Ateneo - UPO

The I part of the course:
• Introduction to business strategy: definitions compared;
• Analysis of industrial sectors;
• Identification of the strategic structure of the company;
• Evaluation of the business formula;
• Strategic management;
• Analysis of the structure of the private and public sector;
• The value network;
• Competitive dynamics;
• Strategic innovation.
• Corporate Social Responsibility;
• Business ethics.
Second part of the course: corporate governance:
adequacy of the governance, administrative and accounting structure;
early warning strategies to keep viability;
• the reference model;
• the principle of proportionality.

Reference texts for non-attending students:
- Corporate Level Strategy (with Collis, Montgomery and Molteni), McGraw-Hill, 2012
chaps. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8.
- P. Maggiolini (ed.) (2012), What is good for society and good for
the company, Franco Angeli, Milan - capp. 1,2,3,5 and a chapter chosen by the party
third of the book.
Reference materials for attending students:
Transparencies, exercises, case studies and articles are available in the space reserved for the course
on the ESE3 platform of the DISEI
Reference texts Part II of the course (Corporate governance):
- OIBR Notebook 7, “Non-financial information for adequate governance and for earlywarning in SMEs”, April 2022 – up to page 51
- Reference materials will be available on UPODir (Disei platform)

The course aims to develop in students a critical understanding of the objectives, of the
principles and methods of Strategic Management and Business Ethics in different contexts
profit, non-profit and public companies.
At the end of the course the students will acquire an understanding of the topics and the critical issues
referring to company strategy, social responsibility and business ethics, in their
theoretical and practical aspects and with reference to the national and international dimension.

Students who access the course must know the theoretical framework, the terminology
basic and the main tools related to general management theories.

The teaching activity includes lectures, seminars, exercises and case analysis. Lessons
give a picture of the main themes of business strategy, social responsibility and
business ethics. The seminars will offer an in-depth analysis of specific aspects and
they will allow to develop a critical understanding. The exercises and the analysis of the
cases will be used to discuss the practical implications of the topics covered

Project Work, Assignement in small groups and educational workshops with oral presentation
in the classroom (optional)

The exam is written and individual for students attending and not. The exam is written with
questions on strategic management (I part), business ethics and corporate issues
social responsibility (Part II).
A first intermediate test is scheduled after 30 hours, referring to the Strategic part
Management. At the end of the course there will be the second trial related to the part of Business
Ethics. The vote of the two tests will have a weight proportionate to the weight of the credits
correspondents. The answers will be evaluated specifically and the exam will be considered passed if you get the sufficiency in both parts of the course.

The first part of the course (4 CFU) is divided into two blocks:
First block:
- The boundaries of the sector analysis: definition, the fundamental factors of competition,
barriers to entry, internal competition, substitute products, the bargaining power of
buyers and suppliers;
- Basic competitive strategies: global cost leadership (levers and advantages),
differentiation (levers and advantages), segmentation (levers and advantages), differences between
strategies, half-completed strategies, the risks of basic strategies;
- Analysis of the internal structure of the sector: the components of the analysis of competition,
the objectives of the strategic units, the group objectives, portfolio analysis of the
competitors, analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of a competitor, the field of alternatives
strategies, groupings, rivalry between companies;
- The evolution of the sector: the life cycle of the product, the processes of change, i
changes in the sector; the strategy in the emerging sectors, characteristics of the sectors
emerging, the constraints to the development of the sector, the strategic alternatives, the moment
entry; the transition of the sector to the stage of maturity, characteristics of the sectors
mature, transition traps, the organizational implications of maturity;
- Strategic innovation management: Inventions and innovations, the process
innovation, profitability of innovation, the appropriateness of innovation rents,
strategies for economic exploitation;
- Company growth: growth strategies: intensive, integrative, for diversification;
advantages and disadvantages of vertical integration; concentric and pure diversification;
forms of growth: dimensional, relational, qualitative.
Second block:
- The strategic management that characterizes the management in the public and non-profit sector.
We analyze the different approaches, the logics and the tools within a vision
functional of the public interest aimed at reducing the overlap between strategies and
public policies.
Second part of the course:
- Corporate governance in going concern situation: the reference model and the principle of proportionality.
- Corporate governance for early warning and turn around: statutory auditors duties and supervision aimed at maintaining viability; the “practical test” for the reasonable pursuance of the recovery (Decreto Ministeriale Marzo 2023); the “detailed checklist” for drawing up the recovery plan and for analyzing its coherence (idem).

The last part of the course focuses on policies, tools and critical issues
relating to business ethics, corporate social responsibility and new forms of
social reporting.

1. Applying knowledge and understanding.
The knowledge acquired during the course will allow the student to use the strategic, managerial and organizational skills and competences to be applied in the business realities. In particular, the student must acquire the technical-economic language of the company disciplines and be able to formulate the economic analysis of the company processes and to understand the critical elements that characterize the areas of activity carried out by the company.

2. Making judgments.
The course will allow the student to develop an autonomy of judgment and will put the student in the conditions to express considerations regarding the company balances and management facts.

3. Communication skills.
On the basis of the acquired knowledge, the student will be able to develop communication and relational skills for the business consulting activity and to perform evaluations of a strategic nature, in the job positions related to the relative function.

4. Learning skills.
The study of the discipline will allow the student to understand the dynamics of the company framing the analysis of the single management moment in the unitary and coordinated vision of the business facts and the economic environment in which the company carries out its activity.