The Analysis of the Competitive Environment

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The Analysis of the Competitive Environment

Faculty: ENGINEERING
First level degree Name: MANAGEMENT ENGINEERING
First level degree Internet Address:
Course Title: BUSINESSADMINISTRATION
GISS Codex: 27000097
Sharing: None
Composition in modules: NONE
Scientific Discipline Sector: ING-IND/35
Professor/Research in charge: / ENG.SAVERINO VERTERAMO
Teaching Position / RESEARCHER
ECTS:9
Teaching Hours: N° 85 / Lectures Hours: 65
Exercises Hours: 15
Laboratory Hours: ****************
Self study hours: N° 140
Tipology: Charactherizing Activities
Teaching Language: Italian
Collocazione: 3rdYear, 1stSemester
Prerequirement: BUSINESS ECONOMICS AND ORGANIZATION
Objectives of the course:
The course deals with the main theoretical issues and professional tools for designing and managing the economic/managerial dimensions of a firm. The aim of the course is (1) to develop the ability to analyze firm dynamics and decision making processes (at strategic, tactical and operative level); (2) to learn and use the main methodologies for the managerial control of the firm and its subsystems.
The first part of the course is devoted to the strategic analysis (portfolio product design, market and business model choice) referring both at external opportunities/threats and at internal resources and competences.
The second part of the course is devoted to the design of management control systems(starting from the basis of managerial accounting).
Case studies and practical exercises based on Microsoft Excel spreadsheets will be presented and discussed.
Lecture contents:
Strategic decisions in the firm. (18hours)
  • The concept of strategy.
  • The choice of a business model (products and market, firm’s boundaries, technologies, resources and competitive advantage)
  • The analysis of the competitive environment.
  • Industry analysis. Porter’s five forces competition framework.
  • Internal resources and capabilities analysis.
  • The value creation processes in the firm: Porter’s value chain framework.
  • The SWOT analysis.
  • Competitive strategies at the business unit level.
  • Types of competitive advantage: cost leadership, differentiation and focus.
  • The industry life cycle. Strategy at different stages of the life cycle.
  • Corporate strategies: vertical integration, horizontal integration, diversification strategies.
Management of the main firm functional areas (11 hours)
  • Types of functional areas.
  • Sales management. Management of distribution network.
  • Production management. Types of production systems.
  • Purchasing management: supply chain management and outsourcing.
Cost analysis and managerial accounting (18 hours)
  • Differences and similarities between financial and managerial accounting.
  • The behavior of costs. Cost-Volume-Profit Analysis.
  • Full costs and their uses
  • Methods of allocating the joint production cost
  • Determining the cost of inventory: work in process, alternative inventory valuation methods.
  • Activity Based Costing (ABC)
  • The measurement cost methods: job costing and process costing
Management Control Systems (18 hours)
  • Elements of a control system: features, framework, approaches.
  • Responsibility Centers: types, nature, performance measurement.
  • Management Control phases: strategic planning, budgeting, measurement and reporting, evaluation.
  • Budget as an instrument of control, coordination, communication and motivation.
  • Master budget: operating budgets, capital budget, cash budget and budgeted balance sheet.
  • Performance measurement systems and report analysis.
  • Production cost and revenue variance analysis
  • Performance evaluation: accounting, value based and non financial measures.
  • The Balanced Scorecard

Exercises contents:
  • Case studies analysis on strategic and managerial decisions.
  • Industry analysis cases.
  • Exercises on cost measurement, full costing, joint cost allocation.
  • Job costing and process costing.
  • Operating budget, capital budget and cash budget.
  • Cost and revenue variance analysis.
  • Balanced scorecard cases.
  • Implementation of the presented methods on Microsoft Excel.

Laboratory contents: *****************
Attendance in class: Required
Teaching performance: in the lecture hall or in the PC-laboratory, with the support of traditional methods and a projector. Practice on accountig software.
Evaluation Assessement: Written and oral examination
Bibliografy and Recommended reading:
-S. Pivato, N. Misani, A. Ordanini e F. Perrini (2004), Economia e gestione dell’impresa, Egea, Milano
-R. Grant, J. Jordan (2012), Foundation of Strategy, Wiley.
-S. Baraldi, C. Devecchi e C. Teodori (2003), I Sistemi di pianificazione e controllo, Giappichelli, Torino.
-R. Anthony and al.,Accounting: text and cases, McGraw Hill (Part two).
-Handouts prepared by professor available on
Time table and Lesson Rooms: /
Exams calendar:

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