00251 - Economics and Business Organisation

Learning outcomes

At end of course the student acquires the knowledge on the economy and the organization of enterprises with regard to the following aspects: understanding and reading economic and financial results as indicated in the budget, analysis of product costs and budget drafting and, lastly, investment financial valuation.

Course contents

Introduction to the Course

a. The Global Context: Sustainability transitions

b. Business Economics within the Economic Disciplines

c. Firms and Organizations: Definitions, Purposes, and Objectives

d. Introduction to Business Performance Control: The Role of Information

 

Part 1)

Balance sheet

a. Assessing and measuring economic issues within a company: balance sheet structure
b. The effect of decisions on balance sheet
c. Commercial transactions: their definition and their impact on balance sheet
d. Introduction to financial and accounting principles.
e. Costs and earnings measurement: the profit and loss account and its structure
f. Different structures and uses of balance sheet and profit and loss account. The legal framework

 

Part 2)

Analyzing costs to support decision making:
a. Different kinds of information provided within management accounting: how to use these information to take decisions
b. Relations between decisions and different types of costs
c. Relations between costs and activities: variable costs, fixed costs, break-even point
d. Direct costs, indirect costs and allocation problems. Systems for determining product costs.

Short term decisions:
a. Differential costs and revenues
b. Different kinds of costs for different decision-making problems.
c. Choosing between alternatives: full costs and differential costs
d. Making a decision among different alternatives
e. Assessing future costs and sunk costs

 

Part 3)

Capital budgeting

a. The concept of investment and different kinds of investments
b. Capitalization and discounting back: elements of financial mathematics.
c. Determining the value of an investment: the Net Present Value.
d. Investment valuation: steps of the decision procedure.
e. Basic concepts to evaluate an investment: the expected return rate, the economic life of a project, the relevant cash flows.
f. Problems in assessing cash flows.
g. Other methods to gain investment valuation: internal return rate, average pay-back time, the average accounting profit.
h. Investment valuation within the firm schedule.

Readings/Bibliography

R.N. Anthony, D.F. Hawkins, D.M. Macrì, K.A. Merchant (2025) Il Bilancio. Analisi economiche per le decisioni e la comunicazione della performance (XVI edizione), McGraw-Hill, Milano. (escluso capitolo 10)

R.N. Anthony, D.F. Hawkins, D.M. Macrì, K.A. (2025) Merchant, Sistemi di controllo di gestione: analisi economiche per le decisioni aziendali (XVI edizione), McGraw-Hill, Milano. (capp. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 16, 17)

Teaching methods

Lectures, teamworking activities.

Assessment methods

Written exam.

Teaching tools

Lectures, case studies,teamworking activities.

Office hours

See the website of Matteo Mura