Unit BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
- Course
- Mechanical engineering
- Study-unit Code
- A004676
- Curriculum
- In all curricula
- Teacher
- Andrea Genovese
- Teachers
-
- Andrea Genovese
- Hours
- 54 ore - Andrea Genovese
- CFU
- 5
- Course Regulation
- Coorte 2024
- Offered
- 2026/27
- Learning activities
- Caratterizzante
- Area
- Ingegneria gestionale
- Sector
- ING-IND/35
- Type of study-unit
- Obbligatorio (Required)
- Type of learning activities
- Attività formativa monodisciplinare
- Language of instruction
- Italian
- Contents
- The Economics and Business Organization course offers an integrated overview of the economic and managerial fundamentals of the firm, with a special focus on the technology and advanced manufacturing sectors. Through a case-study approach and Excel labs, the programme covers topics such as organizational structures, make-or-buy decisions, operations, competitive strategies, global value chains, and risk management. It also introduces key microeconomic concepts (market structures, production theory, competition) and macroeconomic themes (growth, productivity, international trade, industrial policies), enriched with basic financial statement analysis. The course concludes with a discussion on geopolitics, sustainability, and the future of technology industries.
- Reference texts
- Beyond the lecture materials distributed during the course, students are encouraged to refer to the following textbook:
Costantino, N., Pellegrino, R., Scozzi, B. (2019). Economia e organizzazione aziendale. Teoria, metodo ed esercitazioni. Edizioni Hoepli. - Educational objectives
- Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:
1. Understand the economic and organizational rationale for firms, governance forms, and organizational structures, with reference to technology companies.
2. Apply financial analysis tools (financial statement analysis, profitability and solvency ratios) and quantitative techniques (break-even analysis) to support business decisions.
3. Analyse competitive dynamics in technology industries, evaluating market structures, economies of scale, network effects, innovation, and sources of competitive advantage.
4. Assess challenges in global supply chain management, including make-or-buy decisions, risk management, resilience, and the impact of geopolitics and sustainability on corporate strategies. - Prerequisites
- No specific prior knowledge of economics or business organization is required. However, basic familiarity with IT tools (spreadsheets) and fundamental concepts of mathematics (functions, graphical representations) and descriptive statistics, typical of the first year of Engineering degree programmes, is recommended.
- Teaching methods
- The course is structured through lectures, classroom exercises (also using Excel), and computer labs. Lectures are devoted to presenting theoretical frameworks and analysing business cases from the technology and advanced manufacturing sectors. Exercises and labs allow students to practically apply the tools learned (financial statement analysis, break-even analysis, supply chain mapping, strategic analysis) to real-world data and case studies. Teaching materials (slides, exercises, lab tracks, case studies) are made available on the course e-learning platform.
- Other information
- Any changes to the programme, examination methods, or teaching materials will be promptly communicated through the e-learning platform and the official course channel. Students are advised to regularly consult these channels for updates.
- Learning verification modality
- Learning assessment is carried out through a written exam (approximately 2 hours), consisting of open-ended questions and applied exercises.
Students may also undertake an optional project work on a technology company of their choice, to be discussed in a subsequent supplementary oral interview. - Extended program
- Part I. The Firm and Organizational Decisions (Weeks 1-5)
Week 1. Why do firms exist?
Introduction to economics and business organization. The firm as an economic and organizational system. Business functions. The rationale for the existence of firms: transaction costs, coordination, and knowledge (Coase, Williamson). Forms of governance and ownership.
Microeconomic elements: scarcity of resources and choice; the market as the meeting point of demand and supply; introduction to market equilibrium and elasticity.
Focus: Apple, NVIDIA, and TSMC as organizations coordinating global production networks.
Exercise: identifying functions and processes in a technology firm.
Week 2. Costs and economic decisions (Part I)
Fixed and variable costs. Direct and indirect costs. Production costs and transaction costs. Economies of scale. Break-even analysis. Value creation.
Microeconomic elements: theory of production and cost curves (short-run and long-run).
Macroeconomic elements: GDP, value added, and national income (introductory).
Excel Lab: break-even analysis using data from technology companies.
Week 3. Introduction to financial statements and economic-financial analysis (Part II)
Introduction to financial statement analysis: Balance Sheet and Income Statement. Reclassification of financial statements. Key margins (EBIT, EBITDA, net income). Profitability ratios (ROE, ROI, ROS), solvency and liquidity ratios.
Applications: case studies from technology companies (e.g., NVIDIA, ASML).
Excel Lab: calculation of financial ratios using real-world data.
Week 4. Make-or-buy and the boundaries of the firm
Vertical integration. Outsourcing. Offshoring. Make-or-buy analysis.
Microeconomic elements: market structures (perfect competition, monopoly, oligopoly); contractual incompleteness and information asymmetries.
Focus: semiconductor production. Why does NVIDIA not manufacture chips and TSMC not design them?
Case study.
Week 5. Organizational structures and management of technology firms
Functional, divisional, and matrix structures. Project-based and platform-based organizations. Coordination and innovation.
Macroeconomic elements: economic growth and technical progress; investments in physical and human capital.
Case: organization of ASML or Tesla.
Part II. Production, Operations, and Strategy (Weeks 6-9)
Week 6. Operations Management and production systems
Production processes. Lean manufacturing. Just-in-Time. Quality management. Industrial automation. Digital manufacturing and AI in operations.
Macroeconomic elements: labour productivity and total factor productivity; business cycles and capacity planning decisions.
Case: Toyota and advanced manufacturing.
Week 7. Economies of scale, market power, and technology industries
Economies of scale and scope. Barriers to entry. Industrial concentration. Increasing returns. Winner-take-all dynamics. Network effects and platform economics.
Microeconomic elements: returns to scale and imperfect competition; market power.
Macroeconomic elements: industrial structure and aggregate performance; competition policy and antitrust.
Case: NVIDIA, TSMC, ASML, and Microsoft.
Week 8. Innovation, technological cycles, and competitive advantage
Schumpeter and creative destruction. Product life cycle. Technological innovation. First-mover and fast-follower strategies. Planned obsolescence, technological lock-in, and industry standards.
Microeconomic elements: dynamic competition and R&D investments; network externalities and path dependence.
Macroeconomic elements: long waves of development and technological cycles; impact of innovation on growth and employment.
Case: Apple vs Samsung.
Week 9. Strategy and competitive positioning
Industry analysis. Five Forces. SWOT analysis. Resources and capabilities. Competitive advantage.
Microeconomic elements: competition and industry profitability; barriers to entry and bargaining power.
Macroeconomic elements: business cycles and sectoral performance; fiscal and monetary policies and their impact on corporate investment.
Exercise: strategic analysis of a company integrating financial statement data.
Part III. Supply Chains, Geopolitics, and Sustainability (Weeks 10-12)
Week 10. Value chains and technology supply chains
Porter's value chain. Global Value Chains. Analysis of the semiconductor supply chain: design, EDA software, wafer fabrication, equipment, packaging, and assembly.
Macroeconomic elements: international trade and productive specialization (comparative advantage); globalization and production fragmentation.
Focus: global electronics supply chain.
Lab: supply chain mapping.
Week 11. Procurement, supplier management, and risk management
Supply chain management. Supplier relationships. Strategic sourcing. Procurement of critical components. Inventory management. Bullwhip effect. Supply chain risk management. Single and dual sourcing. Supplier diversification. Resilience and economic security.
Microeconomic elements: supplier relationships as long-term arrangements; specific investments and hold-up; game theory in repeated contexts.
Macroeconomic elements: exogenous shocks and global supply chain vulnerabilities; cost-push inflation and supply shocks; strategic autonomy and industrial policies.
Case: the global semiconductor crisis.
Week 12. Globalization, geopolitics, and sustainability
Global value chains, reshoring, and regionalization. Geopolitics of semiconductors. Industrial policy. US-China tensions. Sustainability, circular economy, and ecological transition.
Macroeconomic elements: globalization, inequalities, and impact on employment and wages; environmental externalities and economic policy instruments for the ecological transition (carbon pricing, green subsidies).
Final discussion: what future for technology industries? - Obiettivi Agenda 2030 per lo sviluppo sostenibile
- SDG 8 – Decent Work and Economic Growth: topics such as economic productivity through technological innovation, value creation, and quality employment in manufacturing and technology sectors are addressed.
SDG 9 – Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure: the entire programme focuses on industrial innovation, technological competitiveness, research and development, and production chain analysis, contributing to the promotion of sustainable and inclusive industrialization.
SDG 12 – Responsible Consumption and Production: the course addresses sustainability, circular economy, efficient resource management, and waste reduction in global value chains