University of Commerce Luigi Bocconi

The banking industry is changing widely and consistently. Technology is playing an increasing role in the financial services industry, offering new opportunities to make new competitors - namely FinTechs and BigTechs - enter the financial services market, empowering existing players and threatening the way incumbents’ business models are changing. The course exposes students to this fast-growing intersection between technology and finance, under a double perspective: disruption versus evolution. Also covering the juncture of modern technology and banking. The curriculum is organized by vertical-product areas that are the spectrum of concepts driving innovations of the principal financial intermediation functions. They are also those that are most active and most prone to innovation through start-ups: money and payments, lending, saving, and investment. For each area, the course analyzes the marketplace, the incumbents, the new business cases, and strategies of the incoming technology-driven players with an emphasis on the underlying economics, technology applied, and the way competition is changing its features. Students develop a theoretical and practical understanding of the forces transforming the banking and financial services industry at an international level.

After defining the contexts of the retail sector, the course focuses on the strategic and operational choices related to the configuration and management of distribution channels, and the management of retail companies analyzed with a dynamic-evolutional perspective, and through the completion of a project on distribution innovation. The course is divided into three parts. (1) The key elements of a distribution channel (such as protagonists and flows) as well as its main economic functions are described. The retailers’ key management practices and their offer development process are discussed. (2) Focus on channel management, pointing out the main choices regarding: channel design, multichannel management, and trade marketing. (3) Analysis of the historical evolution of distribution channels and its stages by adopting an international perspective, and insights on emerging trends. These include current innovations in retailing, in particular e-tailing and retail branding. This is a graduate level course only available to graduate students.

The course explores how sustainability is becoming an existential challenge for humanity – due to such alarming issues as climate change or growing social inequality – and a source of change for companies. Organizations are rethinking their role in society and increasingly choosing to exceed the legal requirements they face and to take action to address social and environmental problems. Students are confronted with the theoretical bases of sustainability, seen as a perspective that shapes the role of the organizations within society and promote sustainable development, and the challenges of incorporating this perspective into the practices of organizations. A strategic approach to sustainability is more complex than traditional strategy, because it requires managers to engage with the non-market environment including regulators, activists, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The course is oriented around understanding the conditions under which sustainability can benefit all the stakeholders involved. The course discusses topics including sustainable development and corporate sustainability; climate change and the road to Net Zero; the business case for sustainability; circular economy and sustainable business models; sustainable supply chains; sustainability in the marketplace; social sustainability in the workplace; sustainable finance, ESG (environmental, social, and governance) criteria, and purpose-led shareholders; sustainability metrics and reporting; and embedding sustainability in organizations. The course recommends students should be familiar with basic concepts regarding management, organizations, and global economy as a prerequisite.

The course provides an overview of the fashion system and an in-depth understanding of the strategic, organizational and managerial features of fashion companies, both in the high end and in the mass market. Main topics addressed in the course are: what is fashion, which are the fashion related sectors, and what are the differences between fashion and luxury; how creativity and management do integrate in fashion and luxury companies; how to carry out an industry analysis: strategic features of fashion companies and main business models in fashion and their evolution; the role of the textile sector and the origin of trends: where do they come from and how do they spread; fashion history and country branding: why France, Italy and US became leaders and which are the new centers for fashion; customer segmentation: how to engage the customers from new senior to generation Z; brand positioning in fashion: how to become a lifestyle brand; and key processes and main roles in fashion: product strategy and merchandising, distribution and omnichannel management, and communication and PR in the digital era. This course recommends background knowledge on some basic concepts on corporate and competitive strategy (such as industry analysis, consumer segmentation, growth strategies, and SWOT analysis) as a prerequisite.