96238 - Sustainable Management

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, the student is able to: - describe the main theories, models and tools of sustainable business management available to organisations operating in the fields of sport, leisure and well-being; - design plans to support the sustainable development of public, private and not for profit organisations; - critically discuss the key principles of sustainability within business practice and evaluate the main environmental, economic and social challenges faced by managers operating in the fields of sport, leisure and well-being.

Course contents

The course aims at investigating the challenges and the opportunities offered by a sustainable adoption of various business philosophies, such as marketing and branding, to those organisations operating at the intersection between sport and tourism.

The first part of the module will engage participants in propedeutic activities that will offer them an understanding of some basic perspectives and tools used by business consultants and business studies scholars. The first lectures will focus on concepts and theories coming from sociology, economics and politology, thus exploring the “foundations of management”. In the following weeks, participants will acquire skills directly related to the “toolkit of managers”, which pertain to the main functions of management, such as planning, organisation, leadership and marketing.

The final part of the module will adopt the lens of a territorial perspective, which better captures the relevance of collaboration and co-opetition among sport and tourism organisations and the potential of their spill-over effects for local economies and destinations. The ‘sectors’ of sport, tourism and wellness will be critically scrutinised in its contemporary advancements and trends.

Readings/Bibliography

A list of journal articles, book chapters and business magazine articles will be made available shortly before the beginning of the course. Additional materials will be recommended during every lecture. The prescribed compulsory list include:

Giovanardi, M. (2022). DESTINATIONS: Songs for place and tourism management. Mimesis Edizioni.

Robbins, S. P. & Coulter, M.A. (2012). Management. Pearson

Gibson, H. J., Willming, C., & Holdnak, A. (2003). Small-scale event sport tourism: Fans as tourists. Tourism management, 24(2), 181-190.

Gammon, S., & Robinson, T. (2003). Sport and tourism: A conceptual framework. Vaailable at https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/14775080306236?casa_token=el8atm-iddQAAAAA:okZPsCxWvH6o6UaSP65QeNOWF8wUXGkU3QWenG8hGPTwNivjIV1k9e6I8eRQlfns2pAe3u3tdnA

Hassen, I., & Giovanardi, M. (2017). The difference of ‘being diverse’: City branding and multiculturalism in the ‘Leicester Model’. Cities. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2017.06.019

Richelieu, A. (2018). A sport-oriented place branding strategy for cities, regions and countries. Sport, Business and Management: An International Journal, 8(4), 354-374.

Teaching methods

To enable participants to achieve the above objectives, a combination of traditional lectures and more participatory/interactive sessions will be used for this course. The language of instruction for all teaching and learning activities is English.

Lectures

Topics will be introduced during lectures and readings suggested. Students are expected to do some of the prescribed readings before lectures, as the lecturing method for this course is a two-way interactive presentation, including students’ verbal participation in terms of their views/opinions of the information being presented.

Interactive sessions

Interactive sessions provide a means for students to verify their understanding and mastery of information presented in the preceding lecture. To that end, interactive sessions will be conducted in the form of group/class discussions, case study, question and answer sessions, and whenever possible a short project group presentation for classroom evaluation so as to engage all attendees. This will enable the tutor to diagnose students’ challenges and help to focus participants’ efforts on critical ideas and techniques to assimilate lecture content.

Assessment methods

In order to pass this module, students are expected to carry out a group project. The project consists in a critical analysis of a management plan that also includes constructive recommendations for place managers based on the relevant course literature.

Non-attending students will have to carry out the same task but they will have to submit the project individually.

Detailed instructions on how to design the report will be made available on VIRTUALE.

Office hours

See the website of Massimo Giovanardi