ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS ORGANIZATION
Academic year and teacher
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- Versione italiana
- Academic year
- 2022/2023
- Teacher
- LAURETTA RUBINI
- Credits
- 6
- Curriculum
- Ingegneria elettronica e wireless
- Didactic period
- Primo Semestre
- SSD
- SECS-P/06
Training objectives
- The course has two main aims. First of all to provide students with the basic knowledge necessary to properly understand the economic and productive reality, which is the framework within which firms operate. Secondly, to understand the organizational and strategic choices of firms operating in an open and uncertain context. In particular, during the course decisions related to organization, strategic planning and innovative dynamics are studied.
In this framework, the course has the aim of favouring the acquisition of the following knowledge:
- basic concepts related to the economic systems, the market functioning, the intervention of the state in the economy, to be used as keys to read the economic reality;
- the concept of firm as an economic agent, with particular reference to problems related to choices in the short, long and very long run;
- internal functioning of the firm, different organizational structures and the process of strategic planning at the different organizational levels;
- R&D processes and stages of innovation development;
- Procedures and tools to protect intellectual property rights (patents, trademarks and copyrights).
Furthermore, the course aims at favouring the acquisition of the following abilities, i.e. capacities to apply the acquired knowledge:
- To identify organizational problems within a firm;
- To take part in the strategic planning processes;
- To participate in the innovation and product development processes;
- To identify patent opportunities. Prerequisites
- The course is designed for students approaching economic-managerial topics for the first time. As such, it does not require the preliminary acquisition of specific competences.
Course programme
- The course forecasts 60 teaching hours.
The market (8 hours)
The demand function – The consumer’s surplus – The supply function – The producer’s surplus – The market equilibrium – The intervention of the State in the economy (taxation, minimum prices, maximum prices) – Demand elasticity (price, income and other products) – Supply elasticity.
The firm as an economic agent (6 hours)
The production function – The short run – The long run – The very long run – The profit maximisation condition in the long run.
The market structures (6 hours)
Perfect competition – Monopoly – Oligopoly – Monopolistic competition
The firm as an organization (6 hours)
Definitions of organization and firm – Accounting profit and economic profit –The different organizational structures (functional, divisional, matrix and portfolio) - The different firm typologies.
The strategies of firms (10 hours)
The organization theories (from craftmanship to iper-personalisation) - Price strategies (price discrimination - predatory pricing - limit pricing) - Differentiation strategies and advertisement - Mergers and acquisitions - Strategic alliances.
The innovative process (20 hours)
The information paradox - The intellectual property right protection (patents, trademarks, copyrights, etc.) – The patenting procedure (at the Italian, European and world level) – The markets for technology (possible operations, functioning, limits) – Pioneers and followers - Open innovation - Innovation systems - Social innovation.
Industrial policy (4 hours)
Market and government failures. Didactic methods
- The course consists in frontal lectures. Theoretical issues are integrated, especially in the second part, with a frequent use of case studies.
FOR THE A.Y. 2022-23 THE COURSE WILL ENTIRELY TAKE PLACE IN PERSON. RECORDED LECTURES WILL BE AVAILABLE IN THE GOOGLE CLASSROOM OF THE COURSE (code: vicy4tr). Learning assessment procedures
- The learning process is assessed as follows:
1) ATTENDING STUDENTS: The final mark is the result of the average of: 1) a group work that will be done during the course, and that will end with a final presentation (maximum score 30 cum laude); 2) a written exam with 17 multiple choice questions, with 4 options each. One option is correct (+2 points), two are wrong (0 points) and one is heavily uncorrect (-2 point). Attending students will also have the possibility to split the written exam into two partial tests, with 8 and 9 questions The first partial test will be held at mid-term and the second right after the end of classes, before Christmas vacation.
N.B. To be considered as an attending student it is necessary to attend regularly the course and to take part in the group works.
2) NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS: The exam consists of a written test, with open questions. It is necessary to answer to 5 questions chosen among the 6 proposed. The maximum score for each answer is 6+ points. The exam is aimed at assessing not only the acquired knowledge of the treated issues, but also the capacity to organize the concepts and the balanced acquisition of all parts of the course. It is also possible to have an oral integration if required by the student (to increase the final mark) or by the teacher (to verify possible ambiguous results). Reference texts
- Textbook:
Di Tommaso M.R., Rubini L., Barbieri E. e Tassinari M. (2021), Economia e politica industriale. Organizzazione della produzione, innovazione e politiche di interesse pubblico, Bologna, Il Mulino. Chapters: 1, 2 (exc. par. 2.2.1.2, 2.3 and 2.4), 3 (only par. 3.3.2.1), 4, 5, 6 (excl. par. 6.2), 7, 8, 9, 10 (excl. 10.5 and 10.6), 11 (only par. 11.1), 13, 15, 16.
Further references might be provided during the course.
