This course has three objectives:

1. To provide basic tools to analyze business firms' behaviour, both in terms of internal processes and external patterns of interaction with other actors in the business and market environment;

2. To examine in depth the variety of business firms in terms of sectors (manfacturing/services, traditional/innovative), size (small, mediam and large firms), location (industrial cluster firms, multinational companies);

3. To develop capabilities in using tools and methodologies to analyze and manage business companies.

The first part of the course concerns the analysis of the interaction between the company and the external environment and the main typologies of business firms in terms of size and location context.

The second part of the course is focussed on the stragic profile of business behaviour, examining in depth business growth processes and the main decisions on corporate and competitive strategies. This analysis is combined with the discussion of the main organisational configurations of firms.

The third part of the course examines the main paths of business growth, in terms of external behaviour (internationalization processes) and internal organization, with emphasis on the management of technological innovation, operational activities (purchasing, production, logistics) and interaction with markets (marketing and distribution).

Knowledge and understanding: students have to gain adequate knowledge and effective comprehension capacity of business management contexts and approaches.

Applying knowledge and understanding: students have to be able to apply acquired knowledge and to analyze specific problems related to a variety of contexts, characterized by firms with different size and resources, taking into account various types of competences.

Making judgements: students have to be able to use acquired knowledge both in conceptual and operational terms, with autonomous judgement capacity and exploiting various competences in different business contexts.

Communication skills: students have to master the technical language in business management in order to communicate in a clear way with specialized actors (managers, experts, academics), while at the same time developing relational and communication skills with non-specialized actors.

Learning skills: students have to develop adequate learning skills in order to pursue autonomous study - in their working contexts - of the main themes of the business management discipline.

The teaching material prepared by the lecturer in addition to recommended textbooks (such as for instance slides, lecture notes, exercises, bibliography) and communications from the lecturer specific to the course can be found inside the Moodle platform › blended.uniurb.it

Teaching

Interactive teaching, case-study analysis, seminars held by managers and experts, group exercises, team projects (optional).

Attendance

Students are strongly encouraged to attend classes. Students are involved in project working groups on business cases and in seminars held by managers and experts on relevant topics of the course.

Course books

The teaching material is available, in combination with other support activities and tools, on the Moodle platform  › blended.uniurb.it

Required textbook: Tunisini A., Pencarelli T., Ferrucci L. (ed.2014), Economia e management delle imprese. Strategie e strumenti per la competitività e la gestione aziendale, Milano, HOEPLI, capp. 2-3-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-14-15-16-17-18-19-20. 

Assessment

Expected learning objectives will be assessed through a written and an oral exam, with the addition of an optional team project work. The written exam is based on three open questions (10 marks each). The assessment criteria are the following: degree of knowledge, ability in providing well structured answers, ability in using concepts and models. The written exam is assessed over 30/30. If the written exam reaches a minimum mark (18/30), each student is subject to the oral exam which is assessed in the range between -2 and +2, to be added to the written exam mark. The final report of the team project work (which is optional) is assessed in a range between 0 and 2. Therefore the final evaluation is composed by the assessment of the written exam and of the oral exam, with the possibile addition of the mark related to the project work report.  

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

Teaching

Non-attending students are invited to contact the Course Teacher in order to gain a better understanding of the final exam structure and content. They are also encouraged to read and consult articles on business firms' behaviour from the main economic newspapers (Il Sole 24 Ore, Repubblica Affari e Finanza, Corriere Economia) and specialized magazines (The Economist).

Course books

Tunisini A., Pencarelli T., Ferrucci L. (ed.2014), Economia e management delle imprese. Strategie e strumenti per la competitività e la gestione aziendale, Milano, HOEPLI (whole book). 

Assessment

Expected learning objectives will be assessed through a written and an oral exam, with the addition of an optional team project work. The written exam is based on three open questions (10 marks each). The assessment criteria are the following: degree of knowledge, ability in providing well structured answers, ability in using concepts and models. The written exam is assessed over 30/30. If the written exam reaches a minimum mark (18/30), each student is subject to the oral exam which is assessed in the range between -2 and +2, to be added to the written exam mark. The final report of the team project work (which is optional) is assessed in a range between 0 and 2. Therefore the final evaluation is composed by the assessment of the written exam and of the oral exam, with the possibile addition of the mark related to the project work report.  

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

Students are strongly invited to attend classes and to actively participate to the course activities. Students are involved i) in project work teams to examine in depth concepts and models discussed during classes; ii) in seminars and workshops held by scholars and business managers on topics related to course content.