Communication, technologies and digital culture

The aim of the course is to equip the students with the minimum knowledge necessary to analyze and understand consumer markets, in the highly competitive framework firms must face today.The point of view is that of the private-owned enterprise competing in a differentiated oligopoly market. We study manufacturing enterprises, without neglecting the specifics of services industries. The framework of reference is that defined by the combined arrangement of globalization and technological revolution. 1. Knowledge and understanding. Students will learn fundamentals of economics and business management, will be able to frame them in the relevant macroeconomic coordinates (consumption, business investment, public spending, import-export balance), will understand the basics of microeconomics (economic functions of the players and their relationships) in order to put everything in the appropriate framework. The first part of the course is dedicated to the achievement of this goal which, of course, given the students' curriculum, will be achieved by adopting a descriptive approach and by simplifying the concepts to the essential. Then, the student will be led to understand marketing management principles and objectives. The key concept of value will be stressed. The student will become aware of the conceptual and methodological system underlying each strategy and the consequent operation. The second part of the course is dedicated to achieve this goal. Formal lectures will be integrated with thematic seminars, held by qualified testimonials. Great care, throughout the course, is given to the acquisition of the technical language of the discipline, recently renewed by the digital revolution. 2. Applying knowledge and understanding. It is expected that students, at the end of the course, will be able to independently analyze markets, understanding what the business goals are, and the complexity of management. 3. Making judgements. It is the definitive aim of the course. The selection of themes, the breadth of the observation field, respond exactly to the ultimate goal of providing the student with an independent judgment, based on the data and facts that can be found. 4. Communication skills. The number of students in the classroom does not allow the experiment of an active teaching oriented to develop communication skills. Nevertheless it is the teacher's constant care to try to stimulate the debate in the classroom and describe the tools to support the communication of concepts. The final exam test, in the part of the closed questions (multiple choice) is however oriented to verify the possession of the technical vocabulary of the discipline - indispensable for the purpose of a correct expression of the student's values. 5. Learning skills. During lessons the main information resources on markets are introduced (official data sources, specialized websites and / or focused on marketing, etc.) and, at the end of the course, the best ways to undertake higher-level studies on marketing will be detailed.