Insegnamento a.a. 2020-2021

30402 - PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT

Department of Management and Technology

Course taught in English
Go to class group/s: 25
BEMACS (8 credits - I sem. - OB  |  SECS-P/07)
Course Director:
NICOLA MISANI

Classes: 25 (I sem.)
Instructors:
Class 25: NICOLA MISANI


Mission & Content Summary

MISSION

This course aims to provide the foundations of knowledge required to understand how business organizations work and how they can be management for the creation of economic and non-economic value for their key stakeholders: customers, employees, investors, business partners and social communities. It thus introduces the key concepts and theoretical frameworks related to some of the foundational questions in management.

CONTENT SUMMARY

  • Why do firms exist? What is their societal role?
  • How can they be governed?
  • What is performance and how it can be assessed through basic economic indicators?
  • What are the key strategic choices that firms make and how should they be approached?
  • How can firms’ activities be organized and their cultural traits assessed?
  • How can teams be managed and organizations be effectively led?

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILO)

KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING

At the end of the course student will be able to...
  • Define the basic structure of organizations and the way they carry out their activities.
  • Identify the complementary roles that different actors (individuals, organizations, institutions) play in modern economic systems,
  • Explain the behaviour of people engaged in economic activity in an organizational setting.
  • Describe the fundamental concepts required for the economic analysis of firms' processes.

APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING

At the end of the course student will be able to...
  • Compare the various elements that make up a business organization.
  • Evaluate the economic performance of firms and identify explanations for positive and negative results.
  • Anzlyze basic managerial decisions, using conceptual tools and decision-making models.
  • Connect the strategies and processes of firms to pressures and trends in their economic environment.

Teaching methods

  • Face-to-face lectures
  • Online lectures
  • Exercises (exercises, database, software etc.)
  • Case studies /Incidents (traditional, online)
  • Interactive class activities (role playing, business game, simulation, online forum, instant polls)

DETAILS

The course is based on active teaching methodologies aimed at maximizing students’ participation. In addition to theoretical sessions, students are involved in the discussion of case studies and incidents based on real-life examples. Theory and practice are combined dynamically, making room for quantitative exercises and in-class assignments to apply concepts.


Assessment methods

  Continuous assessment Partial exams General exam
  • Written individual exam (traditional/online)
  x x
  • Individual assignment (report, exercise, presentation, project work etc.)
x    

ATTENDING STUDENTS

The final grade consists of the following components: 

  • Partial written exam: 40%
  • End-of-term written exam: 40%
  • Short tests: 20%

The written exams test students' knowledge and understanding of the structure of organizations, their roles, their processes, and the organizational behaviour of people. These exams consist of a mix of multiple-choice questions, short exercises, and some short-essay questions (e.g. concept questions or cases analysis). Students need to achieve a passing grade in both written exams; those who fail the partial exam take a general exam (covering all the program of the course) at the end of the term, representing 80% of the grade.

The short tests are quizzes and exercises that are held during classes and focus on the students' ability to apply knowledge and understanding of all concepts of the course.

There will be four short tests during the term. To achieve the attending status, students will have to take at least three of them.


NOT ATTENDING STUDENTS

The grade is entirely based on a written exam that tests students' knowledge and understanding of the structure of organizations, their roles, their processes, and the organizational behaviour of people. This exam consists of a mix of multiple-choice questions, exercises, short-essay questions, and cases analysis.


Teaching materials


ATTENDING STUDENTS

  • MINICHILLI, ZOLLO, Management, EGEA (only selected chapters).
  • MINICHILLI, MISANI, A primer on organization and people management, McGraw Hill.
  • Cases and additional readings made available through Blackboard.

NOT ATTENDING STUDENTS

  • MINICHILLI, ZOLLO, Management, EGEA (all chapters).
  • MINICHILLI, MISANI, A primer on organization and people management, McGraw Hill.
  • Cases and additional readings made available through Blackboard.
Last change 26/08/2020 17:21