44121 - Simulimpresa

Course contents

The Practice firm course to be held in the 1st semester aims at providing direct knowledge of the functioning of a firm through a faithful reproduction of its management, administrative and organizational methods and procedures. The aim is to increase students' skills and knowledge as well as to consolidate their knowledge of business subjects already dealt with in other courses in order to pass from a merely theoretical learning approach to a more practical and active one. In the simulation of a business, students are required to actively participate in the company activities and to be responsible for them by playing a central role in all the aspects relating to the company management: accounting and drawing up of a balance sheet, organization, administrative and fiscal duties, internal and international trade management, financing, investments, relations with banks, application of ICTs. In summary, students must contribute to the taking of management decisions and must fulfil legal obligations within a simulated working framework, which is very similar to a real one. For this purpose, a virtual trade or service firm will be created in a specific space within the Faculty of Economics, which will materially reproduce the typical administrative, financial and commercial functions of a firm. This firm will operate by making virtual exchanges of goods and services within a network including over 400 Italian firms of the Simulimpresa Programme and over 5,000 firms of the Europen world network.

Some of the objectives of this course are to provide students with the typical relational skills required in any working environment, to allow students to experience the working climate within a company in order to reduce the gap when starting to work, to improve students' behavioural skills, to help students become more aware of their skills and roles, to allow students to apply the knowledge acquired, and to develop new skills that could be used later on in their university career.

From the idea to the start-up of a practice firm

• Objectives and contents of the business simulation
• The market and competition of practice firms
• Project management and problems when starting up firms abroad
• From the idea to the project: development and selection of a business idea
• Identification of the company's mission and sector
• Drawing up of the business plan and of the annual budget
• Choice of the company type and planning of the company's organizational structure
• Identification of the formal duties required upon start-up
• Personnel selection and assignment of tasks
• Drawing up of the company's communication plan
• Determination of the company's financial requirements
• Services supporting the setting-up of firms and their start-up
• International projects: presentation, management and reporting.

Start-up stage:

• Formation of the corporate bodies and summoning of the relative meetings
• Placement of the students in the appropriate departments and offices
• Implementation of the accounting information system
• Fulfilment of the formal duties required upon start-up
• Definition of the objectives for the current period
• Search for financing and opening of bank accounts
• Definition of the company's catalogue and services
• Starting of relations with other practice firms and with the Central office
• Simulation of a real situation with the practice firms created by the Centre of Forlì and with the actions supporting the setting-up of new firms.
• Investments in permanent capital
• Purchasing of goods and services
• Promotion of the company and of its products and services
• Employment contracts with company's employees and collaborators

Management activities

• Commercial management
• Foreign trade and development of cooperation projects with international partners
• Personnel management
• Financial management and project financing
• General accounting management
• Special accounting management and project reporting
• Management of administrative and fiscal duties
• Periodical meetings of corporate bodies
• Marketing activities
• Creation of a company's web site
• Creation of databases
• E-commerce start-up

Periodical controls

• Analysis of the accounting situation
• Budget control
• Control of the cash and financial situation
• Analysis of the break-even point
• External accounting controls
• Control of the relations with the partners of foreign projects

Company shutdown

• Control of the objectives for the period
• Balance sheet

Readings/Bibliography

D.Gualdi, L'Impresa simulata Paravia Bruno Mondadori Editore Milano, 2001

M.Bianchi, L'impatto degli Hyperlinks sulla logistica organizzativa: Problemi di struttura e processo nella rilevazione delle nuove configurazioni organizzative. Numero speciale di Industria e Distribuzione, Franco Angeli n. 3, 2001

M.Bianchi, La simulazione d'impresa negli interventi di sviluppo dei paesi in transizione. 5° Workshop dei Docenti Ricercatori di Organizzazione Aziendale, Roma 5-6 Febbraio 2004. Pubblicato su CD.

L.Tampieri, Simulazione in Second Life e Business virtuale nello start up d'impresa del sistema moda. Clueb 2009

 

Teaching methods

The Course programme includes 40 hours of lesson, which aim at preparing the simulation of a business by explaining its objectives and working procedures, by launching the business idea, by planning a company organization suitable for the company mission, by drawing up the business plan, by identifying the stages and documents required for the setting-up of a firm, and by preparing the company start-up. This initial stage will be followed by an operative stage including the start-up and management of the practice firm in a specifically equipped lab, the placement of the students in the organizational structure created, and the management of the firm through the virtual trade of goods and services with other practice firms within the Italian and international network. During the business simulation, there will be a job rotation to allow all students to get an overview of the company and to let theirs skills and abilities emerge.

Assessment methods

At the end of the Practice firm course , students will have to take  an oral exam with discussion of a thesis (max 25 pages)

Teaching tools

• - business simulation lab located in via Pratella 14, Forlì, Italy
• - personal computer for each student
• - space organization for offices and departments
• - telephone, fax, web

Links to further information

http://www.unibo.it/docenti/daniele.gualdi

Office hours

See the website of Daniele Gualdi