Course 2022-2023 a.y.

Classes: 31 (II sem.)

Instructors:
Class 31: PAOLA DUBINI

Content industries are undergoing structural changes driven by both technological innovations and customer behaviors. This course will provide an overview of the transformations taking place in content and media industries and will focus in particular on the specificities of book publishing, news, games, and their interplay with advertisers, with the goal of both getting a hands-on perspective on specific competitive environments and seeing how similar challenges are addressed differently across increasingly converging competitive spaces. Legacy organizations, platforms, new players, will be critically examined, addressing the conditions for the economic viability of different business models. Through this course, students will • analyze digitalization as a context for content industries transformation and the implications of interplatform competition in changing boundaries of firms and the competitive environment for players in the content sectors; • examine the different roles of citizens, the public, and consumers in content access, use, diffusion, and co-creation; • analyze the evolution of offering configuration and changes in the value appropriation processes By the end of the course, students will be able to • understand the specificities of book, news, games, and advertising industries, how value is appropriated and is affected by digitalization and platforms • apply the concepts examined in class to specific field projects

The course is logically divided into the following parts:

- the creation of a technology-driven converging competitive space and a platform-driven economy. This part will focus on platforms as disruptors, it will look at the interplatform competition and the evolution of the sources of competitive advantage in content industries. It will also address the challenges to society at large associated with their pervasiveness, size, and aggressive growth strategies;  

- the analysis of the challenges and specificities of the book publishing industry. It is the oldest content industry, critical for knowledge diffusing and ideas certification, which apparently has been marginally hit by digitalization (is this so?). This section will provide opportunities to reflect on legacy media strategies to protect a competitive environment, on the importance of niches, and on substitution and complementarity among content industries. A comparison with the evolution of digital-only content sectors (games and apps) will trigger reflections on different value propositions.

- managerial headaches in the news and advertising sectors. This section will examine issues of customer engagement, taking into consideration the importance of digital platforms in controlling the digital advertising sector; different value propositions will be taken into consideration, discussing the strategies for reputation enhancement  

- the last section will wrap up the issues emerging throughout the semester by looking at the interplay between data and technology evolution in addressing information and entertainment needs.  

 

At the end of the course student will be able to...

- be informed of the key elements shaping competitive strategies in the sectors considered;

- understand value appropriation mechanisms in content industries;

- frame challenges addressed by companies defining multichannel  and multi engagement strategies.

 

At the end of the course student will be able to...

- address the interplay between content players and platforms; 

- assess the managerial challenges facing news and book publishers in their effort to develop and protect competitive advantage and to create value;

- propose competitive moves to players in the sectors considered;

- strengthen their leadership and teamwork skills through project work 

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

The course is highly participative. Students are encouraged to suggest challenges and topics to be introduced in overall discussions.

Guest speakers will provide insights on industry dynamics and challenges in specific segments;

Case studies and incidents have been chosen to exemplify some of the issues addressed in class and to trigger individual students' curiosity;

 

	Continuous assessment	Partial exams	General exam
Written individual exam (traditional/online)			x
Group assignment (report, exercise, presentation, project work etc.)			x

The course provides 6 credits. This course is interactive in nature and is based on active participation. Therefore, it has been designed in the hypothesis that students do want to take this course and are genuinely interested in taking part in class activities. There are significant advantages if you take this course as an attending student:

 

• your learning experience is going to be richer than if you take the course as a non-attending student;
• you will have the possibility to interact with peers, faculty, and guests on ongoing changes affecting organizations in the industries considered.

 

You will obviously have the possibility to take the course as a non-attending student. Non-attending students are recommended to read the materials provided thoroughly and gather as much evidence as possible on the examples discussed in class. We understand that various constraints may hinder class participation and firmly believe that non-attending students have equal opportunities, though surely a less enriching learning experience.

 

If you decide you want to be an attending student, you have to be aware that this course is hands-on in nature; the course is rich in examples and cases. It is important that you come to class prepared and ready to take part. Also, industries are undergoing very rapid changes. So, you are encouraged to do individual research on the topics. 

 

For students attending the course, the exam will consist of:

 

A group project, presented on the last day of class and in written form as well, counts for 50% of the final grade. Both the material provided and the presentation will be evaluated. The written test can be a word or a detailed ppt file.

The group project will be evaluated on the following elements:

- the ability to frame the issue;

- depth of analysis;

- originality of ideas;

- quality/style  of presentation.

 

A final individual essay accounts for 50% of the total grade. The final individual essay can be a comment to a newspaper article on a company in the sectors considered or a self reflection on one of the topics covered in class.

 

Faculty will reserve the right to give up to ONE point for active class participation.

 

For students not attending the course, the exam will consist of a final essay accounting for 100% of the total grade.

 

IMPORTANT:

For Bocconi University to testify you took the course and passed it, you must enroll in one official exam session (i.e., an exam session scheduled by Bocconi University and listed on your agenda).

If you are an attending student, make sure you enroll in the first available exam session.

Attending students failing to do this will be considered non-attending students.

 

 

 

Attending students

·       Materials available in digital form on Bocconi e-learning platform, Bboard.

·       Specific material on course reserve

 

Non-Attending students

·       Materials available in digital form on Bocconi e-learning platform, Bboard.

·       Specific material on course reserve