Insegnamento a.a. 2026-2027

The most important topics we consider during this course are the following:

• The design of performance measurement and control systems consistently with strategies and organizational choices.
• The preparation of profit plans and their use to control and evaluate a firm’s performance.
• The use of strategic profitability analysis to interpret and drive organizational units’ as well as managers’ performance.
• The application of asset allocation techniques that aid making decisions on investments.
• The use of transfer prices in managing business units of multinational companies.
• The definition and use of non-financial performance indicators and the design of integrated reporting systems.
• The calculation and application of value-based measures.
• The identification of the behavioural and organisational consequences of using performance measurement and performance management techniques for motivating managers and employees.

•    Setting Performance Measurement Systems and Strategy
•    Reading performances through Financial Statements: Income Statement
•    Reading performances through Financial Statements: Balance Sheet
•    Reading performances through Financial Statements: Ratio Analysis
•    Reading Financial Statements of "for-profit organizations" (Companies)
•    Cash Flow Statement "for-profit organizations" (Companies)
•    Building a Balanced Scorecard to Evaluate Performance
•    Using of information and nature of controls
•    Linking performance measurement systems and Organization design
•    Creating a Business Plan
•    Designing Asset Allocation Systems
•    Prepare a Budget
•    Aligning Performance Goals and Incentives
 

•     Analyzing Performance Measures,
•     Setting Plans and Goals, 
•     Creating a scorecard system
•     Designing incentive systems

• Lectures
• Guest speaker's talks (in class or in distance)
• Practical Exercises
• Collaborative Works / Assignments

The learning experience of this course includes, in addition to face-to-face lectures, case discussions, group works, real examples and interactions with guest speakers from companies that are coping with specific PM&CS issues.

• As we use case studies and simulations from the Arts and Entertainment industries, describing “real-life” situations and showing that there are several possible solutions to multifaceted problems, students deal with the identification and analysis of complex, open-ended issues. This is expected to enhance their ability to sift through information. To identify the salient issues is a vital skill in business today as managers in practice face the problem of dealing with large volumes of written material. The cases required for this course should thus be seen as important preparation for their career. Besides, to actively participate to case discussion and interact with guest speakers, students need to use their communication and interpersonal skills. Finally, for group case discussions and assignment preparation, students work as a member of a team in analysing problems, searching for relevant information and preparing and presenting reports.

Students that do not participate to group assignments are considered non regularly attending students. For these students the valuation will be based on a final written exam that will consist of essay questions, relating the whole Syllabus of the course, cases included.

It will last 90 minutes and will be organized in exercises and open questions.

The main course material, for both attending and non-attending students, is:

• R. SIMONS, Performance Measurement and Control Systems for Implementing Strategy, Pearson New International Edition.  Book chapters are already available on Harvard Business School Press website (hbsp.harvard.edu) or on Case Centre (www.thecasecentre.org)
• In addition to Simons’ textbook, slides and some other materials (articles, videos, useful links, etc.) are provided during the course. Students  need to refer to the Bboard platform and the "Course Reserve" platform provided by the Library.