OVERVIEW

Strategic decision-making, with the goal of generating value, is essential for businesses. This analysis delves into the critical phases of strategic management, highlighting corporate strategies such as vertical integration, diversification, and internationalization. Additionally, decisions may involve corporate restructuring during crises to facilitate the implementation of these strategies, as well as assessing both the ex-ante and ex-post effectiveness of these approaches.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course is focused on strategic management and the decision-making process. It aims to deepen the contents of business and corporate strategies. It analyzes the formulation, implementation, ex-ante, and ex-post evaluation of the strategy. 

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The teaching aims, in particular, are to acquaint students with:

1. The models and tools for designing a business strategy.
2. The growth and management strategies adopted by firms for product or market diversification.
3. The ability of the firm to create value.
4. The business and corporate strategies
5. The application of the business model (Canvass)
6. The ways of implementing the strategy
7. The tools for evaluating the strategy

Learning outcomes:

1. Knowledge and Understanding. Students will acquire adequate knowledge and effective understanding of the main forms of corporate governance.
2. Ability to apply knowledge and understanding. Students will be able to apply the acquired knowledge in solving problems related to different models of corporate governance. In particular, on: who governs, how and why; relationships between ownership and control; different types of share ownership and management; governance and corporate bodies; and conflicts of interest.
3. Autonomy of judgment. Students will be able to use both conceptually and operationally the knowledge acquired with autonomous judgment and skill in different application contexts.
4. Communication skills. Students will acquire the typical technical language of management to communicate clearly and “professionally” with possible technical and other interlocutors. The didactic approach of the course.
5. Learning ability. Students, gathered in groups, will study a business case from the perspective of corporate, business, and governance strategies. The Business Model Canvass will be used as an analysis tool for each company studied. Each case will be presented and discussed by each group during the exam.

PREREQUISITES

It is advised that students have successfully completed the exam in "Management."

As part of a master's degree program in management, it is essential for students to have gained fundamental knowledge during their bachelor's degree to effectively engage with the topics presented in the course:

* The concept of a sector and its characteristics;
* The various types of economies (scale, scope, etc.);
* Growth and competitive strategies.

This foundational knowledge is assumed to have already been attained and serves as the crucial basis for understanding the course material and successfully passing the examinations.

Should there be any knowledge gaps, students are encouraged to reach out to the professors for supplementary teaching materials to help bridge those gaps.

TEACHING METHODS

Lectures, exercises in the classroom or on an online teaching platform, and company testimonials. Part of the lecture hours will be devoted to the development of group work for the purpose of applying the knowledge gained in the classroom.

The part of the lessons held by Prof. Poledrini and equal to 3 credits will be delivered in English. More detailed information will be available on the teaching page in Aulaweb.

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

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

1. Strategy and value creation;

2. Strategy and corporate governance 

3. From strategic options to corporate strategy 

4. The strategy of vertical integration 

5. The diversification strategy 

6. The strategy of internationalization 

7. Crisis and strategies for corporate recovery 

8. The ways in which strategies are implemented 

9. The formulation of strategy 

10. The evaluation of the strategy 

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

For the part of Prof. Lara Penco (6 cfu): Genco P. e Penco L. (2017) La gestione Strategica dell’Impresa. Le strategie di corporate, Giappichelli Editore.

For the part in English of Prof. Simone Poledrini (3 cfu): Grant, R. M., & Jordan, J. J. (2015). Foundations of strategy. John Wiley & Sons.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

LESSONS

LESSONS START

Classes are held in the first semester according to the calendar and timetable defined by the Department of Economics. The timetable and classrooms can be found on EasyAcademy:  https://easyacademy.unige.it/portalestudenti/

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

The exam is divided between attending and non-attending students. The former will be assessed based on a project carried out during the course lessons, while the latter will be assessed through an oral exam, during which the knowledge acquired from the program will be verified.

The program is published on the teaching website available on aulaweb.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The exam for attending students is based on the evaluation of group work. The implementation of group activities allows us to evaluate the students' actual understanding, their ability to apply the knowledge acquired to concrete situations, the strengthening of transversal skills essential for professional integration and the ability to interact with experts on the proposed solutions.

The exam for non-attending students focuses on all the topics covered in the indicated textbook. Oral questions are asked to verify the student's level of learning and his/her ability to: 1) independently establish connections between the various contents and between theoretical and practical aspects, 2) express critical and up-to-date evaluations, 3) correctly use the specific technical language of the discipline.

More information is provided on AulaWeb.

FURTHER INFORMATION

The professors examines and considers each year the evaluations and suggestions proposed by the students in the teaching evaluation questionnaires.

Contact the teacher for further information not included in this pages.