Course 2024-2025 a.y.

The course is made up by two parts. Macro content items follow.

Part 1:

- Undrstanding financial statements

- Fundamental analysis

- Growth strategy and financial tensions: the logic behind target setting

- Market based measures, ESG and integrated reporting

Part 2:

- Management and control

- Financial responsibility

- Incentive systems

- Remedy to the miopia problem

- Uncontrollable factors

Understand balance sheets, income statements and statement of cash flow.

Undestand the fundamental financial performance measures used at company level

Understand models that link corporate strategy to financial performance targets

Understand some metrics Market based, and ESG based

Understand Financial responsibility structures

Understand Performance measures used in managerial evaluations

Undestand the structure of Incentive systems

Be able to read financial reports

Be able to carry out a fundamental analysis that include financial and non financial elements

Be able to link different performance dimensions

Be able to connect performance targets to strategy

Be able to evaluate the adeguacy of the performance measurement system in practice

Be able to suggest improvements in accounting systems

• Lectures
• Practical Exercises
• Individual works / Assignments
• Collaborative Works / Assignments

The course alternate traditional lectures to case and exercices, to get practice with topics covered. For attending students, it includes on-line individual assignments and two group works.

The evaluation of APT (Active partecipation track) students will be based on:

·         2 Group assignments (GA) (one for each part of the course) receiving a maximum of 10 points in total (6 points for the first assignment + 4 points for the second one); groups will be created at the beginning of the course. Group assignments consist in a case study to be prepared with your classmates and delivered within the due date. Only the second GA will be presented at the end of the course. The participation to both GA is necessary to stay in the APT. Detailed information will be uploaded on blackboard.

·         4 Individual assignments (IA) delivered during the course (2 for part1 and 2 for part2). Each IA will consist of 8 multiple choice questions to be solved in 12 minutes and will be delivered on-line through blackboard platform. No registration is required, and you can do the test at home. Each IA allows a max of 8 points. At the end of the course, students that have collected from 18 to 25 points) will receive 1 bonus point on the final grade; students that have collected more than 25 points will receive 2 bonus points. To keep the APT status, you need to participate to 3 out of 4 IAs.

·       The Final Exam. Time allowed: 75 minutes. Max points collectable with final exam for APT Students: 20.

APT students will have the following advantages:

-       Better learning

-       Better support in workload management

-       Less questions in the final exam, more time available to answer each question

-       A higher possible final grade (10+2+20= 32)

The final exam will be in class and on paper. Bring a calculator for quantitative exercises.

The evaluation of NPT students will be based, only, on the final exam. Time allowed: 75 minutes. All questions need to be answered and will be graded a maximum of 31 points.

NPT students will be allowed to test their preparation participating to Individual Assignments, but the points gained will not be considered for the final grade.

The final exam will be in class and on paper. Bring a calculator for quantitative exercises.

Teaching materials (slides and readings) both for in class activities than home activities will be uploaded on Blackboard Platform

Check Blackboard daily for class announcements and lecture notes/homework assignments.