Insegnamento a.a. 2019-2020

1. The first goal of the course is to advance your understanding of how financial statements are analyzed and used in various decision-making and investment settings. This goal is accomplished through four individual steps:
   • Business strategy analysis.
   • Accounting analysis.
   • Financial analysis.
   • Prospective analysis.
2. The second goal of the course is to focus on management and control systems for ensuring good enterprise control. Using financial controls requires managers to make decisions about:
   • Responsibility structures.
   • Performance measures.
   • Performance evaluations.
   • Rewards.

• Be knowledgeable users of financial statements as part of their professional responsibilities as financial analysts or managers.
• Understand the structure of performance measurement systems in complex environments.

Carry-out the following analyses:

• Business strategy analysis.
• Accounting analysis.
• Financial analysis.
• Analysis of responsibility and performance management systems.

• Face-to-face lectures
• Case studies /Incidents (traditional, online)
• Individual assignments
• Group assignments

• In class assignments (individual ) may be a short textbook problem, a set of questions related to an article discussed in class.
• Group assignments consists in a case study to be prepared with your classmates, but each student composes his or her answers, which are graded by instructors. 

• In class individual assignments: during the lessons, 4 small optional assignments are distributed to students without notice. The assignments are individually solved by students and returned to the instructor after 10-15 minutes. Each assignment receives a “pass or fail” grade. Each pass provides one additional point (there are no negative points for fails). In any case, the additional points accumulated during the lessons are optional and not necessary to reach the maximum grade. The points obtained trought in class assigment (max 4) will be added to the final grade (group assignments +final test).
• Group assignments: students have 2 group work (one for each part of the course). Groups are created by instructors, and include 4 students. Each student has a specific question to answer throught a ppt presentation. Each answer is evalutated separately. The grade is measured on base 31, and the weight of group works is 20% of the final grade
• Final written test: at the end of the course students undertake a final written exam. The grade is measured on base 31, and the weight of final test is 80% of the final grade. Students with group assignements can avoid to answer to two open question (one realted to each group assignment) but have the same overall time than other students.

• Slides, exercises and cases are uploaded on Bboard platform.
• Articles and papers (for the first part of the course) are uploaded on blackboard platform.
• Text book (for the second part of the course): K.A. MERCHANT, W.A. VAN DER STEDE, Management Control Systems: performance measurement, evaluation and incentives, 2017, 4th edition, (ISBN-13: 9781292110554 (print) / 9781292110585 (PDF) / 9781292181875 (ePub). Chapter included are specified in the detailed schedule).