The Indian School of Business (ISB) has formally announced the setting up of a Centre for Case Development at the ISB. The announcement was followed by the signing of an MoU with the Richard Ivey School of Business (Ivey), The University of Western Ontario, to enhance case writing capabilities among Indian academia, and also to distribute these cases worldwide. The MoU was signed by Ajit Rangnekar, Dean, ISB and Carol Stephenson, Dean, Ivey.

The Centre at the MBA school will support and mentor faculty and research scholars from MBA schools in India  through a comprehensive process of case development - from generating ideas to publishing  case studies globally.

Signing the MoU, Dean Rangnekar, said, “Indian companies have, in this past decade, developed new business models that have the potential to be replicated in other parts of the world but there is a significant shortage of case studies to understand these best practices. With its academic and industry affiliations, the MBA school will support and mentor faculty from other B Schools in India, to create a knowledge repository of case studies for India and the world.”

The MBA school’s knowledge of best practices in India combined with Ivey’s vast experience in producing global case studies will ensure that case studies produced by the Centre comprise indigenous learning and global methodologies. Ivey is the second largest producer of case studies and the leading producer of Asian cases globally.

Elaborating on this association, Dean Stephenson, said, “We are proud to be partnering with ISB in an ambitious case development and training programme which will transform the educational environment in India. In so doing, Ivey will also be able to bolster its own capabilities in managing in emerging markets.”

The Centre is currently developing case studies on corporates, planning bodies, NGOs, SMEs and sports organisations among others. It will enable B School faculty in India to create cutting edge research to teach students and executives, and bring an Indian perspective in B-school curriculum across the globe. The Centre has already conducted workshops and trained several management faculty on case writing and teaching. In addition it has created a network of high quality free lance case writing professionals across the country to assist faculty in developing cases. It aspires to build a pool of about 350 case writing faculty and research scholars in India by the next academic year.

In addition to Ivey, the Centre is also working with international MBA schools like Darden, University of Virginia, to publish collaborative cases.