23687 - Business Planning

Learning outcomes

This integrated course provides students with a systematic understanding of planning and control processes in organizations, combining the entrepreneurial and strategic dimensions of business development with the analytical and managerial tools for performance monitoring and improvement. Through the exposure to the integrated course, students will: – acquire the ability to conceptualize, develop, and critically assess business plans; – learn to analyze markets and competitive environments, define value propositions and supply chain configurations, and design coherent marketing and strategic plans; – gain knowledge of frameworks and tools for designing and implementing systems that measure, monitor, and control organizational performance; – develop the ability to design performance measurement and strategic control systems that support managerial decision-making, evaluate outcomes, and foster business improvement.

Course contents

Building on entrepreneurship, strategic management and innovation literature, this course aims at providing a broad and critical understanding of the main issues related to conceptualizing, developing and managing business plans to exploit potential market opportunities, either within a start-up or a corporate context.

The course is set up as to provide both theoretical and practical insights on effective business planning, both regarding its qualitative (e.g., value proposition) and quantitative aspects (e.g., financial and economic planning).

At the end of the course, students are expected to have gained the following achievements and abilities:

Knowledge and understanding:

• Know the contents for an excellent business plan;
• Understand the functions of different types of business planning activities and tools;
• Describe the conceptual frameworks and analytical tools for strategic planning.

Applying knowledge and understanding

• Structure and write a business plan;
• Analyze the market and the competition;
• Define the value proposition;
• Define the organizational and supply chain configuration;
• Draw up financial and economic statements.

Making judgements

• Evaluate the completeness of a business plan;
• Compare and evaluate different possible value propositions;
• Compare and evaluate different organizational and supply chain configurations;
• Evaluate the financial and economic sustainability of a project.

Communication

• Presenting own evaluation and analysis of ideas and projects, orally and in writing;
• Pitching a business idea effectively.

Lifelong learning skills

• Developing competences in retrieving data about firm-level financial, economic, innovation performances, or regional statistics;
• Improving competencies in the use of informatic tools, such as presentation, writing and calculation electronic tools;
• Presenting own contribution and participate to the work of a diverse team.

Contents of the course

The course will cover the following key contents:

- Planning or not planning? Business planning and the lean start-up approach

- Analysis of the market

- Analysis of competition

- The creation of value

- Defining the organizational and supply chain configuration

- Evaluating revenues, costs, and profitability

- Evaluating financial structure and viability

- Pitching a business idea

The detailed overview of contents will be provided to students in the syllabus of the course (available in the UNIBO repository “Virtuale”).

Readings/Bibliography

ATTENDING STUDENTS

Students can choose among one of the following books:

• C. Parolini, Business Planning. Dall’idea al progetto imprenditoriale, Pearson Education, 2020 (3rd edition)
• B.R. Barringer, Preparing Effective Business Plans, Pearson Education, 2014

  In addition, students are required to study the additional compulsory teaching materials uploaded on the course online platform (see syllabus for details)

  NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS

  Students can choose among one of the following books:

• C. Parolini, Business Planning. Dall’idea al progetto imprenditoriale, Pearson Education, 2020 (3rd edition)
• B.R. Barringer, Preparing Effective Business Plans, Pearson Education, 2014

In addition, students are required to study slides and additional compulsory and optional teaching materials uploaded on the course online platform (see syllabus for details)

Teaching methods

The course includes different teaching and learning methodologies:

• Traditional lectures
• Flipped classroom
• Case studies
• Guest speakers’ talks
• Exercises
• Group assignment

Effective teaching during this course requires attending students’ active participation during the classes and requiring practical activities to be carried out partially in the classroom, partially outside the classroom (e.g., group assignment). For all the activities, students can benefit of the lecturer's supervision.

Assessment methods

ATTENDING STUDENTS

In this course, attending students are the ones that will carry out a group assignment. In line with the aims of the course, these students will be assessed through different methods, to ensure the students’ achievement of different competences:

• Group assignments
• Group presentation
• Individual participation to group work
• Individual written individual exam

The details about the assessment methods are provided at the beginning of the course and made available in the “Introduction” folder in the “Virtuale” repository associated to the course.

NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS

In line with the aims of the course, the students’ achievement of different competences will be assessed through an individual written (open and multiple choice questions) and oral exam. The details about the assessment methods are provided at the beginning of the course and made available in the “Introduction” folder in the “Virtuale” repository associated to the course.

For both attending and non-attending students, the assessment will take into account the extent of student’s preparation on the topics covered by the course and the use of an appropriate language. Students will pass the exam according to the following overall levels:

Preparation on a very limited number of topics covered in the course and analytical skills that emerge only with the help of the teacher, expressed in an overall correct language (mark: 18-19);

Preparation on a limited number of topics covered in the course and ability to autonomous analysis only on purely executive matters, expression in correct language (mark: 20-24);

Preparation on a large number of topics covered in the course, ability to make independent choices of critical analysis, mastery of specific terminology (mark: 25-29);

Exhaustive preparation on the topics covered in the course, ability to make independent choices of critical analysis and connection, full mastery of specific terminology and ability to argue and self-reflection (30-30L).

With regard to assessment, limited, declared, and non-substantive use of AI is permitted for support activities such as summarizing and rephrasing. Substantive use of AI to complete any part of the assessment is not permitted.

Teaching tools

• Slides used during classes
• Newspaper and magazine articles, business plans, exercises, case studies
• Interaction with entrepreneurs and managers presenting during the course

The professor is available, upon request via email (daniela.bolzani@unibo.it), for office hours to address any doubt or issue about the course.

Office hours

See the website of Daniela Bolzani