Course 2019-2020 a.y.

30060 - ECONOMIA AZIENDALE E GESTIONE DELLE IMPRESE / MANAGEMENT

Department of Management and Technology


For the instruction language of the course see class group/s below
Go to class group/s: 21 - 22
BIEF (10 credits - I sem. - OBBC  |  4 credits SECS-P/08  |  6 credits SECS-P/07)
Course Director:
ALESSANDRO MINICHILLI

Classes: 21 (I sem.) - 22 (I sem.)
Instructors:
Class 21: MARIO AMORE, Class 22: NICOLA MISANI


Class group/s taught in English

Mission & Content Summary

MISSION

The course introduces to the broad field of economics and management of firms; the basic concepts and theories of modern management are presented and discussed. The mission of the course, as well as its specific educational goals, can be summarized as follows: a) Make students aware of the complementary roles that different actors (individuals, organizations, institutions) play in modern economic systems. b) Develop a critical attitude regarding the objectives and the behaviour of people engaged in economic activity. c) Provide students with the fundamental concepts required for the economic analysis of firms' processes, as well as the ability to use them in basic situations. d) Provide a systematic picture of the wide range of decisions faced by managers and of the underlying economic analyses. The course is designed in the purpose to combine concepts and theory with the richness of firms' real life. For this reason, students are strongly encouraged to take an active part in the learning process.

CONTENT SUMMARY

The course reviews all the basic concepts of management, providing a comprehensive overview of the firm, its internal organization, and the relations with the competitive environment. More in details:

  • Introduction, theory of the firm and corporate governance.
  • The economic activity: organizations, firms, and economic specialization.
  • Theories of the firms: stakeholder versus shareholder view.
  • Behavioral assumptions: ethics and bounded rationality.
  • Protecting shareholders’ interests: corporate governance mechanisms.
  • Measuring performance for strategic analysis.
  • Introduction to strategy: creating competitive advantage.
  • Learning to read financial statements (income statement and balance sheet) as tools for representing and analyzing strategic decisions.
  • Measuring performance through financial ratios.
  • Strategic analysis and managerial decisions.
  • Strategic analysis: diagnosis, formulation, and implementation.
  • Strategic diagnosis: economies of scale, learning, scope, and transaction.
  • Strategy formulation: resources and competences.
  • Strategy implementation: Expanding scope, acquiring resources, aligning organization and people.
  • Organizational structures, mechanisms, and culture.
  • Aligning processes and people: leadership.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILO)

KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING

At the end of the course student will be able to...
  • Know the basic concepts and language of the economic analysis of firms' processes.
  • Know the wide range of decisions faced by managers and of the underlying economic analysis supporting them.

APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING

At the end of the course student will be able to...
  • Develop an awareness of the complementary roles that different actors (individuals, organizations, institutions) play in modern economic systems.
  • Develop a critical attitude regarding the objectives and the behaviour of people engaged in economic activity.
  • Being able to take basic managerial decisions, using the tools and decision-making models developed during the course.

Teaching methods

  • Face-to-face lectures
  • Exercises (exercises, database, software etc.)
  • Case studies /Incidents (traditional, online)
  • Group assignments

DETAILS

The course relies on a wide array and combination of teaching methods. More in details:

  • In-class exercises: quantitative exercises on the most common management decisions.
  • Theories and/or case studies discussions (in-class): discussion of real company cases, including analysis of their governance structure, strategy, and performance.
  • Oral presentations of individual/group assignments: presentation - in the last classes of the semester - by one or more team members, of the company projects realized by teams.
  • Group assignments: in depth analysis of a real company based on the different topics analyzed in the course.

Assessment methods

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

ATTENDING STUDENTS

The assessment of attending students is based on the following aspects:  

  • Written exam with open questions (alternatively, two partial or a single final general exam). The exam consists of theoretical and practical questions with analysis of real or realistic business cases, as well as exercises on a financial statement. The exam allows to assess students’ knowledge of the basic concepts and language of the economic analysis of firms' processes, and of the wide range of decisions faced by managers and of the underlying economic analysis supporting them. Through exercises, it is possible to assess the ability to take basic managerial decisions, using the tools and decision-making models developed during the course.
  • Evaluation of the presentation of a group assignment. The assignment consists in the preparation and illustration of a presentation relating to an overall structure of a real company. The assignment allows to assess the awareness of the complementary roles that different actors (individuals, organizations, institutions) play in modern economic systems, as well as to develop a critical attitude regarding the objectives and the behaviour of people engaged in economic activity.

NOT ATTENDING STUDENTS

The assessment method for non-attending students is based on a final written exam (alternatively, two partial or a single final general exam). It is composed of open theoretical questions related to concepts, models and examples contained in the texts and exam materials, plus exercises. The open questions are mainly aimed at verifying the learning of the concepts, methods and tools illustrated in the teaching material and their correct understanding, and therefore the full achievement of the expected learning outcomes of the Course.


Teaching materials


ATTENDING AND NOT ATTENDING STUDENTS

Required materials for attending and non-attending students:

  • MINICHILLI, Management, EGEA.
  • MINICHILLI, MISANI, A primer on organization and people management, McGraw Hill.
  • WALSH, Key Management Ratios, Prentice Hall, 2006.
Last change 27/05/2019 08:41