Marketing and Business Strategy

The course introduces the fundamental elements of institutional economics, business strategy and marketing. The aim of the course is to teach students how to distinguish the different types of businesses, assess their economic performance over time and the strength of the strategic choices and to set up a coherent and integrated marketing plan. The course includes an introduction to marketing research analysis and the use of the most popular software for social research in order to introduce the student to the collection and analysis of data concerning consumer perceptions for products and services related to the pets' market.

At the end of the course, student must demonstrate the knowledge of the fundamental elements of institutional economics, business strategy and marketing. Student must be able to describe the components of the financial statements and their functions, and to describe the generic business strategies and the analytical tools used to build competitive advantage. Finally, the student must demonstrate the knowledge of each marketing plan phase and their familiarity with the perceptual mapping technique.
The student must be able to deal critically and proactively with the study of the subject, using the material and tools provided during the theoretical and practical lessons to independently judge the content of financial statements, the business strategies and the results of the perceptual mapping exercitation.