ADVANCED MANAGEMENT
Syllabus
EN
IT
Learning Objectives
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
This course aims to introduce students to the issues and challenges facing organisations in today's competitive business environment. The programme includes an overview on the evolution of Management Though by emphasizing the role of Institutional pressures in the Global Environment on organizational and management dynamics. A particular emphasis is placed on understanding how to develop Business Strategies, with a view on Innovation for Sustainability and Value Chain Management. With regard to that, the role of Advanced Information Technology will be clearly considered. The course will focus also on the role of metrics in Organizational Control and Change. This knowledge provides the students with an insight into the demands placed on management in today’s dynamic work environment.
In particular, expected learning outcomes are to:
• Understand and Evaluate the Role of Businesses in transformative processes, as the ecological and digital transition
• Understand and Analyse stakeholders’ pressures in the Global Environment
• Understand and Evaluate Business Strategies
• Recognize the role of Innovation in developing business models, products and services
• Understand and Recognize the role of Information management and Technologies in inter and intra organizational changes
• Understand and Recognize the role of collaboration for creating value along the Value Chain
• Understand, Evaluate and Analyse the role of metrics in monitoring, controlling and improving performances in favour of Business Resilience and Sustainability
KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING:
Knowing and Understanding management issues in organizational dynamics with a focus on aspects and tools that are particularly relevant in transformative processes at system level and require an advanced vision of them.
APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING:
Knowing how to use management instruments and approaches in decision making processes, with a focus on Sustainable and Innovative transformation.
MAKING JUDGEMENTS:
Knowing how to identify and evaluate the capacity of businesses’ strategies to face with complexity at market and system levels.
COMMUNICATION SKILLS:
Strengthening communication skills thanks to collaborative learning, work group and in class presentations.
LEARNING SKILLS:
Rafforzare il pensiero critico, il pensiero creativo, la comunicazione e la collaborazione.
This course aims to introduce students to the issues and challenges facing organisations in today's competitive business environment. The programme includes an overview on the evolution of Management Though by emphasizing the role of Institutional pressures in the Global Environment on organizational and management dynamics. A particular emphasis is placed on understanding how to develop Business Strategies, with a view on Innovation for Sustainability and Value Chain Management. With regard to that, the role of Advanced Information Technology will be clearly considered. The course will focus also on the role of metrics in Organizational Control and Change. This knowledge provides the students with an insight into the demands placed on management in today’s dynamic work environment.
In particular, expected learning outcomes are to:
• Understand and Evaluate the Role of Businesses in transformative processes, as the ecological and digital transition
• Understand and Analyse stakeholders’ pressures in the Global Environment
• Understand and Evaluate Business Strategies
• Recognize the role of Innovation in developing business models, products and services
• Understand and Recognize the role of Information management and Technologies in inter and intra organizational changes
• Understand and Recognize the role of collaboration for creating value along the Value Chain
• Understand, Evaluate and Analyse the role of metrics in monitoring, controlling and improving performances in favour of Business Resilience and Sustainability
KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING:
Knowing and Understanding management issues in organizational dynamics with a focus on aspects and tools that are particularly relevant in transformative processes at system level and require an advanced vision of them.
APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING:
Knowing how to use management instruments and approaches in decision making processes, with a focus on Sustainable and Innovative transformation.
MAKING JUDGEMENTS:
Knowing how to identify and evaluate the capacity of businesses’ strategies to face with complexity at market and system levels.
COMMUNICATION SKILLS:
Strengthening communication skills thanks to collaborative learning, work group and in class presentations.
LEARNING SKILLS:
Rafforzare il pensiero critico, il pensiero creativo, la comunicazione e la collaborazione.
Prerequisites
Pre-requisites
Program
Module 1: Introduction to Management. The importance of the external environment for the development of business strategies (12 hours)
This first module introduces the fundamental concepts of management, the evolution of managerial thinking and the understanding of the global environment, with particular reference to institutional theory, stakeholder theory and stakeholder management. Particular attention will be given to how an organisation identifies its stakeholders, how to manage them and how to understand and anticipate trends that are activated in the reference system, both at a political and market level, in order to integrate corporate strategies and strengthen the organisations' ability to generate sustainable and shared value.
This module includes an introductory lecture, in which an overview of the entire course will be given, group and individual work will be explained and assigned, and the final examination and assessment methods for attending and nonattending students will be described in detail.
Module 2: Business Strategy and Innovation (12 hours)
In this module, the concept of corporate strategy will be analysed and discussed from the defining aspects to focus on the challenges of sustainable innovation of business models. Different types of strategies and business models will be studied to understand their ability to respond to contemporary challenges. In close connection with these aspects, the concepts of supply chain, value chain and value network will be presented and discussed, and the importance of value creation on the three axes of sustainability in a systemic logic will be highlighted.
Innovation and the management of innovation, in its various forms, is the other pillar of the second module. In this context, the role of new technologies and digital transformation in supporting business performance and the collection and exchange of traceable, reliable, clear and replicable information, fundamental prerequisites for the creation and co-creation of sustainable value, will be explored.
Module 3: Organisation and Control (12 hours)
The third module focuses on organisational control and change management. Quality management will be introduced and its role in relation to sustainability issues will be clarified. Change management will also be introduced and its importance in innovation processes and innovation for sustainability will be highlighted. The same will be done for performance management, whose outlines for business management will be explained, and then the role of metrics in supporting sustainable and circular businesses in the ecological transition will be explored. In this regard, the role of standards in generating and disseminating information useful both for the development of sustainable strategies and for the possibility of being recognised and assessed by various stakeholders as sustainable companies, producers of green products and services, compliant with new regulatory trends, minimising the risks of greenwashing, will be highlighted.
In a logic of collaborative teaching, specific case studies will be presented, analysed and discussed in order to understand the complexity of strategic choices, as well as the effects on organisation, brand and competitiveness.
This first module introduces the fundamental concepts of management, the evolution of managerial thinking and the understanding of the global environment, with particular reference to institutional theory, stakeholder theory and stakeholder management. Particular attention will be given to how an organisation identifies its stakeholders, how to manage them and how to understand and anticipate trends that are activated in the reference system, both at a political and market level, in order to integrate corporate strategies and strengthen the organisations' ability to generate sustainable and shared value.
This module includes an introductory lecture, in which an overview of the entire course will be given, group and individual work will be explained and assigned, and the final examination and assessment methods for attending and nonattending students will be described in detail.
Module 2: Business Strategy and Innovation (12 hours)
In this module, the concept of corporate strategy will be analysed and discussed from the defining aspects to focus on the challenges of sustainable innovation of business models. Different types of strategies and business models will be studied to understand their ability to respond to contemporary challenges. In close connection with these aspects, the concepts of supply chain, value chain and value network will be presented and discussed, and the importance of value creation on the three axes of sustainability in a systemic logic will be highlighted.
Innovation and the management of innovation, in its various forms, is the other pillar of the second module. In this context, the role of new technologies and digital transformation in supporting business performance and the collection and exchange of traceable, reliable, clear and replicable information, fundamental prerequisites for the creation and co-creation of sustainable value, will be explored.
Module 3: Organisation and Control (12 hours)
The third module focuses on organisational control and change management. Quality management will be introduced and its role in relation to sustainability issues will be clarified. Change management will also be introduced and its importance in innovation processes and innovation for sustainability will be highlighted. The same will be done for performance management, whose outlines for business management will be explained, and then the role of metrics in supporting sustainable and circular businesses in the ecological transition will be explored. In this regard, the role of standards in generating and disseminating information useful both for the development of sustainable strategies and for the possibility of being recognised and assessed by various stakeholders as sustainable companies, producers of green products and services, compliant with new regulatory trends, minimising the risks of greenwashing, will be highlighted.
In a logic of collaborative teaching, specific case studies will be presented, analysed and discussed in order to understand the complexity of strategic choices, as well as the effects on organisation, brand and competitiveness.
Books
Jones G. and George J. (2022). Contemporary Management (12th Edition). NY: McGraw Hill. (suggested for attending students, mandatory for non-attending students, except for chapters 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18).
Bibliography
Ambec S., Lanoie P. (2008). Does It Pay to Be Green? A Systematic Overview. Academy of Management Perspectives, November, 45-62
Bansal P. and Roth K. (2000), Why Companies Go Green: A Model of Ecological Responsiveness The Academy of Management Journal 43, 717-736
Bogers M., Chesbrough H. & Moedas C. (2018). Open Innovation: Research, Practices, and Policies. California Management Review 60, 5-16.
Cennamo, C., Dagnino, G. B., Di Minin A., & Lanzolla G.. (2020). Managing Digital Transformation: Scope of Transformation and Modalities of Value Co-Generation and Delivery. California Management Review, 62(4), 5-16
Hart S.L. and Milstein M.B. (2003), Creating sustainable value. Academy of Management Executive, 17, 56–67
Johnson M., Christensen C., Kagermann H. (2008) “Reinventing your business model” in Harvard Business Review, December 2008 (https://hbr.org/2008/12/reinventing-your-business-model)
Pane Haden S.S., Oyler J. D. and Humphreys J. H. (2009) Historical, practical, and theoretical perspectives on green management. An exploratory analysis. Management Decision, 47, 1041 – 1055
Porter, M. (1996), What is Strategy, Harvard Business Review, Nov/Dec 1996.
Porter, M. & Kramer, M.R. (2006) Strategy and Society: The Link Between Competitive Advantage and Corporate Social Responsibility, Harvard Business Review, December 2006, pp. 78-92
Porter M.E., van der Linde C., (1995). Toward a new conception of the environment competitiveness relationship. Journal of Economic Perspectives 9, 97-118
Van der Byl C. A. and Slawinski N. (2015) Embracing Tensions in Corporate Sustainability: A Review of Research From Win-Wins and Trade-Offs to Paradoxes and Beyond. Organization & Environment, 28(1) 54– 79
Bansal P. and Roth K. (2000), Why Companies Go Green: A Model of Ecological Responsiveness The Academy of Management Journal 43, 717-736
Bogers M., Chesbrough H. & Moedas C. (2018). Open Innovation: Research, Practices, and Policies. California Management Review 60, 5-16.
Cennamo, C., Dagnino, G. B., Di Minin A., & Lanzolla G.. (2020). Managing Digital Transformation: Scope of Transformation and Modalities of Value Co-Generation and Delivery. California Management Review, 62(4), 5-16
Hart S.L. and Milstein M.B. (2003), Creating sustainable value. Academy of Management Executive, 17, 56–67
Johnson M., Christensen C., Kagermann H. (2008) “Reinventing your business model” in Harvard Business Review, December 2008 (https://hbr.org/2008/12/reinventing-your-business-model)
Pane Haden S.S., Oyler J. D. and Humphreys J. H. (2009) Historical, practical, and theoretical perspectives on green management. An exploratory analysis. Management Decision, 47, 1041 – 1055
Porter, M. (1996), What is Strategy, Harvard Business Review, Nov/Dec 1996.
Porter, M. & Kramer, M.R. (2006) Strategy and Society: The Link Between Competitive Advantage and Corporate Social Responsibility, Harvard Business Review, December 2006, pp. 78-92
Porter M.E., van der Linde C., (1995). Toward a new conception of the environment competitiveness relationship. Journal of Economic Perspectives 9, 97-118
Van der Byl C. A. and Slawinski N. (2015) Embracing Tensions in Corporate Sustainability: A Review of Research From Win-Wins and Trade-Offs to Paradoxes and Beyond. Organization & Environment, 28(1) 54– 79
Teaching methods
The course involves the use of different teaching methods: lectures, exercises, group work, preparation of research, analysis of business cases. All these methodologies contribute to the achievement of the training objectives, which are related to both knowledge and know-how, aiming, as well, at strengthening critical thinking, creative thinking, the ability to communicate and collaborate.
Exam Rules
The exam is specific for attending and non-attending students and assesses the overall preparation of the student, the ability to integrate the knowledge of the different parts of the program, the consequentiality of reasoning, the ability analytical and autonomy of judgment. In addition, language properties and clarity of presentation are evaluated, in compliance with the Dublin descriptors:1. knowledge and understanding; 2. Ability to apply knowledge and understanding; 3. Making judgements; 4. Learning skills; 5: Communication skills.
For attending students, the exam is based on a written test. The written test lasts 1 hour and consists of 2 open questions drawn from the attending students’ program. The written test is accompanied by an individual assignment (60% of the evaluation). Group assignments carried out during the course, complete the overall evaluation (for the remaining 40%).
For non-attending students, the exam is entirely based on a written test. The written test lasts 2 hours and consists of 4 open questions drawn from the different parts of the non-attending students’ program.
For attending students, the exam is based on a written test. The written test lasts 1 hour and consists of 2 open questions drawn from the attending students’ program. The written test is accompanied by an individual assignment (60% of the evaluation). Group assignments carried out during the course, complete the overall evaluation (for the remaining 40%).
For non-attending students, the exam is entirely based on a written test. The written test lasts 2 hours and consists of 4 open questions drawn from the different parts of the non-attending students’ program.