This course has three objectives:

1. To provide conceptual tools to analyze firms’ behavior in relation to internal organizational, strategic and management aspects, and to the external competitive system;

2. To examine the variety of firms in terms of sector, size, and location;

3. To develop capabilities in using operational tools and methodologies to analyze and manage firms.

The first part of the course analyses the founding elements of the firm, the interaction between the firm and the external environment and the main typologies of firms.

The second part of the course is focused on the strategic management of the company, examining business growth processes and the main decisions on corporate and competitive strategies.

The third part of the course examines the main paths of business growth, in terms of external behaviour (internationalization processes, social responsibility) 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 analyze specific problems related to a variety of contexts, characterized by firms with different sizes and resources, taking into account various types of competencies.

Making judgments: students have to be able to use acquired knowledge both in conceptual and operational terms, with autonomous judgment capacity and exploiting various competencies 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

The course involves the use of different teaching methods:

- frontal lessons;
- individual and group exercises and report writing;
- oral presentation of exercises and discussion.
 

Innovative teaching methods

Problem-based learning. The frontal teaching method will be enriched by individual and group exercises and in-depth studies to solve problems that students will carry out using the University's Moodle platform.

Course books

References will be provided at the beginning of the course.

Assessment

The assessment takes place through a written test, consisting of 5 open questions on the topics covered during the course. The evaluation of the responses will take into account the degree of knowledge of the topic, the completeness, and the clarity of exposition.

The student must answer the questions in order to demonstrate:

- to know how to frame the studied concepts;

- to have acquired mastery of the issues and concepts dealt with during the course;

- to be able to apply these concepts for the purposes of understanding, critical evaluation, and the solution of situations and problems related to the economics and management of companies;

- to be able to explain their arguments rigorously and in a limited time, using appropriate and concise language.

The assessment of the student's level of preparation will be carried out by taking into account the evaluation of each individual exam question (maximum 6 points for a correct answer), and of the work done by the student (if attending) during the year (maximum 2 points higher than the final evaluation).

The time available to answer written questions is 90 minutes.

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

References will be provided at the beginning of the course.

Assessment

The assessment takes place through a written test, consisting of 5 open questions on the topics of the programme. The evaluation of the responses will take into account the degree of knowledge of the topic, the completeness, and the clarity of exposition.

The student must answer the questions in order to demonstrate:

- to know how to frame the studied concepts;

- to have acquired mastery of the issues and concepts dealt with during the course;

- to be able to apply these concepts for the purposes of understanding, critical evaluation, and the solution of situations and problems related to the economics and management of companies;

- to be able to explain their arguments rigorously and in a limited time, using appropriate and concise language.

The assessment of the student's level of preparation will be carried out taking into account the evaluation of each individual exam question (maximum 6 points for a correct answer).

The time available to answer written questions is 90 minutes.

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.