Business Management – Green Management and Sustainable Businesses

This course focuses on the main components of accounting, budgeting and cost analysis. In addition the course will train students on how to analyze economic-financial forecasts and budgets as well as understand the measurement and interpretation of the economic-financial performance of the company. Calculation and analysis in decision-making, management supervision, strategic control and strategic cost management will also be explored.

Corporate sustainability and the circular economy are currently among the most discussed topics internationally, also due to climate change. The aim of the course is to understand why these issues are of such importance, underlining their urgency. We will learn more about the innovation activities of operational and system processes that companies adopt to implement strategies aimed at the Circulary Economy and the transition to a low carbon business model.

The course focuses on issues related to the management of materials along the supply chain, from suppliers to distribution channels. In this regard, they have a vital role. Managerial and organizational decisions made about the relationships with external companies with which we relate to, are the focal point of the course. In analyzing the vertical relationships between firms, the course seeks to develop: sensitivity to the Strategic Importance of the reports, the technical and managerial knowledge needed to deal with the decisions in the matter and organizational skills needed to manage them.

The course aims to introduce students to the most relevant issues (foundational and more advanced) of digital technologies, discussing the most important present and future consequences on the lives of individuals and on the structure and functioning of organizations and processes. The course consists of 5 seminars: Ai & Machine Learning, All-in Security, Cloud & Beyond, The Science of Data, Internet of Things.

The objective of the course in Digital Marketing is to provide the necessary knowledge for successfully implementing a marketing strategy utilizing new information technology, analyzing the needs of the client, the company communication and sales. A principally quantitative approach for measuring the effectiveness of Digital Marketing activities, which finds their natural application in an online context (e.g. Social Media, E-Commerce, Direct Marketing), without overlooking the application of new technologies in an offline context (e.g. Apps and Mobile Marketing in a modern Retailing environment). At the end of the course, it is expected that the students will have acquired a high level of knowledge on the main tools used in the field of Digital Marketing, allowing them to: define and implement a coherent Digital Marketing strategy; select the best suited tools based on strategic objectives; monitor the effectiveness by means of rigorous analytical procedures.

Introduction to marketing research: descriptive analysis. Utilizing probability and hypothesis in marketing research. Design and technical development finalized for collecting primary data. Data analysis: regression. Segmentation and clustering techniques. Perceptual maps and positioning.

This course enables executives to use financial tools to make better decisions. The teaching method combines class lectures and discussions to case studies and spreadsheet modelling to get a deeply and insightful understanding of topics in corporate finance. These topics include, but are not limited to, capital budgeting, project and company valuation and the optimal financing and hedging decisions.

From the business model to the operational marketing plan. The fundamental conceptual and quantitative tools necessary for understanding, analyzing and constructing the relationship a company establishes with its market of interest: the centrality of the client, studying acquired behavior, the processes of segmentation and positioning, the development of new products and the spread of innovation, pricing decisions, distribution and communication.

The course analyzes various areas of green management and sustainability. The traditional and innovative business models connected to sustainable energy, with cost / incentive analysis, with regard to how companies use these energy sources in Italy and abroad, and to the connection with the general and public electricity distribution networks. The cycle and (re) cycle of materials for packaging, for management and recovery of pet and glass, with analysis of process efficiency. Analysis of the food supply chain, with particular reference to the organic sector.

The course is based on the principles related to the evolution of the planet and the world of industry (Industry 4.0), outlining, in parallel, a new figure of managers, increasingly attentive to sustainability issues and achievable sustainable goals as well as to valorisation of themselves: a green manager. Emission reduction, recycling, new production and management processes, attention to the entire product life cycle, are just some of the actions related to Corporate Social Responsibility issues that can be implemented and can benefit or stimulate technological innovations that we live in everyday life. The topics of the course will include: the basic concepts of economics and environment policy for the transition of managers and businesses to a sustainable economy, businesses and territories, national, European and international regulatory dictations, the competences of the green manager, the phenomenon from the point of view of the enterprise and the consumer, the operating tools. At the end of the course, the student will have acquired the following skills: how to manage an enterprise with an innovative cultural perspective that at the same time allows to achieve the expected economic outcomes considering its territory as an added value, safeguarding and communicating to the market in a correct manner their behavior.

“Sustainability,” a much used and sometimes abused word by companies and entrepreneurs. Sustainability means not only “doing the same things better,” but also “doing things differently” and “doing them with others.” These different approaches to sustainability also imply different performance and outcomes for businesses and companies, performance that must be measured, in order to be better managed. This course will address these issues by analyzing how to measure sustainability within enterprises and organizational ecosystems, with a focus on developing management control dashboards, developing key performance indicators, and setting performance targets.