business economics
- Overview
- Assessment methods
- Learning objectives
- Contents
- Bibliography
- Teaching methods
- Contacts/Info
Course is held on the first year, first semester.
No specific prerequisites are needed; fluency in italian language (oral and written) and good knowledge of basic mathematical operators are required.
ASSESSMENT METHOD
The assessment consists of an interim exam worth 40% of the final mark. In case of positive outcome, it counts for 40% of the exam so that the contents covered in it will not be included in the final exam. The pass result achieved in the interim test is valid only in the first exam session immediately following the interim test.
Students who do not take or pass the interim test, have to sit a general exam on the entire syllabus contents. The general exam is structured into a written test divided into two parts: the first part, on general contents, refers to points 1, 2, 3 and 5 of the syllabus, while the second part, with more practical contents, refers to point 4 of the syllabus. The general questions aim to test the students’ knowledge of that specific part of the syllabus, and their understanding of business-related language, as well as their effective speech on issues related to this discipline. The second part of the test aims at verifying the methodological application of the knowledge acquired as regards the functioning of the accounting model to determine the business values. Students pass the test if they obtain at least 18/30 in each of the two parts of the general exam.
Students who pass the interim test will be exempt from taking the part of the final exam related to the contents included in the interim test.
The oral exam may be: a) requested by the students who have passed the final written test, in case they feel that their preparation does not correspond to the outcomes of the test; b) requested by the lecturers.
The course aims to teach students the concepts and basic notions needed for understanding the structure and the management of businesses in the present days. The objective is accordingly to study in depth the following profiles of the enterprise system: institutional structure and corporate governance, competitive environment and corporate strategies, accounting model and the logic underlying the measurement of income and capital, and tools for analysing operating results. The course is a prerequisite for and functional to the course in Accounting.
COURSE CONTENT
1. Economic agents and the enterprise system.
– The notions of entity, organization and enterprise and their distinctive characteristics.
– The role of businesses in market economies.
– The enterprise-environment relationship.
– The magnitude of the enterprise system.
2. Institutional structure and corporate governance.
– The agency relation between the enterprise and its stakeholders.
– Rights and obligations arising from firm management.
– Administration and control systems.
3. The competitive environment.
– The enterprise in the competitive system.
– Corporate strategy: introductory overview.
– Competitive strategy and strategic business areas.
– Strategies at a corporate level.
4. The system of events and the accounting model for reporting business values.
– Accounting model and logic behind its operation.
– Accounting of the main operating transactions.
– Nature and characteristics of income and capital.
– Drafting of profit-and-loss account and balance sheet.
– Concepts of economic capital and liquidation capital.
5. Enterprise management and evaluation of results.
– Concepts of economy of scale and saturation of productive capacity.
– Conditions of income, asset and monetary balance, and their interpretation.
– Breakeven point, contribution margin, and operating leverage.
G. AIROLDI-G. BRUNETTI-V. CODA, Corso di Economia aziendale, Il Mulino, Bologna, 2005.
F. CERBIONI-L. CINQUINI-U. SÒSTERO, Contabilità e bilancio, McGraw-Hill, Milan, 2011 (third edition).
TEACHING METHOD
The course will be taught through a series of lectures supplemented by assignments covering Parts 4 and 5 of the syllabus.
Lecture slides and additional teaching material will be made available on the Blackboard platform.
Further information can be found on the lecturer's webpage, or on the Faculty notice board.
Professor Alessandro Panno may be contacted via email at:
alessandro.panno@uniunsubria.it