Learning objectives
The objective of the course consists in presenting the main models and tools for business management. The course aims first to provide a wide-ranging reading of the interrelations that the company puts in place with the external context and of the governance systems that it can adopt for the pursuit of its objectives. Subsequently, the course illustrates the sources of information used by management to assess the impact of the company's strategic and operational decisions, also addressing the problem of decision-making systems through which it intends to ensure consistency between decisions and objectives.KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING: At the end of the course the student will have to know the fundamental principles of the business economy. In particular, through the lectures held during the course, the student will acquire knowledge of the tools and techniques of balance sheet’s analysis, costing and evaluation of industrial investments.APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING: Through practical exercises, students learn how to apply the knowledge acquired in a real business context. In particular, the student will have to apply the acquired knowledge and draw up, read and analyze a balance sheet, calculate the cost of a product / service, evaluate the convenience in making an investment project.MAKING JUDGEMENTS: The student will have to be able to critically evaluate the general performance of a company, and in particular to analyze its balance sheet data, evaluate the convenience in realizing a specific product or in undertaking a specific investment project.COMMUNICATION SKILLS: Through the lectures and the comparison with the professor, the student acquires the specific vocabulary of the business economy. It is expected that, at the end of the course, the student is able to transmit, in oral and written form, the main contents of the course, and to present in a clear manner the results of analysis and economic evaluations.LEARNING SKILLS: The student who has attended the course will be able to deepen his knowledge in the field of business economics through the independent consultation of specialized texts, scientific or popular journals, even outside the topics investigated during the course, in order to effectively deal with the inclusion in the world of work or undertake further training courses.
Prerequisites
None
Course unit content
The course aims to introduce students to the use of conceptual tools and operating techniques useful to understand and address the economic dimension of the enterprise, with particular reference to the financial statements (part I), cost analysis techniques (part II) and capital budgeting (part III). As for the first part, both theoretical and practical aspects of the balance sheets are analysed, followed by the main balance indicators. In the second part of the course, after introducing the cost concept and the classification criteria, the main costing methodologies (namely, full costing and direct costing), the main criteria for the so called “cost-volumes-results analysis” are discussed. Finally, the last part of the program presents the main financial instruments for evaluating an industrial investment.
Full programme
PART I: BALANCE SHEET AND INCOME STATEMENT
The balance: Financial accounting; Accounts documents (list of assets, financial state); Reading the statement of accounts.
PART II: COSTING
Cost classification systems; Cost-Volume-Profit analysis; Full costing: Cost allocation; Job costing; Process costing.
PART III: CAPITAL BUDGETING
Basic concepts: Basic concepts of investment analysis; Cash flow and investment evaluation method: Discounted Cash Flow techniques; Net present value; Internal rate of return; Profitability Index; Pay-Back period
Bibliography
The suggested book is “Economia Aziendale" (a.a. 2018-19, Barbara Bigliardi, Create McGrawHill – ISBN: 9781307308655). Moreover, the notes of the professor, as well as exercises, their solutions and all the supporting material used during the lessons will be available for students on the home page of the course on the web platform Elly.
In addition, the students may refer to the following secondary books:
- Anthony, R.N., Hawkins, D.F., Macrì, D.M., Merchant, K.A., (2005), “Analisi dei costi”, McGraw-Hill, Milano
Teaching methods
The class will combine in-class explanation of the background material, problem solving and case discussions. The theory in-class explanations will offer a comprehensive overview on management issues in companies. They will cover management issues in main functional areas of a company, quantitative analysis and the reporting of business activities. Therefore, appropriate systems and instruments of internal and external accounting and financial management will be presented in general. Also, discounted cash flow techniques for investment appraisal will be addressed.
During the problem solving and case discussions, the student should apply the main concepts acquired during the in-class theory lectures.
Assessment methods and criteria
The final exam consists in a written test and an optional oral test.
The written test, lasting 1,5 hours, covers the whole course program, includes 10 theory questions (3 points/question) and 3 exercises (10 points/exercise). Students have to reach the passing mark (18/30) in both parts. The final mark is calculated as average of the marks obtained in the two parts of the written test. Students who must take a further oral examination is at the discretion of the professor. Each student may require to have this oral exam in order to improve the result obtained with the written test. The honors are awarded in the case of reaching the maximum score on each part of the written test, together with the mastership of the economic language.
Only for the student that will attend lectures, it is possible to realize 2 written tests during the course. The written tests will be agreed with students at the beginning of the course, and will have the same structure of the final exam.
Students have to register to the exam, exclusively via internet (https://unipr.esse3.cineca.it) until 7 days before the exam.
A non-programmable calculator can be used during the exam, but it is not allowed the use of books, notes and other teaching materials.
During the academic year, 7 exams will be scheduled (in addition to the written test during the course), divided in three sessions January/February and March/April, June-July, and September. Three exams will be planned in the session immediately after the end of the course (January/February and March/April), two in the remaining sessions.
Other information
Non-attending students are recommended to periodically check the available teaching material and the instructions provided by the professor on the Elly web platform, this is e only professor/student communication tool. On this web platform, the slides used during the lessons and any additional material provided by the teacher will be uploaded weekly.
