Business Economics and Marketing
A.Y. 2022/2023
Learning objectives
The course aims to provide the student with the concepts to understand the organizational functioning and the analysis of costs and revenues of the private compaies and introduce the foundations for the development of a successful business strategy through the application of the principles of marketing. The theoretical lessons are accompanied by a substantial part of exercises focused on business case studies.
Expected learning outcomes
Completing the course the student will have learned the definition of public, private and mixed companies and their socio-economic roles. The student will also have the ability to describe the purposes of corporate Annual Report and to explain the principles for its preparation with particular reference to the internal and external information requirements that this document satisfies. The student will have understood the difference between the different competitive strategies and the bases of analytical and strategic marketing and will be able to organize and execute a product positioning analysis through the perceptual mapping technique.
Lesson period: First semester
Assessment methods: Esame
Assessment result: voto verbalizzato in trentesimi
Single course
This course cannot be attended as a single course. Please check our list of single courses to find the ones available for enrolment.
Course syllabus and organization
Single session
Responsible
Lesson period
First semester
More specific information on the delivery modes of training activities for a.y. 2021-2023 will be provided over the coming months, based on the evolution of the public health situation
Course syllabus
Frontal lessons - 32 hours
1. Economics and business organization
1.1 The nature and economic purpose of the company
1.2 The organizational structure and classification of companies
2. The Financial Statements: purpose and structure
2.1 Balance Sheet & Income Statement
2.2 Accounting standards
2.3 Budget analysis - Overview
2.4 Reclassification and Indices
3. Strategic corporate governance
3.1 Strategy as a model for seeking business success
3.2 Strategic analysis of the external environment
3.3 Building competitive advantage
3.4 Innovation and strategy
4. Marketing
4.1 The role of operational marketing
4.2 The marketing process
4.3 Strategic marketing
4.4 Operational marketing
Exercises - 32 hours
As an educational program, the course includes 32 hours of exercises, equal to exactly half of the total hours provided. The exercise program focuses on product perceptions and product positioning and is carried out through an innovative teaching method that involves collaborative teamwork. It should be noted that the frequency of the exercises is not mandatory, but whoever decides to participate must attend at least 80% of the lessons, a presence that will be traced with a signature sheet. This is because organizing exercises for over one hundred students consumes resources and because team work requires everyone to be present.
During the teaching period, students will be asked to organize themselves into groups of 6 components (exceptions are not allowed) which will be guided by the teacher in carrying out an original analysis on a group of at least 150 consumers with the aim of producing the perception map and positioning of a commercial category chosen by the group itself.
The exercise activity involves a mark, which is worth 50% of the exam score. This vote will be assigned by group (and then attributed to each member of the group) following a 10-minute plenary presentation of the results (+5 minutes of discussion). This grade will be attributed by the classmates present at the plenary presentation not belonging to the group, by the teacher and by an external expert invited by the teacher who will see the presentation for the first time. The mark will then be calculated as follows:
Group mark = (teacher mark) * 0.40 + (expert mark) * 0.40 + (average student mark) * 0.20.
Exercises for non-attending students
Those who cannot follow the exercises, before taking the exam must contact the teacher and will have the substitute task of reading and subsequently presenting an international scientific article by means of an appropriate presentation on Microsoft PowerPoint. The article will be chosen and assigned by the teacher and will focus on the consumption and perception of food products of animal origin.
The analysis and presentation of the paper is worth 50% of the exam score, i.e. it does arithmetic mean with the mark score.
PAPER SUBMISSION RULES:
1. The presentation of the paper must be carried out by preparing an appropriate PowerPoint file that will be used during the exam
2. The presentation must summarize the reasons (background) of the research, the purpose, the method and the results of the work studied
3. Each student has 10 minutes - 7 for the presentation of the paper, 3 for the discussion with the teacher (time is marked by the teacher, after 7 minutes the teacher stops the presentation and starts with the questions)
4. Each student will present himself with a copy of the paper to be delivered to the teacher for discussion
5. The presentation will be evaluated and the grade will be averaged with the written grade
6. The evaluation will consist of: 70% understanding of the paper and its exposure to the teacher; 30% ability to critically discuss the paper in the field of animal production sciences.
1. Economics and business organization
1.1 The nature and economic purpose of the company
1.2 The organizational structure and classification of companies
2. The Financial Statements: purpose and structure
2.1 Balance Sheet & Income Statement
2.2 Accounting standards
2.3 Budget analysis - Overview
2.4 Reclassification and Indices
3. Strategic corporate governance
3.1 Strategy as a model for seeking business success
3.2 Strategic analysis of the external environment
3.3 Building competitive advantage
3.4 Innovation and strategy
4. Marketing
4.1 The role of operational marketing
4.2 The marketing process
4.3 Strategic marketing
4.4 Operational marketing
Exercises - 32 hours
As an educational program, the course includes 32 hours of exercises, equal to exactly half of the total hours provided. The exercise program focuses on product perceptions and product positioning and is carried out through an innovative teaching method that involves collaborative teamwork. It should be noted that the frequency of the exercises is not mandatory, but whoever decides to participate must attend at least 80% of the lessons, a presence that will be traced with a signature sheet. This is because organizing exercises for over one hundred students consumes resources and because team work requires everyone to be present.
During the teaching period, students will be asked to organize themselves into groups of 6 components (exceptions are not allowed) which will be guided by the teacher in carrying out an original analysis on a group of at least 150 consumers with the aim of producing the perception map and positioning of a commercial category chosen by the group itself.
The exercise activity involves a mark, which is worth 50% of the exam score. This vote will be assigned by group (and then attributed to each member of the group) following a 10-minute plenary presentation of the results (+5 minutes of discussion). This grade will be attributed by the classmates present at the plenary presentation not belonging to the group, by the teacher and by an external expert invited by the teacher who will see the presentation for the first time. The mark will then be calculated as follows:
Group mark = (teacher mark) * 0.40 + (expert mark) * 0.40 + (average student mark) * 0.20.
Exercises for non-attending students
Those who cannot follow the exercises, before taking the exam must contact the teacher and will have the substitute task of reading and subsequently presenting an international scientific article by means of an appropriate presentation on Microsoft PowerPoint. The article will be chosen and assigned by the teacher and will focus on the consumption and perception of food products of animal origin.
The analysis and presentation of the paper is worth 50% of the exam score, i.e. it does arithmetic mean with the mark score.
PAPER SUBMISSION RULES:
1. The presentation of the paper must be carried out by preparing an appropriate PowerPoint file that will be used during the exam
2. The presentation must summarize the reasons (background) of the research, the purpose, the method and the results of the work studied
3. Each student has 10 minutes - 7 for the presentation of the paper, 3 for the discussion with the teacher (time is marked by the teacher, after 7 minutes the teacher stops the presentation and starts with the questions)
4. Each student will present himself with a copy of the paper to be delivered to the teacher for discussion
5. The presentation will be evaluated and the grade will be averaged with the written grade
6. The evaluation will consist of: 70% understanding of the paper and its exposure to the teacher; 30% ability to critically discuss the paper in the field of animal production sciences.
Prerequisites for admission
No specific prerequisites are required.
Teaching methods
The course is divided into classroom lectures and group exercises dedicated to the perception and positioning of products of animal origin and carried out using professional online information collection software and data analysis.
Therefore, the teaching is divided into three units specifically designed to give the student notions on different topics:
1. Business economics and organization - Dedicated to the principles of institutional economics and to the nature and content of the corporate financial statements
2. Marketing and business strategy - Dedicated to the principles of business strategy and operational marketing
3. Exercises - Dedicated to the practical application of the theoretical notions of quantitative marketing aimed at analyzing demand.
Therefore, the teaching is divided into three units specifically designed to give the student notions on different topics:
1. Business economics and organization - Dedicated to the principles of institutional economics and to the nature and content of the corporate financial statements
2. Marketing and business strategy - Dedicated to the principles of business strategy and operational marketing
3. Exercises - Dedicated to the practical application of the theoretical notions of quantitative marketing aimed at analyzing demand.
Teaching Resources
Textbook:
Antoldi F. (2012). Economia e organizzazione aziendale: introduzione al governo delle imprese, McGraw-Hill, 2012 - below, please note the chapters to be carried out:
Chapter 1 - La natura dell'impresa e suo assetto organizzativo
Chapter 2 - Il Bilancio d'esercizio e la riclassificazione del Bilancio
Chapter 5 - Il governo strategico di impresa
Chapter 8 - Il marketing
Supplementary teaching material distributed through the Ariel website - ATTENTION, THE SUPPLEMENTARY TEACHING MATERIAL DOES NOT ENTIRELY REPLACES THE RECOMMENDED VOLUME
WEB page of the course (very relevant point!)
A course web page is active on the Ariel portal of UNIMI - http://edemartiniegm.ariel.ctu.unimi.it
The page, which is updated every year, contains:
1. The present Syllabus
2. The supplementary teaching material of the theoretical lessons - Slide, all released at the beginning of the course
3. The didactic tutorial material - Slide, released from time to time at the end of the lesson
4. A Notice Board, which is used by the teacher to communicate with the students;
5. A FORUM, which is used by students to ask the teacher questions regarding didactic aspects. This area is designed as a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) area to facilitate the exchange of information between all. In this sense, all students who ask "general" questions via email will receive an email from the teacher in which they will be invited to contribute on the Forum.
Useful textbooks for those wishing to deepen and improve their skills:
Aaker, D. A., Kumar, V., & Day, G. S. (2008). Marketing research. John Wiley & Sons.
Mazzocchi M. (2008). Statistics for marketing and consumer research, Sage publisher.
Norwood F. B., Lusk J. L. (2018). Agricultural marketing and price analysis, Waveland Press.
Antoldi F. (2012). Economia e organizzazione aziendale: introduzione al governo delle imprese, McGraw-Hill, 2012 - below, please note the chapters to be carried out:
Chapter 1 - La natura dell'impresa e suo assetto organizzativo
Chapter 2 - Il Bilancio d'esercizio e la riclassificazione del Bilancio
Chapter 5 - Il governo strategico di impresa
Chapter 8 - Il marketing
Supplementary teaching material distributed through the Ariel website - ATTENTION, THE SUPPLEMENTARY TEACHING MATERIAL DOES NOT ENTIRELY REPLACES THE RECOMMENDED VOLUME
WEB page of the course (very relevant point!)
A course web page is active on the Ariel portal of UNIMI - http://edemartiniegm.ariel.ctu.unimi.it
The page, which is updated every year, contains:
1. The present Syllabus
2. The supplementary teaching material of the theoretical lessons - Slide, all released at the beginning of the course
3. The didactic tutorial material - Slide, released from time to time at the end of the lesson
4. A Notice Board, which is used by the teacher to communicate with the students;
5. A FORUM, which is used by students to ask the teacher questions regarding didactic aspects. This area is designed as a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) area to facilitate the exchange of information between all. In this sense, all students who ask "general" questions via email will receive an email from the teacher in which they will be invited to contribute on the Forum.
Useful textbooks for those wishing to deepen and improve their skills:
Aaker, D. A., Kumar, V., & Day, G. S. (2008). Marketing research. John Wiley & Sons.
Mazzocchi M. (2008). Statistics for marketing and consumer research, Sage publisher.
Norwood F. B., Lusk J. L. (2018). Agricultural marketing and price analysis, Waveland Press.
Assessment methods and Criteria
The exam takes place in writing in a 45-minute session. The exam consists of thirty-three multiple choice questions. Each correct answer is worth 1 point, 0.25 points are subtracted for each incorrect answer, while there are no penalties for those who do not indicate any answer. To pass the exam, the student must score at least 18 points. Students are required to score more than 30 points to take 30 cum laude. Students are reminded that they will be admitted to examination upon the presentation of a valid ID document and that THE UNIVERSITY CARD CAN NOT BE CONSIDERED AN ID DOCUMENT.
AGR/01 - AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS AND RURAL APPRAISAL - University credits: 6
Practicals: 32 hours
Lessons: 32 hours
Lessons: 32 hours
Professor:
Demartini Eugenio
Educational website(s)
Professor(s)