Student guide Facoltà di Economia A.A. 2011/12

The course “Strategic Issues of Made in Italy” presents the “Made in Italy” system and explores the richness of Italian industrial districts through the analyses of industries and successful firms.

 

The course explores the history, geography, culture of the Italian economy in order to let students understand the deep roots of competitiveness of the Italian economic system.

 

Furthermore, the course studies the special features and highlights the managerial and organizational strategies of the companies and their brands in the industries that play the main role in the “Made in Italy”: textiles and fashion , furniture and design, footwear, food and wine.

 

Particular attention is given to the management of the companies and the competitive levers connected with the industrial district systems, creativity and design.

 

Each major theme is also presented by a guest speaker (entrepreneur or manager) of the most significant companies from different sectors that are studied.            This will provide the students an overview of the leading companies and offer the opportunity to meet personally their key actors. A visit to one of the companies is planned.

 

 

Finally, the course studies the current competitive environment in which firms of the “Made in Italy” operate and analyze the successful strategies to face and overcome the difficult world economic conditions.

 

 

- introduction to the Italian economic system;

- social, cultural and historic roots of the Italian economic system;

- areas of specialisation of the Italian economy;

- industrial districts and local systems of production;

- emergence of a new class of medium-sized Italian firms;

- roots of Italian competitiveness;

- Italian system in the international context;

- challenges coming from China and India;

- strategies for companies’ brands and problem of counterfeiting;
- strategies based on immaterial assets​​;
- existing strategic problems;
- development of Italian districts: outsourcing, repositioning and exit strategies;
- beyond traditional model: the emergence of leading firms.

 

- textiles;
- fashion;
- footwear;
- design furniture;
- food;
- luxury and jewelry.

 

The course demands regular attendance of the students and personal contribution to the class discussions. At the beginning of the course the detailed document outlining the rules and evaluation criteria will be available online. During the course the students will be asked to prepare, in a group, a project that will be discussed in class. Projects made by the students will also influence their final mark. Thus, the final mark will include the results of the projects, the contributions to the class discussions as well as the results of the oral exam at the end of the course.

 

During the course different articles and research reports will be distributed and they will be very useful while preparing for the exam. All the materials together with the slides can be found on the website of the course. The textbook that students are advised to refer to during the course is: «Entrepreneurial Growth in Industrial Districts: four italian cases»; Fernando G. Alberti, Salvatore Sciascia, Northampton, MA : Edward Elgar, 2008.