Core Courses

The course provides a theoretical framework for understanding and analyzing critical financial aspects of contemporary firms in the market environment. The course explains how to apply the main tools available to companies for making investment decisions coherent with the value creation principle. The course shows how to implement models in simplified situations and analyzes the validity of different approaches applied in real- life situations. The factors affecting the bondholders’ and shareholders’ risk and value are analyzed, the concept of cost of capital is developed, and a hint at the leading firm evaluation models is made.

The course covers the following topics and assignments:

• Valuing bonds
• Investment decision rules
• Fundamentals of capital budgeting
• Valuing stocks
• Capital markets and the pricing of risk
• Estimating the cost of capital

The course is designed to enable MBA candidates to read, understand, and analyze the financial statements of corporations. This is a course for beginners. The first part introduces participants to the logic of accrual accounting and its methodology (i.e., double-entry bookkeeping). This first part aims to clarify the specific informative content and purpose of the different financial statements. In the second half of the course, the candidates learn how to use the financial ratios in order to assess the financial position and the performance of a business. Considering the international connotation of the MBA, the course introduces the different approaches to financial reporting adopted by corporations in the international context.

The course covers the following topics and assignments:

• Accounting: basic concepts
• Assets, liabilities, shareholders’ equity
• Main assumptions underlying accounting estimates: conservatism and the matching principle
• Revenues and expenses: the Statement of Financial Performance
• Double entry bookkeeping: the methodology of the accounting process
• Assignments from the textbook on double-entry bookkeeping
• Different classifications of operating expenses in the international context
• The Statement of Financial Performance: different layouts in the international context
• The Cash Flow statement

The course aims at providing a set of minimal analytical tools necessary to understand and employ the more common machine learning approaches. The arguments covered include topics from linear algebra, real analysis, and probability.

In particular:

1. Basic linear algebra

• Vector spaces and vector operations
• Liner combination and linear (in)dependence
• Vector subspaces: basis and dimension
• Matrices: properties and operations
• Matrix determinant: properties and calculus
• Matrix rank and inverse matrix
• Solving linear systems

2. Basic real analysis

• Functions of one variable:
• Functions of several variables:
• Topics in optimization
• Integration of functions

3. Basic probability theory

• Sample spaces, events and probability
• Basic probability rules
• Conditional probability, independent events, Bayes’ formula
• Random variables and their distribution
• Discrete random variables: binomial, Poisson
• Continuous random variables: uniform, normal, exponential
• Expectation, variance, moments and quantiles of a random variable
• Random vectors and joint probability distribution
• Covariance and correlation
• Linear regression
• Central Limit Theorem and Law of Large Numbers

The course deals with the classical topics and problems of Financial Mathematics and aims at describing the main features of the basic quantitative models and methods for the valuation of financial transactions. The setting is deterministic. Some situations of random financial transactions are considered, and it is discussed how to approach their assessment in a deterministic setting.

The course covers the following topics:

• Discounted values and future values: Financial laws; equivalent interest rates; short interest rate.
• Annuities: Present values and future values of annuities-certain with flat or floating payments; loans; saving plans.
• Valuation of transactions certain: Net Present Value; Internal Rate of Return.
• Term structure: Spot and forward prices; spot and forward rates; no-arbitrage price of coupon-bearing bonds and portfolios of fixed-income securities.
• Mean duration: Mean duration and price volatility of fixed-income securities; interest rate risk; financial immunization.

The course allows MBA participants to cultivate two pivotal competencies requisite for managerial advancement:

a) Proficiency in discerning businesses’ strengths and weaknesses through comprehensive financial statement analysis.
b) Mastery the internal planning and control frameworks within corporate settings.

Concerning the first aspect, emphasis is placed on calculating and interpreting financial ratios employed by investors, shareholders, and lenders to gauge the company's profitability, financial position, and the adequacy of the capital structure.
Concerning management accounting systems, participants will gain insight into the process of product cost estimation and subsequent product margin evaluation. Cost analysis facilitates informed decision-making, particularly in scenarios such as make-or-buy determinations. Managers must foresee and assess the implications of their decisions on product margins also through participation in the budgeting process.
Upon course completion, MBA candidates will be equipped to evaluate the economic implications of managerial choices and adeptly formulate budgets tailored to moderately complex business environments.

The course covers the following topics and assignments:

• Understanding the financial performance: gross margins and the bottom line
• Fixed and variable costs: the break-even point and the cost-volume-profit analysis
• Operating Leverage and Financial Leverage
• Financial Statements Analysis: Ratio Analysis and Cash Flow Analysis
• Capital Structure, Financial Leverage, and Financial Risk
• Cost and Revenues Information for Decision Making and Management Control
• Cost Terms and Cost Concepts
• Cost Accumulation and Assignment
• Departmental Costing and Activity-Based Costing
• Decision Making: Relevant Cost Analysis and Strategic Analysis
• Analysis of Different Types of Short- and Medium- to Long-term Decisions Involving Knowledge of Relevant Costs and Revenues
• Profit Planning
• Budget Structure and Analysis of Main Interplay among its Components.

This course is centered on driving the digital transformation journey by bolstering students' organizational capability in the digital era (refer to the course structure). It delves into organizational diagnosis and design from a digitally-influenced stakeholder perspective. The curriculum ensures that students grasp the nuances of HR practices in a digital context, enabling them to manage change effectively and amplify their role in the company's digital value creation processes. By championing digital corporate citizenship and fostering a progressive digital work environment, students can enhance the company's digital social capital value. Recognizing the significance of stakeholders in ensuring the digital sustainability of the company's business models, the course underscores ESG concerns linked to modern organizational and HRM practices in a digital world.

The course is structured in four logical tracks:

• T1 - Understanding the changes in the organizational environment driven by digital technology and the growing importance of external stakeholders;
• T2 – Designing agile organizational processes;
• T3 – Designing the organization structure from bureaucracy to holacracy;
• T4 – Managing People for Digital Organizational Change.

The aim of the course is to provide participants with a holistic understanding of contemporary marketing research methods, equipping them with both theoretical knowledge and practical skills essential for navigating the complex landscape of modern marketing. This course will delve into various research methodologies, including qualitative and quantitative approaches, and explore how these methods can be effectively applied in real-world scenarios. Through a series of lectures, examples and reading, interactive simulations, and hands-on experiments, students will gain insights into the nuances of different research techniques such as Focus group, Case Study, and Narrative Analysis. The course will also focus on the utilization of behavioral experiments, cluster analysis for market segmentation, and the strategic use of data in decision-making processes. In addition, the course will emphasize the importance of ethical considerations and sustainability in marketing research, addressing how these factors impact consumer behavior and business practices. By the end of the course, participants will be adept at designing, conducting, and analyzing marketing research, and will be able to apply these skills to enhance business strategies and customer engagement in a variety of contexts and industries.

The course covers the following topics:

• Introduction to Marketing Research: An overview of marketing research methodologies, their importance, and fundamental principles. Differentiation between quantitative and qualitative methods and exploration of reasoning approaches.
• Overview of Qualitative Research Approaches: Focused exploration of qualitative research methods, including Grounded Theory, (N)Ethnography, Case Study, and Narrative Analysis, with an emphasis on their application in marketing.
• Focus Group Methodology: Study of focus group techniques, including the analysis of a new transportation service case that integrates sustainability and innovation.
• Quantitative Research and Data Analysis: Introduction to quantitative research methods, with practical application in a virtual retail scenario, using statistical analysis tools for data interpretation.
• Behavioral Experiments in Marketing: Examination of behavioral experiments in retail environments, incorporating strategies and techniques for influencing consumer behavior.
• Cluster Analysis for Market Segmentation: Instruction in using cluster analysis for market segmentation, applied to a fitness app case study.
• Applied Marketing Research Projects: Practical projects encompassing various aspects of marketing research, aimed at integrating theoretical knowledge with hands-on experience.

The course is designed to provide a theoretical framework for understanding and analyzing how firms make their capital structure choices, select debt and equity sources, and choose investments at international level, consistently with the value creation principle. The course shows how to implement models in simplified situations and analyzes the validity of different approaches applied in actual cases. The factors affecting the shareholders' risk and value are analyzed, and the market imperfections are discussed, emphasizing agency and distress costs. Moreover, the most suitable methods for firm valuation, such as the asset and equity side approach and relative valuation techniques, are presented and compared. During the course, the functioning of the Bloomberg database for the search for financial information will be presented.

The course covers the following topics:

• Optimal portfolio choice and the CAPM
• Capital structure in a perfect market
• Debt and taxes
• Financial distress, managerial incentives and information
• The leasing decision vs the borrowing decision
• Rising equity capital and alternative sources of financing
• Working capital management and the matching principle
• International corporate finance: capital budgeting with foreign currency cash flows
• Firm valuation

The course offers a perspective on the management consulting profession, focusing on the typical engagements that advisors are required to perform for their clients, as well as on the approaches that are followed to help companies improve their performance and health.

Course contents include:

• An overview of the international consulting market
• A description of how consulting firms recruit, train and develop talents, including which intrinsic characteristic are needed for someone to join a consultancy and be successful in the medium-long term
• The illustration of the typical engagements and key frameworks that are used to develop corporate strategy and transformation plans for companies
• The discussion of a methodology aimed at measuring organizational health
• A conversation on leadership
• A description of approaches and techniques for change management in modern organizations

The course is aimed at describing the complex nature and the working mechanisms of operations systems and supply chains in different industry settings. It also identifies different options for an integrated management of final demand, distribution network, production processes, logistics, transportation and the supply network.

Various management alternatives for a joint optimization of costs and service levels will be suggested, while it will be shown how an effective management of operations and supply chains can fundamentally contribute to the achievement and sustainability of corporate competitive advantage.

After completing the module, the student should become familiar with typical operations and supply chain set-ups. As a consequence, the student should also be able to understand the reasons behind the current design of a given supply chain, identify the main issues it might present, and contribute to its improvement by suggesting possible action points, mainly from a conceptual point of view.

The course includes two sections:
 
-Section A: ESG Investments and Finance
This module aims at providing participants with a broad knowledge to the funding of sustainability. During classes, participants will acquire the technical language required to avoid confusion in terminology in this emerging area of finance and will focus on how sustainability measures can be integrated into investment decisions, as well as what sustainability is associated with in companies pursuing this borrowing strategy. Part of the classes will be dedicated to discussion with participants stimulated by a selected number of readings. The ultimate purpose is to allow students to assess, from both the investors’ and managers’ perspectives, how sustainable finance may play a role in the future of capital markets.
 
-Section B: ESG Reporting
The purpose of this module is to discuss with the participants how to think, measure and report sustainable strategy and value creation. But what is “sustainability”? And how is possible to link with strategy and business models? And what is Business value? And for whom? To answer these questions the module builds on the fact that nowadays business organizations and their leaders are increasingly asked to be a force for good in society and regain part of the public trust eroded by recent episodes of corporate failures and managerial misconduct by aligning their corporate purpose to sustainable performance(s) for a variety of stakeholders. To do so it is necessary to broaden the way they think about a business’s value, understand how to measure it and, finally, explore the ways to report and communicate how they are creating long-term value. The logics, theories and leading practices for thinking, measuring and reporting sustainable strategy and value creation will be discussed in the module. Among others the practice of Integrated Thinking and Reporting will be illustrated and discussed – also through several case studies. Additionally, participants will be divided in team to develop a group works and presentations.

The objective of this course is to develop the market-oriented knowledge and skills necessary to make effective business decisions and to develop, implement, and evaluate marketing strategies and tactics in a wide range of institutional and market situations. This course emphasizes the importance of market orientation and customer focus as key requirements for long-term success.
This course is oriented to practice and the students are expected to actively participate during the class, within projects, individual and teamwork activities.

After completing the course, participants will be able to:

• Understand the marketing philosophy of doing business
• Adequately use marketing tools for own marketing plans
• Correlate different strategies and tactics with consistent positioning on the market
• Be able to understand consumers and target markets
• Develop a long-lasting brand identity
• Efficiently and critically evaluate marketing strategies

 
Course contents include:

• Marketing Today
• Knowing the Consumer
• Market Analysis
• Marketing Mix
• International Marketing
• New Age Marketing

This seminar is an exploration of the current issues in International Business in terms of understanding the reasons for internationalization and the functional processes behind successful internationalization.

By the end of the course, participants will:

• Develop an appreciation for the strategic dimension of international business including analysis of global value chain configuration
• Develop the ability to incorporate entrepreneurial skills in the international business context
• Understand the importance of global innovation – especially newer forms of innovation such as reverse and disruptive innovations
• Appreciate the growing importance of emerging markets in successful conduct of international business
• Construct frameworks for analysing and comparing high performance organizational and managerial practices across cultural boundaries

This course is designed to equip students for roles within organizations operating on a global scale. Students gain insights into the contributions of different functional units within organizations to the success of their international operations. The course encompasses diverse content themes, including international strategy and organization, international marketing, human resource management, and sourcing. By engaging with cross-border business scenarios, students develop skills in analyzing internationalization decisions, recognizing opportunities and risks, understanding the intricacies of global business operations, and appreciating the significance of ethics and social responsibility in shaping a firm's conduct across home and host countries.

The course is structured in 6 training sessions, including the following topics:

• Organizing International Firms
• Digital transformation and International Firms
• International Product Development: Global v. Local Aspects
• International Talent Management
• International Sourcing and Supply Chain: Agility and Resilience
• Competing in Emerging Markets

The Geopolitical Scenarios course will offer to the participants the chance to analyze in deep the different aspects that may significantly influence the international management decisions concerning the access to the markets after the crisis provoked by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and the today’s military conflict in Ukraine. Such aspects may affect the political, economic and social dimensions, as well as the human geography, the natural resources, the strategic military objectives, the trade and the international economic cooperation.
This course is intended to offer to the participants some keys of interpretation of the today’s world, to increase the familiarity of the participants with worldwide macroeconomic issues, with reference to the business context and to the role that the managers will play in an internationally oriented company.
 
The course will cover the following topics:

• Introduction to the geopolitical analysis as tool for the international business planning and for the country analysis;
• The today’s world and the interaction among the main economic powers; economic trends and forecasts; the economic crisis of 2008 and the health-economic crisis of 2020-2021;
• America and its internal trends; the declining role of the United States of America at the international level; the foreign trade and protectionism; South America between economic difficulties and political instabilities;
• Asia and its internal trends; the growth of China and the challenge versus the United States of America; the Belt and Road Initiative; India and Japan as local competitors; the case of North Korea; Afghanistan and the threat of the international terrorism;
• The attitude of Russia at the global level; the conflict in Ukraine, the energy issue; the crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh, Syria and Lybia; the tension between Russia and NATO;
• Europe among economic, health and political crisis; Brexit and its impact on EU stability; Next Generation EU and the challenges of the future; the role of France, Germany and Italy in the EU stability, the impact of the conflict in Ukraine on EU;
• Africa and the problem of development; the legacy of the Arab Springs and the Islamic radicalism; the Middle East instability; the issue of the growth of population;
• The main issues of the future; the climate change, the energy transition, the green deal, the sustainable development, the demographic trends and the migration flows; the global governance between UNO and G20; capitalism and liberalism in front of the global development; the digital revolution and the technological global challenge, the new cold war between Western countries and the Eurasian block.

The course will highlight the most relevant management methodologies used in identifying successful new product or service ideas, developing new product concepts and bringing them into the market, delivering sound customers’ experiences. Understand the importance of cross functional team working and how different functional expertise are used in the innovation process. Have an understanding of how corporations should organize in order to best manage the NPD process.

Main topics covered in the course are:

• What is a product
• Analyse customer journeys
• Identify needs and structure them
• Translate voice of customers into voice of developers and set product performances’ targets
• Develop and select best concepts
• Risk management in NPD
• Develop complex products
• The NPD process and organisation

Note: MBA participants will also follow a project work, to be carried out with separate evaluation.

Some Companies involved in the MBA projects:
Allianz
Calligaris
Costa Crociere
Eli Lilly
Fincantieri
illycaffè
Jacuzzi Europe
Lima
Luxottica
RICA - Zoppas Industries
Kaba Group S.p.A.
TBS Group
Wärtsilä
Marchon S.p.A.
ABS - Danieli Group
Roncadin S.p.A.

The course is aimed at providing the participants with a working knowledge and the most effective techniques and logical frames available for the development and the evaluation of a business plan for a new business venture. It will give the perspective of an equity investor in evaluating business plans and investments.
The course combines an academic perspective with the views and methodologies of prospective investors (venture capital funds) and will integrate knowledge from different management areas, such as finance, accounting, strategy, marketing and offer a view on the main dimensions of the starting-up of a business in high-tech and traditional settings.
The course will have hands-on-approach, with three days class activities.

Main topics:

• Introduction to Seed & Venture Capital
• Financial and Legal Modeling of a Fund
• Decision Making Process
• Qualitative Business Planning
• The Role of Intellectual Property
• Identifying market potential in unknown markets
• Pricing dilemma
• Company Valuation
• Investment clauses
• Approaching an investor: writing a business plan and pitching
• Elevator pitches and investors simulation
• Venture capital market and exit opportunities

In today's dynamic and rapidly changing business environment, creativity and innovation at the workplace are acknowledged as one of the key factors for achieving sustainable competitive advantage. The importance of agility and flexibility is further strengthened in light of digital transformation, with technology changing our jobs, organizations and lives in general.

The course will provide you a deeper understanding of the changes occurring at all societal levels and equip you with principles and practical tools needed to cope with those changes and thrive with your adaptability in the digital workplace.

The purpose of the course is to present the current state of digital transformation, show how it affects work, workplaces and individuals doing work, and offer flexibility and adaptability skills and techniques needed to thrive in settings that are increasingly becoming digitized. As digital transformation goes hand in hand with an increasing demand for non-routine, knowledge and creative work, the workshop also demonstrates contemporary approaches to creativity and innovation management, supports them with real-world examples and techniques applicable to creative and collaborative work.

The primary objective for this class is to develop an understanding of firms’ growth and innovation strategies in high-competitive environments. To reach this aim, the discussion will introduce the concept of Open Innovation starting from real business case scenarios, the class is going to be asked to identify business development projects, work in teams and develop an open innovation strategy. In doing so, the format of a simulation will allow to discuss emerging issues that characterize today’s economic and technological scenario.

The final presentations of the teams will be presented and discussed with the presence of a guest speaker. Participants will be continuously stimulated in taking part to this debate by presenting their points-of-view and their experiences.

This course has been thought and designed in order to be highly interactive.

By the end of this course students will be in the position to:

• Recognize the forces behind economic and technological change and the need of firms to cope with them
• Understand the differences between technological innovation-based strategies and strategies based on business model innovation
• Understand the potentials of a business model innovation brainstorming exercise
• Master the definition and develop their own open innovation strategy

The course includes several advanced areas in Data Science, Programming, Artificial Intelligence, and Business Analytics. It includes the following topics:

• Models, Risk, Likelihood. Linear regression.
• Machine Learning applications in insurance: a customer-centric perspective
• Unsupervised learning: k-means, PCA, feature selection for linear regression.
• Supervised learning: Logistic Regression, Decision Trees, and Random Forests.
• Ethics in ML and AI.
• Neural Networks.

 
By completing the course, participants will be able to:

• Understand the basic concepts of unsupervised learning and to distinguish between classification and regression tasks, choosing appropriate algorithms for each.
• Appreciate the multi-faceted ethical questions raised by the widespread adoption of ML and be able to discuss critically current research literature in the field. 
• Understand the foundations of supervised learning in terms of the minimization of a loss function
• Have a basic understanding of the main supervised learning algorithms, their mathematical foundations, and their interpretation in a business setting
• Familiarize with software tools to carry out data science analyses in a business application scenario
• Provide sound business interpretations of the results of the machine learning models and derive consistent “next best actions” at the business level.

 
At the end of the course, the participants will be asked to apply the concepts, tools, and methodologies presented. By working in teams, they will carry out project work to apply the learned concepts and derive relevant business implications.