OVERVIEW

Business Administration is a core unit in the 3-year degree which addresses the principles and logics underpinning the operations of businesses. This is the first unit in the business studies area that first-year students take on in their degree

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course aims to provide first-year students a basic knowledge of the principles and logics underpinning the operations of businesses. In particular, you will examine the nature and roles of businesses and their administration, as economic entities producing goods and services for the market.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

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

• Examine the conditions for the origins and development of enterprises
• Explain business management from the perspective of the dynamics of economic and financial amounts
• Explain the necessary conditions to achieve and maintain the economic and financial stability of the enterprise
• Deepen the double-entry bookkeeping methodology and its application to register main business operations
• Understand the profitability and financial needs of an enterprise

By the end of this teaching unit, 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.

EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES

Knowledge and understanding: to know and describe the operating logic of business systems, with a focus on the nature and functions of enterprises, in contexts of production of goods and services for the market.
Applying knowledge and understanding: to apply the acquired knowledge to understand and solve problems related to business management, particularly for the accounting of main business operations, in simulated contexts.
Making judgments: to assess, based on the acquired theoretical and practical knowledge, the enterprise’s ability to achieve and maintain economic and financial equilibrium, in relation to proposed business cases.
Communication skills: to clearly and correctly present the economic and financial effects of the main business transactions, including their impact on the key figures reported in the company’s financial statements.

PREREQUISITES

No specific prerequsites are required.

TEACHING METHODS

The teaching unit adopts the following teaching methods:
- face-to-face lectures aimed at developing students’ knowledge and understanding of business and financial concepts and the functioning of the accounting and information system;
- face-to-face tutorials dedicated to applying the acquired theoretical knowledge and developing independent judgment.

Attendance is not compulsory but strongly recommended.

Students with certification of disability, specific learning disorders or special educational needs should contact, at the beginning of the semester, both the instructor and the Department’s disability liaison, Prof.ssa Elena Lagomarsino (elena.lagomarsino@unige.it),  to agree on teaching and exam arrangements that, while respecting the objectives of the teaching unit, take into account individual learning needs and allow the use of compensatory tools if necessary.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

The unit develops along these content lines:

• The business operations as the main study objects of Business Administration as a scientific discipline.
• The business and its distinctive role in the economic and financial system. The value creation process.
• Business administration and its main operations: financing, investments, production, sales. The economic and financial effects of operations. Profit generation and financial and economic stability of the business.
• The invested capital and the net profit of the year. The principle of accrual accounting.
• The double-entry bookkeeping methodology and accounting entries of the main business operations: purchase, sales, fixed assets acquisition, etc…
• Elements of the invested capital and the net profit. The problem of accounting estimates.
• The profitability and its determinants. 
• Nature of the costs and their relations with the business
• Financial needs, their determinants and coverage. Financial stability.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Marchi, L. (a cura di) (2024). Introduzione all'economia aziendale. Giappichelli.

A detailed list of the chapters of the textbook that will be covered in the final exam will be provided on Aulaweb at the beginning of the semester.
The textbook is also available in e-book version.
Additional teaching materials for lectures and exam preparation will be made available on Aulaweb.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

LESSONS

LESSONS START

16th September 2025

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

The final exam is a written test aimed at assessing student’s theoretical and practical learning outcomes. It is the same assessment both for attending and non-attending students. The test included a mix of practical and theoretical questions, which may comprise exercises, open-ended questions and multiple-choice questions.

During the semester when the course is taught, the final exam can be replaced – if offered by the teaching unit coordinator – by in-course assessments. The dates, modes and contents of these in-course assessments will be communicated via AulaWeb during the semester. The students who did not take or did not pass the in-course assessments, are free to undertake the full written exam in the official exam sessions.

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 final exam is designed to assess whether the student has acquired, understood, and is able to effectively communicate the operating logic of business systems. It also verifies the student’s ability to apply the acquired knowledge to the solution of business-related problems, with particular reference to the accounting of business transactions and the assessment of an enterprise’s ability to achieve and maintain economic and financial equilibrium. The assessment criteria include: clarity of exposition, terminological accuracy, analytical skills, and ability to apply knowledge.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Contact the instructor for further information not included in the teaching unit description.