subject to change.
You will learn hands-on how brands are managed, how brands cope with competitive and environmental threats and opportunities, and how brands are handled in the channel by both manufacturers and retailers.
*Courses subject to change.
The course is composed of three parts: purchasing and supply management; logistics activities in the supply chain; and supply chain strategy.
*Courses subject to change.
A basic premise of this course is that while a manager needs analytical skills to develop optimal solutions to problems, a broad array of negotiation skills is needed to get these solutions accepted and implemented. The course will allow you to develop these skills experientially (through participation in negotiation role-play exercises) and to understand negotiation in useful analytical frameworks.
*Courses subject to change.
The course is organized around six sets of activities critical to managerial success, each involving face-to-face interaction and a high degree of interpersonal skill: Selecting Employees; Coaching for Exceptional Performance; Resolving Conflict; Getting Commitment to Goals and Standards; Conducting Performance Reviews; and Managing Problem Employees.
*Courses subject to change.
The course is composed of three parts. The first part of the course covers the broad perspective of purchasing and supply management. The second part of the course addresses logistics activities in the supply chain, including transportation, distribution, planning and forecasting and customer service strategies. The balance of the course focuses on supply chain strategy and deals with opportunities to develop and implement initiatives to create competitive advantage. Every effort is made to make the methodology as interesting and exciting as possible. This course uses a variety of approaches, including a classroom simulation exercise.
*Courses subject to change.
This course extends the Designing and Executing Strategies Module by focusing on competitive interaction. Building on the economic foundations of competitive interaction, the first part of the course analyzes several aspects of game theory thinking and how this thinking can be incorporated into the strategy building process. The behavioral aspects of competition will complement the economic view. The course includes a series of cases on specific firm-level interactions are aimed at building skills in the development of competitive conjectures.
*Courses subject to change.
We pose the central question: Has information and communication technology (ICT) produced a better society? If so, for whom? What are the managerial challenges associated with this phenomenon? How do you lead with technology without causing or exacerbating bias, inequality, increasing privacy and security risks etc.
The course will be broken into parts so that we can:
- Analyze management opportunities and challenges via frameworks for critically engaging with claims of social change wrought by technological change;
- Explore challenges for management in contemporary topics embedding a systems thinking perspective – i.e. management and cybersecurity (media/social media/fake news/cyberwarfare); management and systems design/agency/liability (algorithmic bias, autonomous vehicle liability, predictive policing/credit scoring) and management and governance including privacy/transparency);
- Evaluate the future of work via automation/infomating; microwork/gig economy; collaboration and coordination in knowledge work; knowledge work and artificial intelligence and the future of professions.
*Courses subject to change.
Using the Ivey Case-Method, every day in the classroom mimics the real-life role of a consultant. From dissecting and analyzing a problem from all angles to making recommendations, getting buy-in on decisions, presenting solutions, and implementing - you will spend 365 days using this consulting framework.
Corporate Strategy and Leadership Courses Offered
This elective will shed light on the reality and plausibility of putting the financial sector at the service of society. Finance is arguably one of the most important sectors today. It is an industry which, not only due to its complexity but also due to its damaged reputation in the recent crisis, can potentially provide real solutions to pressing social concerns despite its seeming to be a most unlikely candidate. The course is designed so as to follow the money through the investment chain. We will explore how the flow of capital travels from the savers to the corporations in which the money is ultimately invested. Throughout, we will reflect on the potential flaws in the system and how to address them.
*Courses subject to change.
You will learn hands-on how brands are managed, how brands cope with competitive and environmental threats and opportunities, and how brands are handled in the channel by both manufacturers and retailers.
*Courses subject to change.
The course is composed of three parts: purchasing and supply management; logistics activities in the supply chain; and supply chain strategy.
*Courses subject to change.
Corporate strategy deals with issues critical to the success of the multi-business firm. How such firms create corporate advantage across several businesses operating in many different industries (as opposed to competitive advantage within one industry). This course develops an understanding of the strategic logic for, and internal management practices of, the multi-business enterprise, as well as the skills required to manage and lead this type of firm. The course is different from, and adds to the knowledge gained in, the Developing and Executing Strategies course.
*Courses subject to change.
During your time in Costa Rica, Portugal and Silicon Valley you’ll visit local businesses, make connections with business leaders, join in 'cultural plunge' team activities, and learn how businesses operate successfully in these economic climates.
*Courses subject to change.
The course is organized around six sets of activities critical to managerial success, each involving face-to-face interaction and a high degree of interpersonal skill: Selecting Employees; Coaching for Exceptional Performance; Resolving Conflict; Getting Commitment to Goals and Standards; Conducting Performance Reviews; and Managing Problem Employees.
*Courses subject to change.
The course is composed of three parts. The first part of the course covers the broad perspective of purchasing and supply management. The second part of the course addresses logistics activities in the supply chain, including transportation, distribution, planning and forecasting and customer service strategies. The balance of the course focuses on supply chain strategy and deals with opportunities to develop and implement initiatives to create competitive advantage. Every effort is made to make the methodology as interesting and exciting as possible. This course uses a variety of approaches, including a classroom simulation exercise.
*Courses subject to change.
This course extends the Designing and Executing Strategies Module by focusing on competitive interaction. Building on the economic foundations of competitive interaction, the first part of the course analyzes several aspects of game theory thinking and how this thinking can be incorporated into the strategy building process. The behavioral aspects of competition will complement the economic view. The course includes a series of cases on specific firm-level interactions are aimed at building skills in the development of competitive conjectures.
*Courses subject to change.
This course will be taught from three different yet interrelated perspectives - Accounting, Finance and Strategy.
- The Accounting sessions (Module 1) will focus on corporate accountability and the role of disclosure, reporting and performance metrics in achieving corporate governance. This enables a discussion of the regulatory and best practice frameworks that enable corporate actors to govern responsibly. The module also addresses investor demands for the integration of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) metrics in executive compensation. Students are encouraged to be critical of the efficacy, measurement and completeness of metrics used in directing executives’ attention to financial, environmental and social goals.
- The Finance sessions (Module 2) will focus on the role of governance rules and practices in how decisions are made to balance the interests of a company’s many stakeholders. The module will start by examining the relationship between governance and strategic risk taking (or avoiding). Since governance is designed to manage the Agency Problem, we will consider the role of control and how management does (should?) make important financial, strategic and social decisions.
- The Strategy sessions (Module 3) will focus on deepening our understanding of the phrase “in the best interests of the corporation” from the Canadian Business Corporations Act. We will examine this from the perspective of senior leaders such as CEOs, business unit leaders, former CEOs and founders. In addition, we will discuss court decisions that have impacted our understanding of the above phrase and the role of activist investors and boards in decisions that impact whether an organization survives or prospers. Finally, we assess corporate governance from a stakeholder perspective, e.g., debtholders.
*Courses subject to change.
The "Leadership Under Fire" course is designed to bring the insights of good leadership developed over generations of military service to the students at the Ivey Business School. The course aims to increase awareness of "leadership of self" with a specific focus on leadership character and commitment to the role of leadership. This is a challenging course that aims to stretch students – mentally, physically, and emotionally. Mental adversity and persistence are key features of the four days that we'll spend in the "the field." The course features Ivey instructors, current and former members of the Canadian Forces, and business executives.
*Courses subject to change.
While students will learn about the economics of strategy, incentives and information, this course is NOT a rehash of “Econ 101” (or of PKP). Rather than over-emphasizing theory, the course stresses “thinking economically”. It uses the tools of microeconomics to understand the business environment and to facilitate better managerial decision-making. Understanding markets helps managers think systematically about strategy and resource allocation. A series of cases and simulations guide students through real business situations, while forcing them to think methodically about their competitors, customers and the public policy environment in which they operate. Emphasis is on real-world business topics. Current articles from the business press motivate many sessions. Students will use economic concepts and data analysis to develop frameworks and tools that will help them be better decision-makers.
Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:
- Explain a wide-array of business phenomena using economic thinking.
- Identify the fundamental elements of competitive strategy and pricing decisions.
- Analyze and critique news stories describing public policy and business decisions.
- Apply economic concepts to investment decisions.
*Courses subject to change.
The unprecedented risk and uncertainty all organizations have experienced with the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted for all the importance of having strategies in place for managing high levels of risk and uncertainty. When facing risk and uncertainty, organizational outcomes depend on the quality of leaders’ decision making and risk management practices. This course draws on insights from cognitive psychology, economics, statistics, and decision sciences to examine good and bad risk management practices at the individual and organizational levels. Frameworks and practices to improve risk management will be introduced. We will study the role of emotion, affect, and intuitive thinking in risk decisions. We’ll look at how behaviour is shaped by context and existing mental models. Risk management will be explored via case analysis, discussion, exercises, guest presentations and a project. Best practices including some analytical models will be introduced, although this course is more qualitative and behavioural. This course complements courses that focus on the analytical aspects of risk management by focusing on the human and organizational aspects.
*Courses subject to change.
This course explores the implications of economic inequality and diversity for business. How are “opportunities”, both within organizations and in society more generally, created and constrained by social stratification? Does inequality and diversity affect innovation and productivity? These issues are explored in cross-national perspective, with particular emphasis on liberal democracies.
*Courses subject to change.
The course provides a learning journey that takes a deep dive into your own character strengths as a platform for multi-level leadership: self, others, organization, and society.
*Courses subject to change.
You will learn hands-on how brands are managed, how brands cope with competitive and environmental threats and opportunities, and how brands are handled in the channel by both manufacturers and retailers.
*Courses subject to change.
The purpose of this course is to explore the many dimensions of new venture creation and growth and to foster innovation and new business formations in independent and corporate settings. Initially you will focus on opportunity recognition, followed by exploring a wide range of issues that often face entrepreneurs in the processes of new venture creation and growth.
*Courses subject to change.
The course strikes a balance between conceptual analysis, skill development, and applications. To this end, the course material includes cases, textbook chapters, and articles written in practitioners’ journals—directed to executives and high level manager. Relevant and current articles from the public press are also discussed. The course also includes exercises/projects using real-time data, and guest speakers. Applications span the markets for commodities and energy products, foreign exchange, stocks, and fixed income instruments. Industries covered include airlines, automakers, oil and gas, telecommunications, computer hardware and software, biotechnology, hedge funds, university foundations, and investment and commercial banks.
*Courses subject to change.
A basic premise of this course is that while a manager needs analytical skills to develop optimal solutions to problems, a broad array of negotiation skills is needed to get these solutions accepted and implemented. The course will allow you to develop these skills experientially (through participation in negotiation role-play exercises) and to understand negotiation in useful analytical frameworks.
*Courses subject to change.
Students will learn how financial managers create shareholder value using both sides of the balance sheet, namely capital structure and financing choices, and their acquisition, sale, or restructuring of corporate assets. The emphasis will be on the institutional arrangements and processes, valuation and modelling techniques, and the fit with corporate strategy.
*Courses subject to change.
The purpose of this course is to examine the ways in which business value arises in creative enterprises, and especially how design, technology, and management increasingly interact to generate new creative business possibilities. We frame our examination in terms of an historic transition from industrial to innovation-based economies, identifying major points of difference between traditional management principles, processes, and practices and those better suited to innovation-based value creation.
*Courses subject to change.
This course aims to prepare students to understand and navigate the dynamics of power and politics in and across organizations.
By the end of the course, students should be able to:
- Diagnose power and politics, both where they come from and why they matter to leaders and organizations;
- understand the strategy and tactics of using power;
- increase their skills in using power;
- appreciate the dilemmas that power dynamics present to both individuals and organizations; and
- develop a personal approach to power and politics in organizations.
*Courses subject to change.
The course begins with a discussion of the Canadian context - policy, population health issues, globalization and health - focusing on a systems view of the health sector. The course then looks at issues related to population health, health care delivery, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals. Most classes consist of cases and/or issue discussions and may include classroom guests.
*Courses subject to change.
We pose the central question: Has information and communication technology (ICT) produced a better society? If so, for whom? What are the managerial challenges associated with this phenomenon? How do you lead with technology without causing or exacerbating bias, inequality, increasing privacy and security risks etc. The course will be broken into parts so that we can:
- Analyze management opportunities and challenges via frameworks for critically engaging with claims of social change wrought by technological change;
- Explore challenges for management in contemporary topics embedding a systems thinking perspective – i.e. management and cybersecurity (media/social media/fake news/cyberwarfare); management and systems design/agency/liability (algorithmic bias, autonomous vehicle liability, predictive policing/credit scoring) and management and governance including privacy/transparency);
- Evaluate the future of work via automation/infomating; microwork/gig economy; collaboration and coordination in knowledge work; knowledge work and artificial intelligence and the future of professions.
*Courses subject to change.
Ivey's MBA curriculum has been built to ensure that students have an understanding of global business issues. Integrated with this everyday focus on global learning is the opportunity for students to take a custom designed set of career-focused elective courses for those interested in pursuing careers in International Management.
These courses, combined with Ivey's globally focused curriculum and hands-on learning opportunities like the International Study Trip and LEADER Project, will give you the confidence and real-world experience necessary to succeed as a leader anywhere in the world.
International Management Courses Offered
During your time in Costa Rica, Portugal and Silicon Valley you’ll visit local businesses, make connections with business leaders, join in 'cultural plunge' team activities, and learn how businesses operate successfully in these economic climates.
*Courses subject to change.
The course is composed of three parts. The first part of the course covers the broad perspective of purchasing and supply management. The second part of the course addresses logistics activities in the supply chain, including transportation, distribution, planning and forecasting and customer service strategies. The balance of the course focuses on supply chain strategy and deals with opportunities to develop and implement initiatives to create competitive advantage. Every effort is made to make the methodology as interesting and exciting as possible. This course uses a variety of approaches, including a classroom simulation exercise.
*Courses subject to change.
A basic premise of this course is that while a manager needs analytical skills to develop optimal solutions to problems, a broad array of negotiation skills is needed to get these solutions accepted and implemented. The course will allow you to develop these skills experientially (through participation in negotiation role-play exercises) and to understand negotiation in useful analytical frameworks.
*Courses subject to change.
Corporate strategy deals with issues critical to the success of the multi-business firm. How such firms create corporate advantage across several businesses operating in many different industries (as opposed to competitive advantage within one industry). This course develops an understanding of the strategic logic for, and internal management practices of, the multi-business enterprise, as well as the skills required to manage and lead this type of firm. The course is different from, and adds to the knowledge gained in, the Developing and Executing Strategies course.
*Courses subject to change.
The course is composed of three parts: purchasing and supply management; logistics activities in the supply chain; and supply chain strategy.
*Courses subject to change.