LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course aims at understanding the nature, the structure and the operating principles of the firm as institution that is responsible of the economic production activities for the markets.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The Business Economics and Organisation course is designed for students on the BSc in Management Engineering to understand what a firm is, what its role is in the economic system and how it can best fulfil it. The course aims both at learning and understanding economic, financial and managerial languages and at introducing and developing the fundamental principles and concepts of accounting, company financial statements and cost analysis, that are the fundamental elements for representing the dynamics of firms. The course provides the interpretative tools that, starting from the information contained in the financial statements, enable the assessment of the economic and financial situation of the business. Furthermore, from the fundamentals of finance, the course develops the knowledge and skills useful to deal with economically rational decisions related to the economic-financial evaluation of business choices and investment projects. Finally, it provides the basic analytical tools for studying the behaviour of economic agents (consumers, enterprises, state) and their interactions in markets.

TEACHING METHODS

Classroom lectures on methodological and technological aspects with the support and discussion of case studies

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

Firms: general characteristics

The firm and its goals. Forms of the firms. Ownership and control. The firm and the economic context.

General Accounting

Objectives and structure of the financial statements. Balance sheet and profit and loss account: main sections and items. Preparation of the balance sheet and its reclassifications. Balance sheet analysis. Cash flow statement. Reading and analysis of company financial statements.

Managerial Accounting

Goals of cost accounting. Types of cost, Main costing methods: process costing, job costing, operation costing and activity based costing. Cost-volume-results relationships. Short-term decisions: make-or-buy analysis, production mix and break-even analysis.

How companies make decisions: investment assessment

Opportunity cost of capital, cash flows, differential analysis. Time value of money, present value. Cash flows accounting. Net Present Value, Internal Rate of Return and other valuation criteria. The total cost and incremental cost approach. Decisions on minimum cost.

Firms and markets

Supply and demand. Individual demand and market demand. Behaviour of the firm and the consumer, market equilibrium. Consumer preferences. Technology and production. Costs.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

REFERENCE BOOKS

1. Il bilancio - Analisi economiche per le decisioni e la comunicazione della performance (14° edizione), Robert N. Anthony, David F. Hawkins, Diego M. Macrì, Kenneth A. Merchant - McGraw-Hill Editore
2. Programmazione e controllo - Managerial accounting per le decisioni aziendali (4° edizione), Ray H. Garrison, Eric W. Noreen, Peter C. Brewer, Marco Agliati, Lino Cinquini - McGraw-Hill Editore
3. Microeconomia (3° edizione), Douglas B. Bernheim, Michael D. Whinston - McGraw-Hill Editore

Slide and other materials provided by the professors