28030 - Economics and Business Organization T

Learning outcomes

The student will acquire knowledge of basic quantitative tools for the economic-financial analysis of business decisions and the interpretation of managerial results.

Course contents

1. Business economics in the field of economic disciplines.
2. The problem of detecting and measuring the economic aspects of business management: the role and structure of the income statement. The Income Statement and the Balance Sheet. The Income Statement and its classifications: the income statement at cost of goods sold, the income statement at contribution margin, the income statement at value added.
3. Cost analysis to support the company's decision-making process: a. The concept of differential: differential costs and revenues; b. Cost configurations for different decision problems; c. Typical problems of choosing among multiple alternatives: only costs, differential costs and revenues; d. Choice problems among alternatives: analysis phases; e. Estimation of future costs and sunk costs.
4. Short-term decisions: differential costs and revenues; contribution analysis; choosing among various alternatives.
5. Long-term decisions: phases of the investment selection process: a. The concept of investment and different types of investments; b. Capitalization and discounting: elements of financial mathematics; c. Determining the value generated by an investment: the net present value method; d. Phases of the investment selection process; e. Elements necessary for the economic evaluation of an investment project: required rate of return, economic life of the project, relevant cash flows; f. Problems in determining cash flows; g. Overview of other investment valuation methods: internal rate of return, payback period, average accounting return.

Readings/Bibliography

R.N. Anthony, D.F. Hawkins, D.M. Macrì, K. A. Merchant, Il Bilancio. Analisi economiche per le decisioni e la comunicazione della performance (15° edition), McGraw-Hill, Milano 2021. (except chapter 10)

R.N. Anthony, D.F. Hawkins, D.M. Macrì, K.A. Merchant, Sistemi di controllo: analisi economiche per le decisioni aziendali (15° edition), McGraw-Hill, Milano 2021. (chapter 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 14, 15, 16, 17 e 19).

Teaching methods

Teaching Methods Traditional lectures, exercises, and case studies.

Attendance is recommended for better understanding of concepts and knowledge, but it does not affect the final evaluation process.

Assessment methods

Methods of assessment and evaluation of learning The final exam consists of a written test at the end of the course, lasting 2 hours.

The exam includes a number of numerical exercises (typically two to three) and a section of multiple-choice questions covering the theoretical topics.

The schedule for the exams is made available well in advance on the AlmaEsami web platform of the University of Bologna and communicated through the Almaesami service (http://almaesami.unibo.it).

Exam registration is exclusively done through the Almaesami service.

Teaching tools

Teaching Support Tools Exercise materials will be made available online prior to the exercises, whenever possible. After the classroom exercises, the respective solutions will also be made available online.

Additional exercises for exam preparation will be provided during the course.

Links to further information

https://www.unibo.it/it/didattica/insegnamenti/insegnamento/2022/326312

Office hours

See the website of Giovanni Rocco Di Torrepadula