- Docente: Leonardo Corbo
- Credits: 10
- SSD: SECS-P/08
- Language: English
- Teaching Mode: Blended Learning
- Campus: Bologna
- Corso: First cycle degree programme (L) in Economics, Politics and Social Sciences (cod. 5819)
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from Feb 11, 2025 to May 23, 2025
Learning outcomes
The course aims to introduce students to the theory and practice of management. At the end of the course students can understand the main activities and concepts of operations and supply chain management. This area is taken as a metaphor and laboratory to study concepts, such as efficiency and effectiveness, that are then useful for all courses in management. At the end of the course students can control operating processes and manage activities of market oriented companies by defining the strategic framework in which a company operates.
Course contents
Management involves leading and directing an organization, through frameworks and activities that use and combine different types of resources. As such, the main topics to be addressed in the course include the notion of organization as an open system, made of interdependent internal elements, the organizational environment, the challenges of organizational design, the different organizational structures, and people management, among others.
The course will cover the following topics:
- Definition of management
- The role of managers in organizations
- Organizing people
- The competitive environment
- Internal analysis
- Business models, platforms, ecosystems
- Competitive advantage
- Business strategies
- Corporate strategies
- Entrepreneurial strategies
Readings/Bibliography
Selected chapters from the following textbooks:
Jones, G. Organizational Theory, Design, and Change, 7th Edition, Pearson Education. Global Edition
Grant, R. M. Contemporary strategy analysis, 10th Edition, John Wiley & Sons.
Additional readings will be used as a basis for class discussion and included in the final Syllabus available on Virtuale at the beginning of the course.
Teaching methods
Lectures, discussion of case studies, and group works.
Assessment methods
For attending students, the assessment is based on two elements:
a) the written exam grade
b) a group work (compulsory if attending).
The written exams are organized as follows:
Option 1. one intermediate exam after the first half of the classes with multiple choice questions of 20 minutes (mid-term 1) plus a second written multiple choice exam during the regular exam sessions on the second part of the course (final exam) for students who have taken the first intermediate exam (duration 20 minutes);
Option 1a. A final exam on the whole course during the regular exam sessions, for students who have not taken or rejected the mark of the first mid-term (duration 40 minutes).
IMPORTANT: The vote obtained for the first intermediate exam will be valid until the first exam session ("primo appello"). From the second exam session onwards ("secondo appello"), the exam will be organized only as a full exam on the material of the whole course, lasting 40 minutes. However, you will still be able to keep the group work mark.
For the students who decide to take the intermediate exam (option 1 above)
- Each of the two intermediate exams will be evaluated from 0 to 30L (18 is pass grade). The evaluation for the written individual exam consists of the arithmetic mean of the evaluations obtained in the two intermediate tests. If the arithmetic mean is >=18, then this score will be further averaged with the mark obtained from the group work and can be registered if >=18.
For the students who opt for option 1a above
- Students receiving an evaluation of at least 18/30 can register their mark if the average between this mark and the group work is >=18.
For non-attending students (students that do not participate in group work and do not attend classes regularly), an individual exam will be assigned on the whole course material in one of the regular exam sessions ("appelli") (duration 40 minutes).
Please refer to the Syllabus published on Virtuale at the beginning of the course for details on the group work (structure, grading).
Grades:
<18 fail
18-23, sufficient
24-27, good
28-30, very good
30 e lode, excellent
Students with specific learning disorders (SLD) or temporary/permanent disabilities should contact the appropriate University office (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en ) immediately and agree with the teacher the most effective strategies for attending the lectures and preparing for the exam.
Teaching tools
Teaching material prepared by the Professor (lecture slides, readings, case studies) and uploaded on Virtuale.
Office hours
See the website of Leonardo Corbo
SDGs




This teaching activity contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda.