Information systems, which integrate different information and network technologies for the management of companies and for their access to markets, play a vital role in every private and public organisation. The course is organised in three parts that deal with aspects related to the use of information and communication technologies within the company and for the knowledge of the reference market.
The aim of the first part of the course is to frame the modern concept of Integrated Business Information System as a key variable in the functioning of the enterprise through the knowledge of the related platforms and software tools.
The second part of the course is dedicated to learning basic concepts related to some statistical and econometric software for data analysis that will allow to better face the third part of the course related to analysis tools for territorial marketing. In this last part of the course, economic processes, purchasing and market analysis will be dealt with from a laboratory perspective in order to acquire applicative knowledge, too.

Part 1: Corporate information tools

• Corporate information systems
• Architecture of management processes
• Web Information System
• ERP systems: structure and processes, administrative, logistics, sales, purchasing areas
• Operational systems complementary to and primarily supporting ERP; ERP extensions and customer integration: CRM systems; E-commerce, Analytics, Salesforce modules
• Business Intelligence platforms, Datawarehousing and OLAP analysis, Data mining for Big Data

Part 2: Outlines of statistical and econometric software for data analysis

• R, STATA, Weka, RapidMiner
• Database for Business Informatics (Database, MSAccess, SQL)

Part 3: Tools for spatial marketing

• Spatial information systems, GIS systems for spatial visualisation and analysis 
• Economic processes in space (Spatial patterns)
  • Spatial correlation
  • Hot Spot Analysis
  • Spatial impact analysis
  • Spatial clusters
• Social Network Analysis, User-Generated Content and Real-time analysis:
  • Methods for the description and exploration of social networks
  • Social network analysis
  • Sentiment analysis
  • Google trends analysis (Twitter, Facebook and Google API)
• Analysis of local markets and purchase choices
  • Market segmentation analysis
  • Market basket analysis
• Monitoring of marketing campaigns: Dashboards (Tableau, Shiny software) and real time dynamic documents

At the end of the course, the student should be able to use the acquired notions to analyse the company and its reference markets:

Knowledge and understanding: at the end of the course, the student will know the different methods by which to analyse the company and its reference market. Furthermore, the student will acquire competences with reference to the different methods of analysis available and their treatment.

Applying knowledge and understanding: the student will be able to analyse the company and its market by means of quantitative (objective) and subjective methods, and to evaluate their effectiveness.

Making judgements: the student will be able to identify and analyse the information needed to solve the problems faced, to choose the most suitable methodology for the particular problem and to evaluate the goodness of the solutions found.

Communication skills: students learn to communicate the results of the analyses carried out with the help of reports and synthetic graphs. In some cases, students learn to work in working groups, sharing tasks for the realisation of application exercises.

Learning skills: At the end of the course, students will have acquired a good autonomy in the management of quantitative information and in the application of the acquired techniques, as well as the ability to critically evaluate the results of their own analyses. Also in the light of the knowledge acquired in other courses.

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

• Frontal lessons
• Exercises in the classroom
• Exercises at home

Innovative teaching methods

Debate: During the brainstorming phase on the assigned topic, the students are divided into teams, one for and one against. They are then tasked to participate in a debate on the key topic established in the preparatory phase.

Problem-based learning: To facilitate problem-based learning within small groups, the classroom environment will be organised to encourage collaborative work in small groups, preferably of 6-8 students.

Attendance

Highly suggested

Course books

Reference book:

G. Bracchi, C. Francalanci, G. Motta (2010) “Sistemi informativi d’impresa”, McGraw-Hill, ISBN:8838663289 - chapters 1,2,3,4,5 and 9

Students wait for further guidance from the lecturer before purchasing the reference book.

Integrated with slides

Assessment

Oral examination. The examination is given on all topics of the course with emphasis on connections between different topics and critical literature of case studies.

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

There are no changes in the conditions for non-attending students 

Attendance

There are no changes in the conditions for non-attending students 

Course books

There are no changes in the conditions for non-attending students 

Assessment

There are no changes in the conditions for non-attending students 

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.