OVERVIEW

The course introduces the fundamental features of an economic organization, with specific reference to private firms. It focuses on the management operations, the capitals employed and how the firm generates values from operations. The financial statements are introduced and discussed, along with the main principles upon which they are preapred. The course is essential for students interested in working as corporate advisors and it is particularly useful for pursuing a broad range of professions dealing with commercial and business law.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course aims to introduce and discuss the fundamental features of an economic organization, with specific reference to the company. The course provides several basic notions enabling students to understand how companies operate. The specific focus will be on the conditions for going concern and on the principles and the techniques of double-entry bookkeeping system.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The Business Administration course aims at providing the first-year students with a solid basic knowledge of the principles and logics underpinning the operations of businesses. In particular, the course intends to:

• Examine the conditions for the origins and development of businesses
• Clarify the concepts of operations continuity and management’s objective of value creation
• Explain the necessary conditions to achieve and maintain the economic and financial stability of the business
• Deepen the double-entry bookkeeping methodology and its application to register main business operations
• Understand the profitability and financial needs of a business

By the end of this course, students will acquire competence in the main issues of business administration, such as:

• the calculation of the net profit of the year and the invested capital, as well as the meaning of equity value.
• the double-entry bookkeeping and its application for recording main operations in accounting
• the company’s profitability, its financial needs, and related financial resources.

Learning outcomes

Knowledge and comprehension. students will acquire solid knowledge and factual ability to explain the logics of business operations, including a focus on the nature and activities of businesses, as systematic economic entities that generate wealth and require economic and financial stability to stay viable.

Ability to apply knowledge. Students will be able to apply their acquired knowledge to understand and solve simple and more complex problems concerning business management, organisation and accounting, especially in consideration of the company’s financial and economic stability.

Critical judgment. Students will be able to apply the acquired knowledge using their own judgment and critical reasoning, both theoretically and practically.

Learning capability. Students will develop appropriate learning capabilities that will support their independent learning of other subject in business administration, accounting and management, especially in their future job positions.

PREREQUISITES

None.

TEACHING METHODS

The course features classes and tutorials. Classes introduce the main topics of the course. Tutorials aim to offer students the opportunity to apply notions acquired during the classes.

Students who have valid certification of physical or learning disabilities  and who wish to discuss possible accommodations or other circumstances regarding lectures, coursework and exams, should speak both with the instructor and with Professor Serena Scotto (scotto@economia.unige.it), the Department’s disability liaison.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

The main contents of the course are the following:

The firm and its environment. A company is a complex entity that operates in order to produce and sell goods or deliver services with the aim to satisfy different needs. In order to understand how a company works, the essential traits of the company, the different firm typologies, and the relationships between the firm and the environment.

The capitals. To run its activities, a firm needs some inputs. The most important capitals a firm uses in its operations will be examined. Those capitals, which are controlled by an entity and will bring future benefits to that entity, are its assets. In order to acquire those assets, an entity needs funds. A company can be funded either by shareholders or by other funders. The characteristics of shareholder equity and of liabilities related to other funding sources will be examined.

The operating cycle. The analysis of the operating cycle allows to understand how a company produces and sells goods or delivers services. The phases of the operating cycle are financing activiries, acquisition of the necessary inputs, the transformation of those inputs, and selling the final product or delivering the service. Those operations produce diffrent economic and monetary effetcs, which will be analyzed.

Income. A company's operations can generate or destroy economic whealth. Income represents the net worth generate by a firm. In order to determine net income, some rules should be applied. In particular, the course will discuss the accrual accounting principle.

Profitability, earnings quality, and solvency. In order to survive, a company should meet some equilibrium conditions, which are related to profitability and solvency. Regarding profitability, a company should be profitable, and its profits should be alble to adequately remmunerate shareholder investment and expectations. However, when analysing profitability, attention should be devoted to the activities that have contributed most to profit generaton. Solvency analysis is concerned with understaing whether and how a company is able to timely meet its obligations.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Marchi, L. (eds.) (2021), Introduzione all'Economia Aziendale, Giappichelli.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

ELISA RONCAGLIOLO (President)

FRANCESCO GIOVANNI AVALLONE

ELISA BONOLLO

COSTANZA DI FABIO

GIULIA LEONI

PAOLA RAMASSA

LESSONS

LESSONS START

First semester

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

The final exam is a written exam to assess the student’s theoretical and practical learning. It is the same assessment both for attending and non-attending students. The final exam is a mix of practical and theoretical questions in the form of exercises, open questions and multiple-choice questions.

During the semester when the course is taught, ongoing assessments can be provided. The dates, modes and contents of these ongoing assessments will be communicated via AulaWeb during the semester. 

More details on the exams will be communicated to the students at the beginning of the semester via AulaWeb and during the first lecture. 

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The exam aims at verifying that the student is capable to effectively explain the nature of the business and its dynamics, and to apply theoretical concepts to solve problems regarding the preservation of the economic and financial stability of the businesses.

Exam schedule