Abstract

This case focuses on the development of a flexible digital tool by Leithà S.r.l., a tech company that is part of the Unipol Insurance Group. The tool sought to allow insurance agencies to remotely communicate with their clients during the COVID-1 emergency. The case starts around March 2020, following the Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte’s announcement of a national “lockdown” for people and firms in order to contain the spread of the coronavirus. The first part of the case is dedicated to the debate on which project management method to adopt in the development of the tool: “Agile” or “Design Thinking”. The two methods will be briefly described and illustrated through examples from past projects.

Target for Teaching

• Digital Transformation
• Agile
• Design Thinking

Target audience and Issues

This case was developed with postgraduate students as the presumed target audience, specifically for a course in management sciences, as it offers practical insights and real life applications of some popular project management metho- dologies used today. In a project management course, the case would be particularly interesting for a session on digital transformation. The case could also be interesting in a financial markets course, because it presents the peculiar point of view of an insurance group. Young practitioners and PMOs (especially if working at tech firms) might also ap preciate the case, as it provides a useful example of how organisations can face emergencies, while fostering digital transformation. This case is probably not suitable for undergraduate students, as it implies strong background knowledge and an understanding of rather specialised topics.”

Teaching objectives

A number of learning objectives can be derived from this case, depending on the nature of the course and the key concepts that the instructor wants to convey. The following potential angles could be taken, either on their own or in combination:

• Learn about “Agile” and “Design Thinking” approaches to project
• Discuss project management approaches’ performance metrics and discuss whether some measures are more important than
• Discuss the role of digital transformation in the context of the insurance ”