Learning objectives
The students will acquire basic knowledge about main theories concerning cooperative strategies between firms and single agents and will be able to assess the feasibility of individual or collective course of action.
The course will focus on the analysis of the expected benefits and costs of the development of cooperative practices between firms. To this subject the first part of the course is dedicated. The second part will discuss the procedures partners selection and the role of governance mechanisms. The analysis will be extended to contractual safeguards and enforcement mechanisms. Finally, emphasis will be given to contextual, cultural and institutional factors impacting the decisions to start and develop cooperative practices.
At the end of the course students will have acquired:
a) the knowledge needed to identify the benefits but also the risks associated to the start of cooperative practices between firms;
b) the ability to apply the knowledge gained in operational contexts such as joint ventures, strategic alliance (in domestic as well as international contexts);
c) the critical capacity (independent judgment) to compare the different alternatives and make decisions rationally justified;
d) the basic skills in the assessment of the opportunities and the risks associated with the start of cooperative practices between firms;
e) the ability to learn through critical analysis of the solutions adopted
Prerequisites
Basic economics and statistics
Course unit content
1) Contents
• Definitions of strategic alliance
• Forms of inter-firm cooperation
• Empirical evidence
• Purposes & motives of strategic alliances
• Costs of inter-firm cooperation (I): Regulatory Costs
• Costs of inter-firm cooperation (II): Coordination Costs
• Risks
• Partner Selection
• Procedures & Norms
• Social Capital
• Trust
• Network Contractual Safeguards & Sanctions
• Structure & governance mechanism
• Failure & Success of strategic alliances
• Institutional Role
Full programme
• Definitions of strategic alliance
• Forms of inter-firm cooperation
• Empirical evidence
• Purposes & motives of strategic alliances
• Costs of inter-firm cooperation (I): Regulatory Costs
• Costs of inter-firm cooperation (II): Coordination Costs
• Risks
• Partner Selection
• Procedures & Norms
• Social Capital
• Trust
• Network Contractual Safeguards & Sanctions
• Structure & governance mechanism
• Failure & Success of strategic alliances
• Institutional Role
Bibliography
Reading list provided by the teacher.
Teaching methods
Acquisition of knowledge: lectures, classroom experiments and simulations, students work groups;
Acquisition of the ability to apply knowledge: case studies, exercises and classroom discussion;
Acquisition of judgment: comparison between alternatives and identifying the limits of the proposed solutions;
Acquisition of learning skills: general discussion of the results of experiments classroom students' presentations
Acquisition of technical language: explicit definition in the classroom of the meaning of the terms commonly used in the management of cooperative relationships between firms.
Assessment methods and criteria
Learning assessment is divided into two parts:
a) the presentation and classroom discussion of a paper and / or case study
b) written exam
Acquired knowledge will be assessed with 3 open-ended questions in the written exam. Each response will be evaluated up to 5 points;
The ability to apply knowledge will be assessed during the classroom presentation and the discussion that follows. The presentation will be evaluated up to 7 points;
The ability to communicate with the appropriate technical language will be assessed during the classroom presentation and the discussion that follows. The ability to communicate will be evaluated up to a maximum of 3 points;
The autonomy of judgment and the ability to learn will be assessed during the classroom presentation and the discussion that follows. The autonomy of judgment and the ability to learn will be assessed up to a maximum of 5 points.
Other information
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