Learning objectives
a. Knowledge and understanding
The purpose of the course is to introduce students to the main elements and key issues of firm’s management. In this perspective, the course provides the conceptual tools for describing and understanding the main environmental and business trends and for the firm’s strategic management in the era of globalization, knowledge economies and new technologies.
At the end of the course, the students will have acquired skills on the following topics:
− The firm’s environment, the firm’s industry, the firm’s strategic business unit
− Competitive advantage and business strategies
− The five competitive forces model
− The mobility barriers and the key success factors
− The strategies in International markets
− From transactions to relations
− Market as a network
− Resources, dynamic capabilities e competencies
− The territory and the firm’s competitive advantage
− The corporate strategies
− Organic growth, alliances, mergers and acquisitions
− Start-ups
− The role of the different business functions and the interrelationships between them
b. Applying knowledge and understanding
At the end of the course, the students will be able to:
- Explain relevant management theories and concepts;
- Discuss the issues underlying the evolution of the firm’s environment and competitive landscape;
- Describe the essential sources of the firm’s competitive advantage;
- Understand how the industry structure and its competitive forces influence the rules of the game and the strategies available to firms;
- Discuss the role of resources and competencies in the competitive success and as a basis for strategy formulation;
- Describe the role of inter-organizational relationships and the network based approach;
- Discuss corporate and business strategies;
- Highlight the key course topics and grasp the relationship between the different components of the course.
c. Making judgements
On the basis of the conceptual and operational tools acquired during the course the students will be able to:
- Analyze the changing competitive environment from the firm’s perspective;
- Describe the major challenges posed to firms by globalization, technological evolution and social, ethical and environmental issues;
- Evaluate the firm’s performance and strategies;
- Characterize the firms as a unique bundles of resources and competencies.
The students will be encouraged to develop their own independent judgment and critical thinking.
d. Communication skills
During the course, the students will acquire adequate communication skills aimed at transferring, in a clear and effective way, both information and concepts (even complex) related to specific issues of management thinking to different interlocutors (both academic and business). In addition, the students’ ability to adopt an "active listening” behavior, i.e. to understand concepts and languages used by businesses, will be put to the test. These skills will allow to develop the ability to prepare brief papers, or providing an oral summary on specific topics, also with the aid of information technology tools and media.
e. Learning skills
The main topics are detailed through the discussion of successful case studies in the Italian and international context. At the end of the course the students will have gained the ability to expand and update the level and range of the knowledge acquired from lessons and course textbooks.
Prerequisites
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Course unit content
The course aims to illustrate in a systemic way and in an evolutionary perspective the key issues of business management. Specifically, it is designed to provide the concepts and models for analyzing and understanding the competitive mechanisms, formulating strategies and managing business processes.
The course is divided into three sections that allow to grasp the evolution of management thinking and practices up to consider the most recent approaches. The first section has the objective to provide the conceptual tools that allow the analysis of the competitive environment. In the second part, the characteristics of management models are analyzed. The third section focuses on the main business management tools and pays particular attention to the management of processes.
In detail, the contents of the lectures are: The competitive analysis. Analysis of the industry and the competitive system. Globalization and its implications for corporate governance. The theory of resources and competencies. The territory and the firm's competitive advantage. The evolution of management models. The formulation of business strategies. Corporate strategies. Organic growth, alliances, mergers and acquisitions. Start-ups. Business functions and process management. Innovation and management of new technologies. From transactions to relations.
The course contents are declined in relation to the training project of CLEF and CLED curricula.
Full programme
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Bibliography
Tunisini A., Pencarelli T., Ferrucci L. «Economia e management delle imprese», Hoepli, Milano, 2014 (with the exception of chapters 8, 12, 15, 18)
Teaching methods
• Acquisition of knowledge: lectures and business seminars.
• Acquisition of the ability to apply the analysis methodologies: case study discussions and project works.
• Autonomy of judgment acquisition: educational workshops will stimulate the capacity for critical evaluation of the potential and limitations of the different methodological paths.
• Acquisition of learning skills: educational workshops will present problematic situations and stimulate to focus on the critical issues and to propose appropriate solutions.
• Acquisition of technical language: the meaning of the terms commonly used in the company will be illustrated during the lectures.
The slides used to support lectures will be loaded weekly on the Elly platform.
To download the slides, students need to enroll in the online course.
Assessment methods and criteria
The learning results will be assessed through a final written test.
The use of any type of notes, books, phones, media etc. is forbidden.
The knowledge and understanding achieved will be assessed with n. 2 open-ended questions, each worth 10 points, on relevant theoretical topics.
The ability to apply the acquired knowledge, the autonomy of judgment and the ability to learn will be assessed through n. 1 question of application content, worth 10 points.
The ability to communicate using the appropriate technical language will be assessed by evaluating the correct use of expressions / technical terms in the context of the answers given to the above questions.
The duration of the final written test is 90 minutes.
The final written test is evaluated on a 0-30 scale.
Results are published on the Esse3 portal within two weeks.
Students attending the course can opt for the modality: “in itinere test” + “final test”.
Specific information will be provided in the opening lecture.
Other information
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2030 agenda goals for sustainable development
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