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., Ferrucci L. Pencarelli T., «Economia e management delle imprese», second edition, Hoepli, Milano, 2020 (with the exception of chapters 8, 10, 13, 14, 15, 16 e 17). Alternatively, the first edition of the volume can be used: Tunisini A., Pencarelli T., Ferrucci L., «Economia e management delle imprese», first edition, Hoepli, Milano, 2014 (with the exception of chapters 8, 10, 11, 12, 15, 17, 18, 19 e 20).
Latusi S., «Prodotto, Marca, Territorio». Franco Angeli, Milano, 2020 (with the exception of chapters 3, 4 e 6).
Teaching methods
The course will be held online. Lectures will be offered in live streaming via Teams or recorded and uploaded on the Elly platform. During streaming lectures students will have the chance to interact with the teacher, join open discussions on course topics and work in teams. Within the course students will have the chance to attend business seminars and to be engaged in case discussions and group works.
• 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.
To achieve an effective preparation for the exam you can rely on your notes taken during streaming lectures, on recorded online lectures and slides.
Assessment methods and criteria
Examination procedure in the presence of health restrictions due to the pandemic
The learning outcomes will be assessed through an online oral exam (via Teams). Depending on the number of students, the exam might last several days. Each student regularly enrolled in the exam will be notified by email via Esse3 on the date and time of his/her oral exam at least the day before the official date of the exam. Students must respect the deadlines for registering for the exam, uploading their I.D. (up to 2 days before the date of the official exam) and connecting on the date and time communicated.
During the exam, the use of any type of notes, books, phones, media etc. is strictly forbidden, with the exception of the device used to connect.
During the exam, the followings are assessed: the achieved knowledge and understanding capabilities, ability to apply the acquired knowledge, autonomy of judgment, ability to learn and to communicate with an appropriate technical language.
Students who participated in the project work can replace an exam question with the project work grade. The project work grade can be used by the student only once (even if he/she retires, does not accept the exam grade or fails the exam) in one of the three exam sessions of May-July.
The final oral exam is evaluated on a 0-30 scale. “30 cum laude” will be awarded to those particularly deserving students who, in addition to having complied with the requirements necessary to obtain the full evaluation, during the exam have demonstrated an appreciable systematic knowledge of the topic, an excellent ability to apply the knowledge acquired to the specific problem, a considerable autonomy of judgment, as well as excellent communication skills.
Results will be published on the Esse3 platform when all students have taken the exam.
Examination procedure in the absence of health restrictions due to the pandemic
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 achieved knowledge and understanding capabilities, ability to apply the acquired knowledge, autonomy of judgment, ability to learn and to communicate with an appropriate technical language will be assessed through n. 3 open-ended questions, each worth 10 points.
Students who participated in the project work can replace an exam question with the project work grade. The project work grade can be used by the student only once (even if he/she retires, does not accept the exam grade or fails the exam) in one of the three exam sessions of May-July.
The duration of the final written test is 90 minutes.
The final written test is evaluated on a 0-30 scale. "30 cum laude" will be awarded to particularly deserving students who, in addition to complying with the requisites necessary to obtain the full evaluation, in the performance of the test demonstrate an appreciable systematic knowledge of the topic, an excellent ability to apply the knowledge acquired to the specific problem in question, a considerable autonomy of judgment, as well as a particular care in the formal drafting.
Results are published on the Esse3 portal within two weeks.
Other information
For further information please check the Elly page of the course.
