CORPORATE STRATEGY

Course objectives are: a) to ensure theoretical and conceptual ground to formulate and implement corporate-level strategies, b) to enhance the understanding of critical success factors of external growth operations, c) to offer a complete framework for strategic analysis that regards optimization considerations in portfolio management by multinational multibusiness firms, d) provide practical skills and hands-on experience in business management (business game simulation).

Business Economics and Management, Industrial Economy

Acquisition of transversal knowledge about main corporate-level strategies. Ability to use main tools for analyzing resources and competences as well as the competitive environment. Ability to interact with others during the business game and ability to discuss case studies during lessons.

Corporate Strategy. Industry, resources and competitive advantage. Vertical integration and the scope of the firm. Global strategy and the multinational corporation. Diversification. Implementing corporate strategy. External growth strategy. Corporate governance. Corporate social responsibility. Digitalization.

Robert M. Grant. Contemporary Strategy Analysis: Text and Cases Edition, 10th Edition, 2019. Wiley Supplementary material announced during the course.

- Frontal teaching - Case discussions - Individual exercises - Team work on business simulation game - Team work on a research project - Discussion with guest speakers

The final grade for attendees consists of: 1) Final written exam, 60 minutes; individual assessment (50%). 2) Class participation; individual assessment (15%). 3) Business Game simulation; groupwork assessment (20%) 4) Enquiry Based project; groupwork assessment (15%). The grade of the BSG is valid for the entire academic year and, once refused, the exam will be taken in non-attending mode. The final grade for non-attendees consists of: 1) Final written exam, 90 minutes (100%)

No merit criterion is required for thesis assignment (mean, 'grades, language skills, etc.). The only criterion followed is the assignments chronology. A proposal must be presented in order to indicate the central idea and the topic that will be addressed in the thesis. Students have to provide a two- or three-pages word document, including bibliography, which describe in summary: - Reference literature: generical sources (e.g. Google), industrial sources (e.g. Il sole 24 ore, The economist, Il mondo) and related scientific literature ((http://www.luiss.it/biblioteca/banche_dati / index. php). - the research question. It’s a question of one or two lines that exactly identifies the problem that the thesis aims to solve. - Students have to argument the importance and the need to give a scientific answer to identified question, to exclude irrelevant unanswered questions. The research question can be considered significant from the theoretical point of view (since defines a logical step missing in the understanding of some processes) or from an empirical one (as it seeks to describe a phenomenon not fully understood), or by both. - Methodology to be followed: Case studies, interviews, data collection through questionnaires or through pre-compiled databases

Yes. In the course the following topics will be covered: - global and European institutional changes (the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN; the ESG framework; the European Green Deal); - strategy and business model transformation due to digitalization and sustainability-thinking.