The teaching course aims to develop the necessary knowledge for understanding and interpreting the processes of business performance improvement. In particular, it will analyze the different approaches to improvement based on how business success is defined (increased revenues, margins, profits, stock value versus greater value for customers/stakeholders, problem-solving ability, offering new solutions with significant impacts) and how it is practically pursued (innovating, proposing initiatives capable of satisfying customer/stakeholder needs in new ways and providing economic-financial returns versus setting increasingly challenging targets, predicting bonuses for achievement, and penalties for non-achievement).

Due to the existence of these different approaches to improvement and the inevitable tensions they generate (value creation versus profits), the design and especially the conscious use of performance management tools play a crucial role in enabling companies to renew themselves and face the challenges of continuous change.

The general objectives of the course are:
To recognize the tensions between different objectives and approaches to performance improvement.
To understand their consequences in terms of greater or lesser adaptability to the dynamism and complexity of the reference environment.
Expected Learning Outcomes:
At the end of the course, students should possess knowledge and skills related to the design and use of logic and performance management tools.
For this purpose, the course aims to impart the following competencies and knowledge:
KNOWLEDGE AND COMPREHENSION SKILLS
Distinguishing activities and decisions aimed at value creation from those targeting profit attainment.
Recognizing the role played by performance measurement tools in the improvement process.
Identifying relevant performance metrics.
Understanding the importance of systematic data analysis to generate insights.
APPLIED KNOWLEDGE AND COMPREHENSION SKILLS
Designing methods to listen to stakeholders for diagnostic purposes.
Applying systematic approaches to improvement processes.
JUDGMENT AUTONOMY
Evaluating whether the company has the willingness to undertake an improvement path.
Assessing the feasibility of the improvement path.
COMMUNICATION SKILLS
Using managerial terminology related to performance improvement processes.
LEARNING ABILITY
Assimilating and applying performance improvement logics and tools, adapting them to continuously evolving realities.