The course is divided into two modules. The first module is devoted to the understanding of the role and functions of management accounting and the system for planning and control. In particular, attention is focused on the budget and management reporting. The second module focuses on the evolution of management systems in recent decades. From the perspective of strategic management, we analyze the issues related to the process of formulation of business strategies, the alignment of the functional and directional capabilities and the planned management of turbulent change. The systems of emergency management and strategic learning processes are also examined.

First module
1.The function of Planning and Control;
1.1 Management, managerial systems, managerial functions;
1.2 The Anthony's model: strategic planning, management control, operational control. Strategic control and organizational control;
1.3 The systemic approach of the management control by Italian business theory;
2. The function of accounting: its evolution and relationships with other management functions;
2.1 The controllership in the modern organizational structure;
2.2 The duties of the administrative staff with reference to the contents of the directional function;
2.3 The internal organization of the administrative staff and relations with the financial area;
3. The management accounting and its instruments. The annual Budget;
3.1 Some aspects of the organizational structure of control;
3.2 The process of budgeting: subject, purposes, functions, process development and use of budget;
3.3 The management reporting;
3.4 The new models and approaches to the technical and financial support of the control process.
 
Second module
4. Environmental changes and strategic behavior of enterprises;
4.1 The company faces the challenge of the complexity and environmental turbulence;
4.2 The concept of strategy and its evolution;
4.3 The evolution of the strategic issue of business and managerial response;
4.4 The development of management systems, in relation to that of business structures: the need for integration;
5. The planning and strategic management;
5.1 The management of turbulent change;
5.2 From strategic planning to strategic management;
5.3 The methodology of periodic strategic planning;
5.4 The methodology of strategic positioning management. Strategic management at the level of the business area. The analysis and planning of the competitive positioning
5.5 Strategic management at the corporate level. The balance of the portfolio strategy and the consistency between the profile of skills and strategies;
6. Direct systems of deliberating strategies;
6.1 The logical incrementalism and learning strategic planning;
6.2 The real-time emergency management.

Accounting and business administration.

- Knowledge and understanding: at the end of the course, the student must have acquired a good knowledge of business management control systems, with reference to the structural components (organizational structure of control and directional accounting) and process. In particular, he/she must know and understand the role of controlling function; the design criteria of an effective management control system; the links with the strategic planning system; the contents of modern strategic management approaches to address and manage strategic change under environmental turbulence and to resolve the alignment problems between the strategies and managerial and organizational skills of the company. Examples and modes of work are shown in the classroom during lessons and exercises.

- Applying knowledge and understanding: at the end of the course, the student must have acquired a good capacity to apply the acquired knowledge in order to effectively design a budget control system suitable for enterprises of various sizes and operating in different sectors, as well as to analyze and understand the dynamics of development of large enterprises or Multinational groups in the current competitive environment. Finally, the limits of the planned approach must be understood in a context in which the scenarios unpredictably change and at a speed that can not be addressed with planned responses. Examples of such applications are shown in the classroom during lessons and exercises.

- Making judgments: at the end of the course, the student must have acquired the ability to collect and interpret the data and information useful for expressing independent assessment judgments on specific complex business situations, linking the technical and accounting tools (mainly the budget but Also the purposes and contents of analytical accounting) with the planning and control process and with the organizational aspects of management, acquiring a proactive mindset in problem solving, pivoting on the importance of learning processes in modern companies. Thus, the student develops the ability to judge autonomously the conditions of congruence between the external environment, the strategic development of the enterprise and the profile of the internal managerial and organizational capacities.

- Communication skills: at the end of the course, the student must have acquired a good ability to clearly communicate his ideas, discuss complex business situations and propose solutions to the specialist and non-specialist audience thanks to the correct use of managerial and technical terminology. The work mode is shown in the classroom during lessons and exercises.

- Learning skills: at the end of the course, the student must have acquired a good capacity to deal with a high degree of autonomy the issues related to strategic business management in the current era of globalization and to the corporate controlling function in order to Deepen the knowledge gained during the course.

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

Seminars held by skilled professionals and industry experts.

Teaching

Frontal lectures and exercises. 

Course books

First module:

- M. Ciambotti, Strategic management system. Theory, models and planning systems, Giappichelli, Turin, 2005 (chapters 1 and 2);

- M. Ciambotti, The influence of cultural factors on the managerial control, Lint, Trieste, 2001 (chapter five);

- F. Berti, The system of budgets, Cedam, Padua, 1995.

Second module:
- M. Ciambotti, Strategic management system. Theory, models and planning systems, Giappichelli, Turin, 2005 (section 3 in chapter 8 inclusive).

For a discussion of the issues relating to the control systems, but not as a text for the exam, you may read M. Ciambotti, Control systems in international joint ventures, Lint, Trieste, 1995. 

Assessment

An oral examination. The evaluation criteria are as follows:
- the relevance and effectiveness of the responses with reference to the contents of the program;
- the level of the responses' articulation;
- the adequacy of the used terminology.

Each of the criteria is evaluated based on a four-level scale with an equal weight assigned to each criterion. 

The student can take the examination, even separately, for the first and second modules.
After having supported and passed the exam for the first module, the student can take the oral examination for the second module within the next exam session.

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.

Course books

First module:

- M. Ciambotti, Strategic management system. Theory, models and planning systems, Giappichelli, Turin, 2005 (chapters 1 and 2);

- M. Ciambotti, The influence of cultural factors on the managerial control, Lint, Trieste, 2001 (chapter five);

- F. Berti, The system of budgets, Cedam, Padua, 1995.

Second module:
- M. Ciambotti, Strategic management system. Theory, models and planning systems, Giappichelli, Turin, 2005 (section 3 in chapter 8 inclusive).

For a discussion of the issues relating to the control systems, but not as a text for the exam, you may read M. Ciambotti, Control systems in international joint ventures, Lint, Trieste, 1995. 

Assessment

An oral examination. The evaluation criteria are as follows:
- the relevance and effectiveness of the responses with reference to the contents of the program;
- the level of the responses' articulation;
- the adequacy of the used terminology.

Each of the criteria is evaluated based on a four-level scale with an equal weight assigned to each criterion. 

The student can take the examination, even separately, for the first and second modules.
After having supported and passed the exam for the first module, the student can take the oral examination for the second module within the next exam session.

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.

The student can request to sit the final exam in English with an alternative bibliography.