This course has three objectives:

1. To provide conceptual tools for analyzing firms’ behavior in relation to internal organizational, strategic and management       aspects, as well as 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 for analyzing and managing 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 types of firms.
• The second part of the course focuses on the strategic management of the company, examining business growth processes and key decisions regarding corporate and competitive strategies.
• The third part of the course explores the main paths of business growth, in terms of external behaviour (internationalization processes, social responsibility) and internal organization, with the emphasis on the management of technological innovation, operational activities (purchasing, production, logistics) and markets interactions (marketing and distribution).

Knowledge and understanding: students must gain adequate knowledge and an effective comprehension of business management contexts and approaches.

Applying knowledge and understanding: students must be able to apply acquired knowledge and analyze specific problems related to various contexts, characterized by firms of 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 must master the technical language of business management to communicate clearly with specialized actors (managers, experts, academics), while also developing relational and communication skills with non-specialized actors.

Learning skills: students must develop adequate learning skills 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 various teaching methods:

• Lectures
• Individual and group exercises, and report writing
• Oral presentations of exercises and discussions

Innovative teaching methods

The in-person teaching method will be enriched with group exercises and in-depth studies based on problem-solving, which 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-ended 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 to demonstrate:

• Their ability to frame the studied concepts;
• Their mastery of the issues and concepts addressed during the course;
• Their ability to apply these concepts to understand, critically evaluate, and solve situations and problems related to the economics and management of companies;
• Their ability to explain their arguments rigorously and concisely within a limited time, using appropriate language.
• The assessment of the student's level of preparation will consider the evaluation of each individual exam question (maximum 6 points for a correct answer), and the work done by the student (if attending) during the year (up to 2 additional points added to the final evaluation).

  The time available to answer the 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-ended 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 to demonstrate:

• Their ability to frame the studied concepts;
• Their mastery of the issues and concepts addressed during the course;
• Their ability to apply these concepts to understand, critically evaluate, and solve situations and problems related to the economics and management of companies;
• Their ability to explain their arguments rigorously and concisely within a limited time, using appropriate language.
• The assessment of the student's level of preparation will consider the evaluation of each individual exam question (maximum 6 points for a correct answer), and the work done by the student (if attending) during the year (up to 2 additional points added to the final evaluation).

  The time available to answer the 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.