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 businesses. In particular, the unit 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 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.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Knowledge and understanding: The student will be able to describe the principles and logics underpinning business systems, with particular reference to the nature and functions of businesses as unified systems aimed at wealth creation, and to the conditions for economic and financial equilibrium, at the end of lectures and individual study.

Applying knowledge and understanding: The student will be able to apply the acquired knowledge to solve problems related to business management, organisation and accounting, with particular reference to verifying the achievement and maintenance of economic and financial equilibrium, through exercises and practical cases.

Making judgements: The student will be able to autonomously evaluate the main business issues, using the acquired knowledge in different application contexts, during written exams.

Learning skills: The student will be able to organise and assess their own learning and independently manage their study path, also by using the resources available on Aulaweb.

PREREQUISITES

No specific prerequisities are required.

TEACHING METHODS

The unit makes use of the following teaching methodologies:

• face-to-face lectures aiming at working on knowledge and comprehension of financial and business concepts and the functioning of the accounting and information system;
• face-to-face tutorials to develop the capability to apply knowledge, critical thinking and the capacity of learning to learn.

Attendance is not compulsory but strongly recommended.

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 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. The equity value.
• Nature of the costs and their relations with the business

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Marchi, L. (a cura di) (2021). Introduzione all'economia aziendale. Giappichelli.

A list of the chapters that are covered in the final exam is provided at the beginning of the semester on Aulaweb.

The textbook will be also available in the e-book version.

Additional materials will be uploaded on Aulaweb at the beginning of and during the semester.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

LESSONS

LESSONS START

Lectures are held in the first semester, with the first class on Tuesday, September 16, 2025. The detailed timetable is available on the Department of Economics (DIEC) website: https://economia.unige.it/orario-lezioni 

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, the final exam can be replaced – if offered by the course 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.

For Erasmus students or other specific categories, any differentiated exam arrangements will be communicated on AulaWeb and agreed with the instructor.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The final exam is designed to verify that the student has achieved the expected learning outcomes, assessing the ability to describe the principles and logics of business systems, to apply the acquired knowledge to solve problems related to management and economic-financial equilibrium, and to use appropriate terminology and clarity of exposition. Assessment will be based on theoretical and practical questions, with criteria including theaccuracy of answers, analytical and synthesis skills, and terminological precision.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Please contact the instructor for further information not included in the teaching unit form.