Course 2021-2022 a.y.

The course is divided into three modules:

1. Digital platforms and the new ecology for content production, diffusion and access.
2. Transformation of specific industries: Newspapers – books – music - advertising.  
3. Entrepreneurial and project management in content industries. These aspects are highlighted in specific sessions and are tested in practice through the field projects.

• Identify the drivers of transformation in content industries.
• Recognize different business models in content industries (mainly publishing, news, and music)  and assess value appropriation mechanisms.
• Compare business models across content industries and appreciate competition and cooperation opportunities.
• Analyse the transformation in consumption patterns for hedonic goods.

• Integrate knowledge, manage complexity, and make judgments even with partial information, in highly turbulent competitive environments.
• Test students' abilities in:
  • Problem setting and customer orientation (field projects).
  • Information selection and analytical skills in complex settings.
  • Problem solving and synthesis.
  • Synthesis and macro-trends elaboration (wrap-up case presentation).
  • Multimedia narratives and presentation (wrap-up case and field project presentation).
  • Constructive and active participation (class participation).

• Face-to-face lectures
• Guest speaker's talks (in class or in distance)
• Case studies /Incidents (traditional, online)
• Individual assignments
• Group assignments

• Guest speakers are involved to provide hands-on experiences and to give opportunities to students to meet potential employers.
• Case studies are chosen so as to highlight different mechanisms of value appropriation and to foster analytical skills.
• Individual assignment develops students' skills in  information selection and analytical skills in complex settings
• Group assignments allow for scenario building addressing "the next big thing" in content industries and are meant to work on problem-solving and synthesis.
• Moreover, assignments consist of field projects developed for specific external public or private "customers", that stimulate participants' abilities in problem setting and customer orientation (field projects).
• Several presentations and discussions strengthen students' ability to speak in public and to effectively present their ideas and fact-based narratives.

Attending students participate in class activity, and prepare all required tests (as detailed below). The status of attending students is valid until the June session of exams. Students not completing all requirements automatically become non-attending students.

students will be involved in individual written assignment regarding a specific topic or a specific company

group projects will be designed to allow students to

- get hands on experience on specific issues

- develop problem setting skills

- develop problem solving skills in turbulent settings

In class discussions will be organized, depending on the teaching setting available

The final exam is administered at the end of the course (May or June sessions). It takes the form of an essay, with articles or blog posts provided as starting point. The purpose of the exam is to assess the ability of students to address a specific issue with accuracy, but at the same time relate to a broader context in rapid transformation. In order to pass the exam, a minimum grade of 18/31 is required. The exam is open books. The essay accounts for 100% of the grade.

Course material are made available via course reserve or through EGEA. Slideshows with links to updated material available on the web are distributed via Bboard.