INDUSTRY ANALYSIS

Single discipline educational activity

Course Sheet

Course code:

000161L

Academic Year of enrolment:

2020

Year of supply:

2020/2021

Type of Course:

Characterising

Degree:

Course of 2nd Cycle Degree in BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

Disciplinary Sector:

Applied Economics

Language:

Italian

Location:

PESCARA

Credits:

Programme Year:

Professor and Collaborators:

MARRA Alessandro

Cycle:

First semester

Hours of classroom activity:

Individual study hours:

102

Prerequisites:

No prerequisites. Preferable knowledge of the basic elements of industrial organization

Objectives

The course aims to:
- to provide the basic theoretical tools needed to examine the sectors, in particular the underlying theoretical paradigm structure-behavior-performance (SCP);
- to deepen the tools (statistical and not) used in the industry analysis, both on the demand side and on the supply side.

EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES
The course aims to complete the student's training with knowledge and tools useful to deepen the essential aspects to better understand the functioning of the sectors and markets. The specialist training of the course of study will therefore be completed and enriched by the following skills:

Knowledge and understanding
The course aims to provide basic training on the main themes of the analysis of industrial sectors, in particular with reference to the basic conditions and structure of the sectors, the conduct of companies on the markets and economic performance and allow students to learn professional content on the techniques of analysis of supply and demand through the understanding of methodologies and the discussion of concrete case studies.

Ability to apply knowledge and understanding
At the end of the course, the student will be able to apply the analytical categories of the subject of reference to the survey of specific case studies and specific industrial sectors, with particular reference to new emerging industries and high technology.
The ability to interpret the competitive dynamics on the markets and relate the analysis of the structure of the sectors with the resulting business performance is the main result of teaching. The student will be able to combine technical terminology with managerial terminology relating to business strategies, and to contribute to the discussion of the most interesting elements relating to the individual aspects of the structure-behaviour-performance paradigm (SCP).

Contents

The industry is the subject of research by industrial economists, but also by marketing scholars, companies, strategy scholars, experts in competition. This is because sector analysis is a prerequisite for further in-depth studies and investigations, such as a company case study, an antitrust investigation, a marketing plan.
Industry analyses are often descriptive and heterogeneous analyses, but they do not fail to refer to a consolidated methodology. The tools (statistical and non statistical) used in sector analyses derive from the contributions of industrial and business economists and are referable to the structure-behaviour-performance paradigm (SCP).

Extended Syllabus

1. The sector (A short history of economic literature; Other possible units of investigation: districts, clusters, supply chains and multi-faceted markets; Market classifications in operational research; The competitive arena: criteria for selecting companies for empirical analysis)
2. Demand analysis (Product life cycle; Demand segmentation; Differentiation; Quantitative demand forecast and trends of individual segments)
3. Analysis of the supply (The characteristics of producers and supply; Barriers, diversification, production costs; The competitive arena in the supply chain; The value chain)
4. The positioning of competitors (The structure-conduct-performance approach; The study of conduct: strategies and policies; The concept of strategic group; The methods of group detection; The economic literature on strategic groups; Other uses of strategic groups in competitive analysis)
5. Performance analysis (Theoretical contributions; Measuring company and market performance)

Recommended Bibliography

- Barbarito, L'analisi competitiva. Metodologia e applicazioni, 2015, Franco Angeli Editore
- Moretti, La nuova geografia del lavoro, 2013, Mondadori
- Chapters from books, selected scientific articles, notes takes during the lectures.

Teaching Methods

Our teaching is structured in hours of frontal teaching, discussion of case studies and exercises on software. Frontal teaching consists of theoretical lessons and case studies. During the course, students are offered the opportunity to be involved in case study projects to be carried out in the classroom and in a collective way, so that they can verify and consolidate their understanding of the topics dealt with in the lesson. Attendance is optional, recommended, and the final test will be the same for attendants and non-attendants.

Evaluation methods

Verification of learning:

The students' learning of the notions and tools dealt with in the classroom will also be monitored during the course, through the provision of written tests and the presentation/discussion of case studies. In the final examination, the learning will be verified through an oral test on the knowledge of reference texts and the analysis of practical cases. The score of the examination is given by a vote expressed in /30. During the examination, the written tests and the projects in the classroom, the students' ability to apply the knowledge acquired is verified in order to interpret and understand current case studies in a broad and structured manner.

Contacts/More Information

E-mail: alessandro.marra@unich.it
Web page: https://economia.unich.it/visualizza.php?type=persona&id=147
Days and hours of student reception: thursday 1o-12 hours, available on the web page above

Università degli Studi
"G. d'Annunzio"

Chieti - Pescara

Aree