University of Commerce Luigi Bocconi

Creativity is an increasingly important skill for contemporary workers, and a key ingredient of organizations' ability to survive and thrive. As creativity is an important source of competitive advantage, organizations are increasingly seeking to foster it; yet, at the same time, organizations and society more broadly often end up stifling creativity in individuals, leading to a loss of confidence, talent, and good ideas. The objectives of this course are (1) to help students discover, develop, and protect your creative ability; and (2) to provide them with a richer understanding on how creativity can be enhanced and managed in a work setting. Students learn about the basic features of creativity and creative processes, both short-term and over longer time periods, and on how to nurture creativity in themselves and others, stimulating factors that enhance creativity and removing the barriers that impede it. The course looks at creativity in many domains, including business, science and technology, the arts, and day-to-day life more broadly. Classes are largely "hands-on", relying on exercises, class discussion, guest speakers, and case studies, as well as on lectures and readings. The course is structured in two parts. In the first part, students focus on themselves and acquire knowledge regarding (1) what creativity is, (2) how to build, feed, and stimulate creativity, and (3) the journey of an idea from inception to implementation. In the second part, students acquire knowledge on (1) how to manage creativity in organizations, (2) how to work effectively in creative teams, and (3) what does it mean to lead effectively for creativity. 

This course introduces students to the visual arts and to the questions and knowledge that they generate. Looking at a variety of artwork across different periods and media (painting, sculpture, graphic arts, photography and film, digital arts, video, etc.), and discussing some key themes/questions pertinent to artistic research and practice, this course advocates an understanding of the visual arts as a specific way of thinking about the world, knowing reality and acting upon it. This course encourages students to critically investigate a set of key issues, including: the status of the image and of representation; the nature of artistic creativity; the significance and implications of critical analysis; interpretation of the visual, particularly in relation to modernity. The course requires students to engage with a diverse range of secondary literature (historical and critical essays, biographies, literary texts, philosophical essays, etc.). This course combines traditional frontal teaching (lectures) with seminar-based activities. When possible, the course will also comprise on–site visits to relevant art collections, institutions and/or exhibitions. Visual analysis and critical thinking play a central role: image or text–based exercises are assigned throughout the course. Students are expected to participate in class discussions.

This course studies how political institutions shape economic outcomes and how key social and economic factors, such as education, the media, and lobbying, shape political outcomes. It also covers contemporary issues in political economics, such as the causes/consequences of the rise in populism and political polarization, the political economics of climate change, and conflict and violence. The course has a strong empirical focus and covers latest empirical evidence in political economics. Hence, beyond political economics, the course deepens knowledge of cutting-edge empirical methods for causal inference ("applied microeconomics") and deepens experience in applying those methods to (large) datasets in practice. Part 1 explores economic theories seeking to understand political behavior and its implications for economic policies and institutions, as well as how modern empirical methods are used in political economics analysis. Part 2 uses these methods to study three key areas of empirical political economics: 1) how political institutions--such as democratic- and non-democratic forms of government--shape economic outcomes; 2) how key social and economic factors, such as education, the media, and lobbying, shape political outcomes; 3) contemporary issues in political economics (including, among other topics, the causes and consequences of the rise in populism and political polarization; the political economics of climate change; conflict and violence). 
(Bocconi also offers courses 30335-Political Economics, as part of the degree program in Intl Politics & Govt.)

This course examines competing hypotheses on the role of geography, institutions, and culture for long-term economic growth and cross-country differences in economic outcomes. It also studies the role of religion (and religiosity) for accumulation of human capital and economic progress. Finally, the course analyzes how cultural distance may affect migrants’ assimilation and it studies how local culture and institutions shape technological progress and inflows of innovative ideas. 
Themes discussed include: The Role of Geography for Economic Growth and Development; The Role of Institutions for Economic Growth and Development; The Role of Culture for Economic Growth and Development; The beginning of modern economic growth: geography, institutions, and culture; The Interaction between Culture and Institutions; Flows of Technology and Flows of Ideas; The Economics of Religion; Diversity, migration, and assimilation. 

This course covers key features and key processes of strategic management of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), about main characteristics of SMEs, including those owned and run by families (small and medium family businesses), and about factors and decisions impacting SMEs' sustainable competitive advantage. Through multiple cases, examples and guest speakers sessions, students develop a comprehensive knowledge about strategic decision making for small or medium businesses, with a focus on international and digital growth strategies. Prerequisites: prior knowledge of key concepts, terminology and frameworks of general management.

This course introduces students to more advanced topics in Probability Theory and Statistical Inference. The first part is devoted to investigating mathematical aspects of probability, with a special emphasis on multivariate distributions and limiting theorems. In the second part, students are guided through the methodological core of point estimation (both from a frequentist and Bayesian perspective) and hypothesis testing. These theoretical aspects are complemented by an in-depth presentation of elementary simulation and computational techniques that are routinely used within most popular statistical procedures. Prerequisites: Solid knowledge of calculus and of basic programming tools in R. 

This course provides real world, experience-based learning on what it's like to actually start a new business. The main objective is to allow students to directly experience the earliest phases of an entrepreneurial startup process. The focus is on concept building and testing. Students are asked to actively engage in developing the initial business idea, but also in talking to potential customers, suppliers, partners, and competitors, as they confront the chaos and uncertainty of how a real startup actually emerges from the entrepreneurs' efforts.