BBS MEETS AEROPORTO DI BOLOGNA
31 July 2023COMPANY PROJECT WORK – MASTER BUSINESS MANAGEMENT/ GREEN MANAGEMENT AND SUSTAINABLE BUSINESSES
On July 25th, in the Bologna Business School classrooms at Villa Guastavillani, students from the Business Management Master, track Green Management and Sustainable Businesses presented their final work for the III annual Company Project Work.
Company Project Work is a curricular activity designed to put students and the business world in direct contact. Coordinated by professors Angelo Manaresi, Scientific Director of the Master’s program, and Barbara Lorenzini, Marketing lecturer at Bologna Business School, the Company Project Work involves four weeks of teamwork on a real case proposed by a company. A face-to-face approach to the dynamics of the corporate world to arrive with more awareness at the end-of-course internship.
The Kick-Off of Project Work for Bologna Airport was presented on June 27th by Tomaso Barilli, Head of Sustainability and HSE Manager, SDG Action Manager; Cristian Esposito, People Analytics & Process, SDG Action Manager; Giorgia Colella, Program Management & Transformation Office; and Luca Orlandi, Head of Infrastructure & Sustainability, PMO of Bologna Airport, Aeroporto di Bologna.
The project for Italy’s third-largest airport by cargo traffic and fourth-largest by passengers, set in a central location with high-life quality, was designed as the development of a business strategy focused on an ambitious sustainability budget.
Three points to challenge Bologna Business School students to find a benchmark with other related realities and estimate which SDGs (sustainable development goals) are most relevant; to propose an outline of priority SDGs for Aeroporto di Bologna highlighting goals and targets; and to carry out a gap analysis between the current DNF (Non-Financial Declaration, reporting with social and environmental aspects) presented by Aeroporto di Bologna and the new European CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) that recently came into force (January 5, 2023).
Students answered with an in-depth study of airports in Naples, Venice, Zaragoza, Amsterdam, Zurich and Swedavia, of which they analyzed greenhouse gas emissions and noise impact reduction, resource management and community and stakeholder engagement, and the level of protection of the surrounding natural environment. Sustainability reports were consulted, highlighting the most relevant SDGs and comparing targets and implemented actions. For each mapped SDG, actions and KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) were identified for the achievement of the targeted goals.
The group then analyzed three extra-airport cases to compare data from these realities. The students reviewed the Port of Genoa, the food company Fratelli Carli, and IGD, Italy’s first group among listed companies in the retail real estate sector (leader in the Shopping Center segment). Here, too, the students focused on SDGs and related KPIs.
Finally, the team identified the priority SDGs for Aeroporto di Bologna, relating the data to the requirements of the GRI standard (Global Report Initiative, an international nonprofit organization with the aim to set standards for sustainable performance reporting of companies and organizations) and those of the new European CSRD, identifying implementation steps and recommending some actions for Aeroporto di Bologna to take. These included improving communication and general marketing activities, monitoring air quality with the Planetwatch device and producing and using green hydrogen.
Challenging work, completed by Master’s students under the supervision and coordination of Professors Chiara Berti and Sara Zanni, with a complex and elaborate paper discussed in the classroom with executives from Aeroporto di Bologna.
Bologna Business School‘s Business Management Master is a curriculum that combines university education, Project Work and MGIncontri, meetings with executives ready to talk about their experiences. A global path designed to get students, also through the final internship in leader companies, into the business world (placement index over 90% six months after the conclusion of the Master’s program).
