Ivey’s case method has always asked students to step into decision-makers’ shoes. A new virtual reality (VR) pilot takes that idea further – letting them literally see through others’ eyes.
Organizational behaviour professors Shannon Rawski and Zoe Kinias created the simulation to help students understand leadership, empathy, and teamwork by experiencing a case “from the inside out.”
Inside the case
The simulation drops students into a project team under pressure – what Kinias calls a “perfect storm of things gone wrong.” One member takes over, another checks out, one woman’s efforts go unnoticed, and another pushes to lead.
Wearing a headset, each student embodies one team member, observing the scene while hearing the character’s inner monologue – the doubts and frustrations that shape the behaviour.
This design highlights a key lesson: what someone expresses in a meeting often doesn’t tell the full story.
“It’s an immersive step into the case, rather than just reading it,” said Kinias, who is Chair of Ivey’s John F. Wood Centre for Innovation in Business Education. “The experience allows students to hear that inner voice … which is central to building empathy.”
Learning through perspective
After the simulation, students debrief together. Similar to the case method classroom, they compare their experiences and explore how to handle similar dynamics in real life. This process turns the immersive VR scenario into practical leadership lessons about communication, respect, and collaboration.
“We’re developing skills in leading and following within teams – how to ‘team’ as a verb,” said Kinias. “Students learn to see beyond their own perspective and recognize that what they experience isn’t universal. That awareness is essential for empathy and collaboration in both school and work settings.”
Kinias emphasized that the exercise is not about always stepping up as the leader, but about navigating different roles within a team.
“It’s less about forging ahead as the formal leader, and more about iterating between leading and following, teaching and learning, within the team context," she said.
Real scenarios, real learning
Rawski, whose research explores diversity, inclusion, and power dynamics at work, ensured the simulation reflected authentic challenges.
“We worked with the HBA office as well as reviewers from various identity groups to represent scenarios that mirror real incidents,” she said. “That authenticity prepares students for the future based on hard lessons from the past – and VR makes it all feel right in the present.”
She noted the project aligns closely with Ivey’s case method.
“Perspective-taking is key in teamwork contexts, especially under pressure when conflict is likely,” she said. “It’s also at the heart of the case method – stepping into the protagonist’s shoes and asking, ‘What would I do here?’”
Empathy in action
The pilot ran first with Ivey’s Women in Asset Management (WAM) program last spring and is now being tested with two full HBA sections.
For Evelyn Cai, an HBA ’27 candidate, the simulation brought the case to life.
“I’ve never done VR before, but I really enjoyed it. It felt so real that when I looked down and realized there was a chair but no legs, it hit me how immersive it was. It was amazing to actually hear and see what my character, Ryan, was thinking in that moment,” she said. “Initially, I thought he was a terrible groupmate. But once I heard his internal thoughts … it took away my initial judgment and helped me see how people’s intentions and words can misalign.”
Perspective in practice
Fellow HBA1 student, Allyson Wu, said the immersive format made it much more effective than a traditional case discussion.
“Literally being in someone else’s seat was such an effective way to take another perspective,” she said. “You could feel the tension and see the concepts we talk about in class come to life.”
HBA1 student Jeevan Sahota said the exercise deepened his understanding of leadership and empathy.
“It helped me grow as a leader by challenging how I view situations … It also showed how many moving parts go into resolving conflict – everyone had different assumptions and wanted to be understood, but they weren’t really hearing each other," he said.
HBA ’27 candidate Cameron Veisman said it revealed how small assumptions can hurt teamwork.
“People say, ‘Don't sweat the small stuff,’ but in a group setting, what you consider to be small might be a big deal for somebody else,” he said. “Overlooking little things can really damage morale and trust.”
For Cai, the lesson will last beyond the classroom.
“This was a crash course in how everything can go wrong in a teamwork setting,” she said. “In the future, I’ll be more intentional about taking a step back, talking things through, and making sure everyone feels heard.”
Expanding the reach
Kinias and Rawski are now working with Western University’s Master of Public Health (MPH) program on a pilot project. They’ve also spoken with companies about adapting the simulation for corporate learning.
Scaling the experience, however, will take resources. Hardware and personnel costs are the biggest hurdles, Rawski explained.
“Right now, we can support about 30 learners simultaneously, but our goal is to reach a full HBA section of 78 students at once. We’re exploring funding opportunities to make that possible,” she said.
Beyond technology
For Kinias and Rawski, the project isn’t about VR itself, but what it unlocks: human understanding.
“The goal isn’t just to make learning more interactive. It’s to help students recognize and navigate the unseen forces that shape how teams work – the emotions, assumptions, and perspectives that define leadership every day,” said Kinias.
With VR, Ivey is not only innovating how students learn – it is shaping how the next generation of leaders will see, understand, and connect with the world.
