37068 - Principles of Management

Academic Year 2021/2022

  • Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures
  • Campus: Bologna
  • Corso: First cycle degree programme (L) in Management and Marketing (cod. 8406)

    Also valid for First cycle degree programme (L) in Business and Economics (cod. 8965)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course stundents can understand operations of market oriented companies. Students can manage activities of market oriented companies by defining strategic framework by analysing competition and market segments; students are also able to manage and control operating porcesses.

Course contents

Management is the process which requires leading and directing an organization, through techniques and activities to use and combine different types of resources. The resources are namely: human, financial, material, intellectual, intangible. Every management course covers to some extent the five management functions: Planning, Organizing, Leading, Co-ordinating, Controlling.

In this course, after introducing the main issues related to the activities and contexts of management, we mainly discuss the principles, techniques and steps to use, plan, organize, lead, coordinate and control material resources. The four essential core areas of operations management and supply chain management are thus analyzed: strategy, process management, supply chain management, and inventory and control (supply and demand planning). Such concepts are integrated by the idea of sustainability as a strategic consideration. The course includes updated company applications, problems, and cases.

The main sections of this course are:

-Introduction: this course of Principles of Management and its relation to the "Corso di Laurea in Business and Economics"

-Definition of management and main concepts and activities

-Firms and customers, what is a firm, how firms interact with each other, how customers (consumers and customer firms) changed in the last decades, the impact of new technology on the workplace

-Regulating context: general norms, antitrust regulation and consumer protection, governmental regulation about products, prices and the workplace

-Corporate social responsibility and business ethics: the internal and external impact of company behaviour on society

- Operations and supply chain management

- Strategy and sustainability

- Strategic capacity management

- Learning curves

- Manufacturing processes

- Break-even analysis

- Sales and operations planning

- Material requirements planning

- Inventory management

- Lean supply chains

- Global sourcing and procurement

- Location, logistics, and distribution

- Linear programming using the excel solver

- Business planning

Readings/Bibliography

Textbook:

From McGrawHill it is available a compact edition of the book, specifically packaged for our course, which only includes the chapters that are relevant for our course; this makes the book price lower for students.

TITLE:

Corso di Principles of Management - Estratto da Jacobs & Chase – Operations and Supply Chain Management-The Core 5a ed.

Angelo Manaresi - Università di Bologna -
Laurea in Business and Economics –
CLABE - Anno Accademico 2020-21

PUBLISHER: MCGRAW-HILL

IMPORTANT, TO FIND THE RIGHT BOOK:

ISBN code 978-13-076-0808-3

CHAPTERS INCLUDED:

Chapter 1 - Operations and supply chain management
Chapter 2 - Strategy and sustainability
Chapter 4 - Strategic capacity management
Chapter 4A - Learning curves
Chapter 6 - Manufacturing processes
Chapter 6A - Break-even analysis
Chapter 8 - Sales and operations planning
Chapter 9 - Material requirements planning
Chapter 11 - Inventory management
Chapter 12 - Lean supply chains
Chapter 13 - Global sourcing and procurement
Chapter 14 - Location, logistics, and distribution
Appendix a - Linear programming using the excel solver
Appendix b - Answers to selected objective questions

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Alternatively, if you have previous editions of the book

Title: Operations and Supply Chain Management – The Core – International Edition

Authors: F. Robert Jacobs, Richard B Chase

Publisher: McGraw Hill – International Edition

be careful that you only have to study chapters with the same title as those mentioned in our program, but that such chapters can be numbered differently from the last edition:

- Operations and supply chain management
- Strategy and sustainability
- Strategic capacity management
- Learning curves
- Manufacturing processes
- Break-even analysis
- Sales and operations planning
- Material requirements planning
- Inventory management
- Lean supply chains
- Global sourcing and procurement
- Location, logistics, and distribution
- Appendix - Linear programming using the excel solver
- Appendix - Answers to selected objective questions

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You can find (on order) the book either in bookshops or on line (Amazon or similar on line retailers)

There are additional readings and teaching materials that are part of the program and must be studied for the exam; they will be discussed during the course and will be gradually available to be downloaded from the official database of the University of Bologna.

 

 

Teaching methods

Traditional lectures, case studies, exercises on computer models, videos

Assessment methods

The grading process includes written exams in class as follows:

1. one intemediate exam after the first half of the classes (end of october - beginning of november). Due to the COVID emergency it is not possibile now to be more specific about the kind of written exam (we do not know if it will be possible to have an open question or multiple choice exam), which will last about 60 minutes. More communication will be done later on during the course.

2. one final written exam (after the end of the classes: one session in January and one in february: students can select the option they prefer or try the January one and also, if they do not pass, can try the february session) with open questions, of 60-70 minutes on the following contents:

2a) on the second part of the course, for students who have taken and passed the first intermediate exam,

2b) or on the whole course, for students who have not taken or passed the first intermediate exam.

There is a third opportunity (in Italian we call it third "appello") to take the final exam for this course of Principles of Management, which takes place in September. For that exam session, only a full exam including the whole course program will be organized, with open questions, of about 60-70 minutes.

Students of previous years must prepare the program of the current year and can only take a full exam on the whole program.

The exam, intermediate and final, has the following goals:

· knowledge of principles of management concepts discussed during lectures , case studies and exercises, during company presentations from managers.

· capability of applying operation and supply management tools to manage companies.

· ability to use results from management models models to understand business activities and decision processes.

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For the students who decide to take the intermediate exam (that will take place in last part of October or at the beginning of November):

-the intermediate exam will be evaluated from 0 to 30 (18 is pass grade);

-a student can take part in the exam on the second part of hte program only if he/she has passed the intermediate, that is to say with an evaluation of at least 18/30;

-in case of passing the exam on the second part, which means taking at least the score of 18/30, the final grade of the couse of Principles of Management will be the arithmetic mean of the evaluations obtained in the two partial tests.


If a student decides to be evaluated by participating in an exam session including both parts of the program, the evaluation is, as usual, 0 to 30 (18 is the pass grade).

To take the exam, registration is required through the Almaesami electronic system, in compliance with the deadlines provided.

The registration of the grade achieved is done in Almaesami. It is possible to view the exam paper and ask for clarifications on the date indicated by the teacher. The possibility of using alternative time to view the exam paper is reserved for exceptional cases, with a valid motivation. The registration of the vote on Almaesami system will take place without the need of the student to be present or sign it.

Graduating students who pass the exam and need to register the grade before the planned date, are invited to communicate it to the teacher through an email to be sent immediately after taking the exam.

The exam is carried out in writing and provides an evaluation 0 to 30 (18 is a passing grade). In addition to answering some questions concerning the methods ("theory questions"), students will have to perform exercises in which they demonstrate the ability to apply the acquired tools to manage a specific practical situation in management, operation and supply chain management, verify specific hypotheses and interpret the achieved results.

During the exam test, the use of support material such as textbooks, notes, computer or telematic media is not allowed. A student is able to pass the written test (and to also acquire the maximum assessment provided) even without attending classes, given that attendance is not mandatory; however, statistically this rarely happens.

UNTIL SEPTEMBER 2021 STUDENTS WHO CANNOT REACH OUR LECTURE BUILDING (FOR REASONS OF ILLNESS OR BECAUSE THEY LIVE IN REGIONS OR COUNTRIES FROM WHERE PEOPLE CANNOT FREELY TRAVEL DUE TO THE COVID-19 EPIDEMIC) CAN ASK TO TAKE THE EXAM ON LINE, AND IN SUCH CASES THE EXAM WILL TAKE PLACE IN THE FORM OF AN ORAL EXAMINATION.

 

Teaching tools

Excel files with management models; case, excercises and videos will be discussed in class. Students will sometime be asked to read a specific case study before class.

Office hours

See the website of Angelo Manaresi

SDGs

Industry, innovation and infrastructure Responsible consumption and production

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