Ivey Business School

The Ivey HBA (Honours Business Administration) was the first degree program in business at the University of Western Ontario. A class of six men were the program's first graduates in 1923.[3]

In 2010, the HBA program grew to 525 students with the final program size of 610 students in place since 2013.[11]

The HBA program is a second-entry, two-year program that enrolls students who have completed two years of undergraduate study (in any faculty at any recognized university). First year Ivey students, known as HBA1s, are typically in their third year of university. Previously, prospective students applied for admission to Ivey during their second year of university. In 1998, Ivey introduced the Advanced Entry Opportunity status (AEO), a conditional pre-admission status offered to secondary school students. Advanced Entry Opportunity (AEO) students may study in any faculty of interest at the University of Western Ontario for their first two years of university.[12]

The HBA1 year has no elective course work. HBAs are placed into "sections" of 76 students and work with the same classmates and professors in the same classroom year-round. The curriculum includes courses in finance, accounting, marketing, operations management, organizational behavior, and general management. The HBA2 year is less structured with students taking four required courses along with elective courses that tailor to individual interests.[13]

The HBA program has also introduced an elective Sustainability Certificate that "empowers Ivey HBA students to build and lead more sustainable organizations." The certificate offers HBA students an interrelated mix of courses and experiences which "provide a strong grounding in the principles and best practices of sustainability." The Sustainability Certificate has grown significantly in popularity and scope since being introduced in 2012, with the 2023-2024 cohort being the largest ever with 83 students enrolled.[14]

The Ivey full-time MBA was created in 1948 and was Canada's first MBA program as well as the first one offered outside of the United States. Its first class graduated in 1950. It was modeled on the Harvard Business School MBA as a two-year program. In 2006, it was converted to a 12-month program and was relocated from the University of Western Ontario campus to the Spencer Leadership Centre.[15] A Health Sector Stream is offered through the Ivey Centre for Health Innovation and Leadership.[16]

With over 25,000 alumni in 105 countries. Ivey[17] offers networking opportunities.

• The Alumni Partnership Program involves top Ivey alumni who have volunteered to act as mentors to current students and alumni. Students can choose to be partner with an alumnus based on a number of criteria including function, industry or geography.[18]
• The "Get Connected" event in Toronto is hosted by Ivey's Career Management team in partnership with its alumni and recruiting firms. For three days, students are exposed to information sessions, formal networking events, functional panels and mock interviewing events with Ivey recruiters and alumni. This is the students’ official ‘debut’ or introduction to the market, following their 12-weeks of in-class Career Management programming.[19]
• Global Ivey Day is an annual event for Ivey students and alumni around the world. Events are hosted by alumni chapters, including a Gala event in Toronto, with live webinars and webcasts available for alums and students to join as well.[20]

The Ivey MSc is a direct-entry program requiring no previous full-time work experience. The Ivey MSc program is based on the case method and global learning opportunities, designed to prepare the student for an international career.

In December 2009, Ivey was selected as the first Canadian partner in the CEMS Global Alliance in Management Education and in 2012 was named the CEMS School of the Year.[21] This gives Ivey MSc students the opportunity to participate in the Master of International Management program with students from 29 other schools in the alliance. Students register as Ivey MSc students and pursue the CEMS MIM program concurrently.

In 2016, a second stream in the MSc program was launched in Business Analytics. In both streams of the program, students undertake 3 terms of academic study and 1 term placement in an industry internship. This was complemented in 2021 with a third stream, MSc Digital Management.

The University of Western Ontario began offering a PhD in Business Administration in 1961, Canada's first PhD in business. The program has focused on study in eight disciplines: Finance, General Management, Information Systems, Management Science, Managerial Accounting, Marketing, Operations Management and Organizational Behaviour.[22]

The Ivey Executive MBA (EMBA) was founded in 1991 with the addition of a Hong Kong-based program and a remote video-conference program in 1995. In 2007, the program's headquarters was relocated to a new facility in downtown Toronto named the Tangerine Leadership Centre.[3] The program provides a part-time MBA program for working managers with at least seven years of work experience. The program consists of four in-class days (Thursday to Sunday) once per month. Classes continue for three consecutive terms, each five months long.[23]

Ivey also offers five undergraduate business courses, organized under the Business Foundations Group.

• Business 1220E (BUS 1220E): A comprehensive business course for first-year students, covering finance, marketing, operations, organizational behaviour, enterprise strategy, and valuation.
• Business 1299E (BUS 1299E): A variant of 1220E for engineering students, identical except for the inclusion of time value of money in the operations and valuation components of the course. Successful completion of this course is a graduation requirement for students in the engineering program.
• Business 2257 (BUS 2257): A second-year course with a focus on Financial Accounting, Business Analysis and Managerial Accounting. This course is a prerequisite course for the HBA program.
• Business for Science Students 2295F (BUS 2257): Introductory course in business designed for Science, Medical and Dentistry students. This is a half-year course, covering a selection of topics covered in the full-year BUS 1220E course.
• Business for Engineers 2299E (BUS 2299E): The predecessor to BUS 1299E. This is a fourth-year course being transitioned out in favour of BUS 1299E.[24]

MFE or Master in Financial Economics is a collaborative program between Ivey Business School, Western Economics and Math/Stat department.

With over 8,000 cases in their collection, Ivey Publishing adds more than 350 classroom-tested case studies each year.[28] Ivey is among the largest producers and publishers of cases all around the world, just behind Harvard Business School.[29] Recently, Ivey signed deals with Indian Institute of Management Calcutta to design and publish case studies.[30][31]

Ivey Business Journal[32] (IBJ) started in 1933 as the Quarterly Review of Commerce. The publication transitioned from a quarterly magazine to a bi-monthly web publication in the 2000s and is read in over 150 countries. The current editor of the journal is Thomas Watson.[33]

Ivey Business Review (IBR) is an undergraduate publication dealing with business strategy, written and managed by students in the honours business administration program at the School. It is published twice per academic year, in December and April, and is managed at the school's main campus in London, Ontario. Published copies of IBR are available in print formator on the publication's website.[34] Since its inception, the magazine has published eight issues containing over 100 total articles and involving more than 150 students.[35]

The Review is an original research–based publication with all content created for the magazine through collaboration between the writers and members of the editorial board. It focuses on providing actionable recommendations for specific businesses, industries, business models, strategies, or events, rather than management techniques for managers and leaders.[36]

The school is also a founding member of the Canadian MBA Alliance which was created in 2013. All six members of the alliance rank among the world's top 100 schools, according to their participation in key rankings – Financial Times, Business Week, and The Economist.[44]