A business case study is a description of an actual situation, commonly involving a decision, a challenge, an opportunity, a problem or an issue faced by a person (or persons) in an organization.¹ Cases contain relevant data about the issue available to the key person in the case, plus background information about the organization. The body of a case should have a maximum of eight pages and the total page count should not exceed 15 pages. 

A case allows (the student) to step figuratively into the position of a particular decision maker.¹ The strength of the case method of teaching is that students have to apply business principles to the issues raised and defend their recommended course of action to their fellow students.

¹Erskine, J.A. and Leenders, M.R., Learning with Cases, © 1997, Richard Ivey School of Business.

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Price List:

Updated June 1, 2016

Orders delivered by download or printed and shipped are non-refundable.  Permission orders are adjustable until the billing date; once invoiced, no further changes are permitted.

Teaching notes are only available to approved faculty and administrative staff.  Once you have registered for access and your status has been verified and approved, you can download the full, watermarked teaching note for products listed. To register for this service, click on the Register  option.

Once your access has been approved, simply Login using your user name/email address and password. Search or browse the collection.  When a teaching note is available for a product, a TN link will appear in the search results; a teaching note link will also appear at the bottom of product details. To view the teaching note, click on the TN link on the screen. The viewing option will only appear once your registration has been approved and you have signed in.

Students may purchase course materials online by choosing the digital download option in the shopping cart.  Students must register with the role of student before purchasing.   Once registered, they may browse, search and order materials, or use the Express Order.

Once you have located the product/s that you wish to order, add it to your shopping cart.  You can then specify a permissions quantity.  During checkout, you will be asked to supply information about the course for which the product/s will be used, and to agree to terms regarding the permission. Authorization to proceed is granted immediately upon completion of your order.

As a registered and approved academic customer, you have the option to select a billing date up to 60 days after the start date of your course.  This delay allows you time to report any adjustments in enrollment.  You will receive an automated message 7 days prior to the final billing date reminding you to check your Order History and adjust all permission requests accordingly. Once you are billed, you are liable for the quantity of permissions on the invoice, and no further quantity adjustments will be accepted. If you know final course enrollment sooner, and prefer to be billed earlier for these permissions, please specify your preferred billing date.

If you require teaching notes for a course, seminar or training session in a corporate setting please fax a letter on company letterhead from your Human Resources Department verifying the purpose of teaching note, seminar date and the expected number of participants to (519) 661-3882. Please be sure to include this information with your order.

Orders from Canadian individuals or organizations may be subject to the Federal Goods and Services Tax, or the Harmonized Sales Tax. Depending on the items and format ordered, some orders may be eligible for a point-of-sale rebate. Taxes will be calculated during checkout, and will be displayed when you review your order before final purchase.  Orders from outside Canada are not subject to taxation.

Tax rates as of October 1, 2016

All users must register or be logged in before making a purchase on the site. When registering, choose the role that best fits your situation.

You must be a registered and approved faculty/administrative staff user in order to see examination copies.  To register as a faculty/administrative staff user, select this role during registration. We will verify your faculty status, usually within 2-3 business days.  Once verified, you will be notified by email that your access has been activated. After being approved for access, products that have an online copy available will display the PDF symbol; simply open the PDF document.

No. Examination copies downloaded at no charge, with a diagonal watermark, cannot be reproduced, posted, or distributed in any form. Reproductions must be made from master copies, which can be purchased through download or as hard copy.

When adding items to your shopping cart, select either digital download, or add a print quantity of 1, and a permission quantity for the number of reproductions that you need to make.  Digital copies will be delivered after payment; printed master copies will be processed and shipped to you within 2-3 business days.

Access is restricted to instructors (including assistant, associate, and full professors, as well as visiting professors who are in residence for the school year and PhD candidates) teaching at degree-granting educational institutions. Case writers and students (even if doing research) do not meet this requirement.

Educational institutions must be a degree or diploma granting educational institution; this does not include corporate schools or schools solely providing personal enrichment courses

We recommend choosing "courier" as your shipping option.  We ship by FedEx overnight. You can choose to have your order delivered by mail, but we cannot track its progress nor guarantee a delivery date. If you have a FedEx or Purolator account, your order can be shipped using your own account by selecting "Collect Courier" on the Delivering Your Order screen, and supplying the account number in the text box below the shipping choices.

Digital copies are delivered after checkout. If you are ordering books or printed copies of materials, orders are shipped via courier within 2-3 business days. If you wish to have your items shipped by regular mail, please specify this on your order. Please note that Ivey Publishing cannot track the progress of your order nor  guarantee a delivery date when items are shipped via regular mail.

Shipping charges are determined based on the requested shipping method, shipment weight and destination, and will be calculated online during the checkout process.

All orders under $10 must be paid by credit card during checkout.  In Canada, Visa, Visa Debit, MasterCard. and American Express are accepted.  Outside Canada, only Visa and Mastercard are accepted.

Approved customers with orders of more than $10 may choose to be invoiced, and may pay the invoice by cheque, credit card or wire transfer.

For cheque payments: Make cheques paybable to Richard Ivey School of Business Foundation, and return the remittance portion of the invoice with your payment to ensure proper credit to your account. 

For credit card payments: Call 519.661.3321 or fax card details to 519.675.1859. To comply with the Payment Card Industry Digital Security Standards, we cannot accept credit card details by email. If you are unable to call or fax, please email Ivey Publishing's customer service at cases@ivey.ca or call 1.800.649.6355 / 519.661.3208 for assistance.

For international wire payments: Please see the Terms and Conditions on your invoice, or contact Ivey Publishing for assistance.  Please ensure your customer number and invoice number are included as reference.

We are using third-party credit card processing; orders placed online will be processed immediately through the third-party supplier.

A completed copy of our  W8-BEN-E   is available.

Use the powerful keyword search field to search by author, title, product number, or any key words.  Or, you can browse by category, theme, or CaseMate through the Browse Catalogue screen, or by Product Category from the home page.  After you have search results, you can refine your results by selecting any of the criteria to the left of your results.  Refining your search will filter your search results by the criteria you select.

If you are a registered and approved academic user, products with related teaching notes have a TN icon appear in the search results, and a link through associated products within the product details screen.  Clicking on the icon, or on the PDF symbol located beside the associated product, will open the teaching note file.

If you are logged in as a registered and approved academic user, one of the refine search areas is for teaching notes available.  A search will return all available products; clicking on "available" in the teaching note refine search area will limit your results to only those with a related teaching note.

In order to keep our collection current and relevant, we occasionally remove products from active circulation. If you cannot find a product that was previously available, please inquire with one of our representatives at cases@ivey.ca.

One of the refine search areas is product type. The product types available based on your initial search will be displayed. Clicking on one of the available product types will limit your results to that product type.

From your search results, you will be able to refine your search by selecting criteria to limit what the search result displays. You can refine by product categories, industry, geographic region, product type, product length, teaching note availability, publication date, and language.  Some of these areas will only apply to Ivey products, and selecting them will limit your results to Ivey products only.

Our friendly and knowledgeable representatives are available to help you find the materials you need. Send your request to use cases@ivey.ca, including the main subjects, level of instruction (introductory, undergraduate, MBA, executives), any setting preferences (country, industry), and we will find some cases for you to consider.  You can also review our CaseMates to see cases that we have mapped to textbook chapters. This provides an excellent starting point to find relevant cases.

To make the reproductions yourself, simply provide the product number/s of the item/s you intend to use and the permission quantity of each item when you add items to your cart, or by using the express order form. You will be prompted for additional customer and course information. Authorization to proceed with the reproductions is granted immediately upon completion of your order.

Alternatively, you may complete the  permission form and email it to cases@ivey.ca or fax it to (519) 661-3882 for authorization. Authorization to proceed with the reproductions will follow within one business day.

Ivey case studies can be posted a password-protected website.  In order to obtain a digital copy suitable for this purpose, complete the  e-permission form and email it to cases@ivey.ca or fax it to (519) 661-3882 for authorization. Once your request has been received, authorization and information regarding the PDF file/s will follow within 1 business day. Standard permission fees will apply based on the course enrollment.

You must receive written permission before the translation occurs. Please see our translation permission policy for additional information. If you wish to translate an Ivey case and/or reprint, please complete the  case translation permission form or the  reprint translation permission form and fax to the attention of our Publishing Coordinator at (519) 661-3882. If you have any questions, please email us.

For permission to translate materials from other collections, please contact them directly.

The  textbook permission request form specifies the terms and conditions surrounding textbook permissions, including the process and permission fee. To request permission, complete the form and return it to bookpermissions@ivey.ca.  Once your request has been received, you will be contacted by email and be advised on the process. Permission will be granted only after the request is signed and returned to you. If you have questions about using Ivey cases in textbooks, please email us.

For permission to publish materials from other collections, please contact them directly.

The case, in Ivey format, may be used in your classes. You are entitled to use the case without any fee or you can have the bookstore, university or students pay the standard Ivey Publishing fee for which you will receive a 15% royalty.

Yes. You, the bookstore or the university must complete a  permission form and email it to cases@ivey.ca or fax to (519) 661-3882 so that our usage data is accurate.

Ivey case studies can be posted a password-protected website.  In order to obtain a digital copy suitable for this purpose, complete the e-permission form and email it to cases@ivey.ca or fax it to (519) 661-3882 for authorization. Once your request has been received, authorization and information regarding the PDF file/s will follow within 1 business day.  There is no charge for use of your own case.

Copyright is a complex area requiring expertise in the law, publishing, electronic controls and the legal systems throughout the world. By having a standardized copyright for all registered cases, Ivey Publishing can more easily address issues in these areas. In particular, Ivey Publishing must have the unrestricted ability to deal with copyright issues in order to deal expeditiously and effectively with government bodies, textbook publishers, distribution partners customers and possible copyright violations.

Due to complex legal issues, Ivey Publishing will not accept cases with joint copyright.

It depends on any agreements or terms of use imposed by the journal or publisher. Some journals impose conditions that prevent Ivey Publishing from registering the case, and some agreements contain an assignment of copyright. We would be happy to advise you.

Yes, unless the existing distributor agrees to discontinue distributing the case or enters into a special arrangement with Ivey Publishing. Ivey Publishing will be glad to advise you.

Absolutely - Ivey Publishing would be pleased to send a watermarked copy of the case to educators; all Ivey Publishing needs is a list of email addresses from you.

Centrale de Cas et de Médias Pédagogiques (CCMP)
81, avenue de la République
75543 PARIS CEDEX 11
www.ccmp.fr
www.ccip.fr/ccmptest/ccmp-publishing

The Case Centre
Cranfield University, Wharley End
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t +44 (0)1234 750903
info@thecasecentre.org
www.thecasecentre.org

IESE Publishing
(Spanish and English language cases)
IESE Business School - University of Navarra
Avenida Pearson, 21 08034
Barcelona, SPAIN
t (+34) 93 253 42 00 (Monday to Friday from 9 am to 6 pm local time)
f (+34) 93 253 43 43
iesep@iesep.com
www.iesep.com/en

Pearson Learning Solutions
Edinburgh Gate
Harlow, Essex CM20 2JE ENGLAND
www.pearsoned.co.uk

AcademicPub
c/o SharedBook Inc.
140 Broadway, Suite 3020
New York, NY 10005 USA
t (646) 442-8840 / (888) 212-3121
f (646) 442-8841
info@sharedbook.com
academicpub.com/academicpub/

Apple
tba

CasePlace.org
(selected case studies available for review only)
The Aspen Institute
Center for Business Education
271 Madison Avenue, Suite 606
New York, NY 10016 USA
www.caseplace.org

Cengage Learning
5191 Natorp Boulevard
Mason, OH 45040 USA
t (800) 355-9983
f (513) 229-1014
www.cengage.com/custom/

Harvard Business Publishing
Customer Service Department
60 Harvard Way
Boston, MA 02163 USA
t (800) 545-7685
t (617) 783-7600
f (617) 783.7666
custserv@hbsp.harvard.edu
hbsp.harvard.edu

LAD Custom Publishing, Inc.
5212 Belle Wood Court
Buford, GA 30518 USA
t (877) 318-8800
f (770) 831-8556
www.ladcustompub.com

McGraw Hill
Custom Publishing
148 Princeton-Hightstown Road, S-1
Hightstown, NJ 08520-1450 USA
t (800) 962-9342
create.mcgraw-hill.com

Pearson Learning Solutions
75 Arlington Street, Suite 300 
Boston, MA 02116 USA
t (800) 777-6872
pcp@pearson.com
www.pearsonlearningsolutions.com

ProQuest
(abstracts only)
789 E. Eisenhower Parkway
P.O. Box 1346
Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1346 USA
t (734) 761-4700
www.proquest.com

Study.Net
244 W 300 North
Salt Lake City, UT 84103-1139 USA
t (801) 859-4059
f (801) 359-2309
www.study.net

University Readers
3970 Sorrento Valley Boulevard, Suite 500
San Diego, CA 92121 USA
t (800) 200-3908
www.universityreaders.com

XanEdu Publishing
4750 Venture Drive
P.O. Box 998
Ann Arbor, MI 48106 USA
t (800) 218-5971
f (734) 302-6500
www.xanedu.com

College of Commerce, National Chengchi University
64, Zhinan Road, Sec 2
Wenshan, Taipei 116
Taiwan, R.O.C.
f 886-2-2938-7543
In Chinese: www.iveycases.nccu.edu.tw
In English: www.commerce.nccu.edu.tw

Institute for International Studies and Training (IIST)
2nd Floor
Toranomon Jitsugyo Kaikan
1-1-20 Toranomon
Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-0001 Japan
t 81-3-3503-6621
f 81-3-3501-0550