BUSINESS ORGANIZATION OF TOURIST ENTERPRISES
In order to succesfully attend the course, students should be familiar with the main concepts of accounting, management and microeconomics, as well as basic notions of mathematics and statistics.
Written exam with open questions.
The questions may concern both theoretical concepts and the solution of numerical problems.
The exam sheet is composed of three questions, each divided into various points. Each question is of equal value for the purpose of the overall evaluation of the exam.
At the end of the course, and before the exam sessions, a mock-exam will be solved during class.
The course aims at introducing the basic principles and techniques of the organization of a business, focusing on the peculiarities of firms operating in the tourism industry. It guides students through the discovery of the key steps of the strategic planning process and the organization of activities within a firm, and provides them with the basic tools to assess the effectiveness of the operational and decision-making processes that characterize the life of the company.
In particular, the course intends to jointly achieve the following objectives:
1. to equip students with the basic elements and knowledge of the fundamental concept required for understanding the different methods of operation of a company;
2. provide the theoretical and practical knowledge related to the corporate decisions concerning the organizational structure;
3. provide the knowledge related to the management of the complex real-world processes of organizational changes and innovation.
PART ONE
The general dimensions of the organizational system
- Organization as a discipline and field of study
- The systemic vision of the organization
- How to analyze organizations: the structural dimensions of the organization and the contingent factors that influence them
- Comparison between different approaches to organizational design
- Environment, strategy and organization. How to interpret the organizational environment: components, complexity, instability, uncertainty. The influence of the environment on organization design
PART TWO
The organizational dimensions applied to enterprises in the tourism industry
- The relevant factors in the choice of the legal form of the enterprise
- Behavioral and attitudinal requirements in the services sector
- Alternative organizational methods for running hotel and restaurant activities
PART THREE
Financial organization
- Revenue management, its implementation, and the organizational consequences
- Business organization and pricing policies
- Financial planning
PART FOUR
Events management
- What is an event
- The essential characteristics of the event organization process
- Programming and project management tools
- The role of events in the tourism industry
Given the specific content of the course, there is no specific text to use as the only reference for exam preparation.
The essential study material consists of lecture slides, and any further readings made available to students on the e-learning platform.
The following texts provide additional support for specific parts of the course:
- Economia, strategie e management delle aziende di produzione turistica, M. Confalonieri, Ed. Giappichelli;
- Le imprese alberghiere. Strategie e marketing, A.G. Mauri, McGraw-Hill;
- Organizzazione Aziendale (6 ed.), Richard Daft, Ed. Maggioli editore;
- Accounting Essentials for Hospitality Managers (3 ed.), Chris Guilding, Ed. Routledge;
- Financing Decisions and Performance of Italian SMEs in the Hotel Industry, Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, M. Botta;
- Event Studies: Theory, research and policy for planned events (3 ed.), D. Getz, S. J. Page, Ed. Routledge.
Taught classes with both theoretical and practical content.