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 and of the financing options for business growth and investment.

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

Details of the arguments are provided below

1. The firm and the competitive environment: an evolutionary analysis

2. The variety of national and sectoral contexts

3. The variety of firms induced by endogenous factors

4. Business development: strategies, models and tools for growth

5 Analysis to support strategic decisions

6 Corporate strategies

7 Business strategies

8 Strategies for dealing with the corporate crisis

9 Innovation strategies

10 Corporate Social responsibility strategies and the sustainable economy

11 Methods and processes for implementing strategies

12 Organizational planning strategies

13 Financing for development

14 Marketing

15 Production

16 Logistics and supply chiain management 

17 Service management processes

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

Innovative teaching methods

We will do some group works concerning economics and management of the firms

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

Tunisini A., Ferrucci L., Pencarelli T.,  (ed.2020), Economia e management delle imprese. Strategie e strumenti per la competitività e la gestione aziendale, Milano, HOEPLI (exluding chapter 11) 

See also the paper of Tonino Pencarelli on Service managemetn processess, published on platform moodle. 

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 the 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 managemetn of companies;

- to be able to explain their arguments rigorously and in limited time, using an 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 correct answer), of possible in-depth analysis with a couple of oral questions 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 135 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.

Teaching

Non-attending students are invited 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 journals (The Economist).

Attendance

Non-attending students are invited to contact the Course Teacher in order to gain a better understanding of the final exam structure and content.

Course books

Tunisini A., Ferrucci L., Pencarelli T.,  (ed.2020), Economia e management delle imprese. Strategie e strumenti per la competitività e la gestione aziendale, Milano, HOEPLI (exluding chapter 11) 

See also the paper of Tonino Pencarelli on Service management processess, published on platform.

To give students and non-attending students the opportunity to compensate for what was done during the lessons with independent study, the following materials referring to the same contents of the program are indicated in order to promote full understanding: slides by the teacher.

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 the 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 strategic governance of companies;

- to be able to explain their arguments rigorously and in limited time, using an 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 correct answer), and of possible in-depth analysis with a couple of oral questions.

The time available to answer written questions is 135 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.