COOPERATION AND COMPETITION AMONG FIRMS
cod. 1003963

Anno accademico 2019/20
1° anno di corso - Secondo semestre
Docente
- Alessandro ARRIGHETTI
Settore scientifico disciplinare
Economia applicata (SECS-P/06)
Field
Economico
Tipologia attività formativa
Caratterizzante
63 ore
di attività frontali
9 crediti
sede: PARMA
insegnamento
in INGLESE

Obiettivi formativi

The students will acquire basic knowledge about main theories concerning cooperative strategies between firms and single agents and will be able to assess the feasibility of individual or collective course of action.

The course will focus on the analysis of the expected benefits and costs of the development of cooperative practices between firms. To this subject the first part of the course is dedicated. The second part will discuss the procedures partners selection and the role of governance mechanisms. The analysis will be extended to contractual safeguards and enforcement mechanisms. Finally, emphasis will be given to contextual, cultural and institutional factors impacting the decisions to start and develop cooperative practices.

At the end of the course students will have acquired:
a) the knowledge needed to identify the benefits but also the risks associated to the start of cooperative practices between firms;
b) the ability to apply the knowledge gained in operational contexts such as joint ventures, strategic alliance (in domestic as well as international contexts);
c) the critical capacity (independent judgment) to compare the different alternatives and make decisions rationally justified;
d) the basic skills in the assessment of the opportunities and the risks associated with the start of cooperative practices between firms;
e) the ability to learn through critical analysis of the solutions adopted

Prerequisiti

Basic economics and statistics

Contenuti dell'insegnamento

1) Contents
• Definitions of strategic alliance
• Forms of inter-firm cooperation
• Empirical evidence
• Purposes & motives of strategic alliances
• Costs of inter-firm cooperation (I): Regulatory Costs
• Costs of inter-firm cooperation (II): Coordination Costs
• Risks
• Partner Selection
• Procedures & Norms
• Social Capital
• Trust
• Network Contractual Safeguards & Sanctions
• Structure & governance mechanism
• Failure & Success of strategic alliances
• Managerial Tasks

Programma esteso

• Definitions of strategic alliance
• Forms of inter-firm cooperation
• Empirical evidence
• Purposes & motives of strategic alliances
• Costs of inter-firm cooperation (I): Regulatory Costs
• Costs of inter-firm cooperation (II): Coordination Costs
• Risks
• Partner Selection
• Procedures & Norms
• Social Capital
• Trust
• Network Contractual Safeguards & Sanctions
• Structure & governance mechanism
• Failure & Success of strategic alliances
• Institutional Role

Bibliografia

Power Point Slides; Cases tudies materials; A specific Reading list for non attending student is provided (see Alessandro Arrighetti (2015), “Cooperation and Strategic Alliances Between Firms: a Reading List”) .

Metodi didattici

Acquisition of knowledge: lectures, classroom experiments and simulations, students work groups;
Acquisition of the ability to apply knowledge: case studies, exercises and classroom discussion;
Acquisition of judgment: comparison between alternatives and identifying the limits of the proposed solutions;
Acquisition of learning skills: general discussion of the results of experiments classroom students' presentations
Acquisition of technical language: explicit definition in the classroom of the meaning of the terms commonly used in the management of cooperative relationships between firms.

Modalità verifica apprendimento

Learning assessment is divided into two parts:
a) the presentation and classroom discussion of a paper and / or case
study
b) written exam

Acquired knowledge will be assessed with 3 open-ended questions in the
written exam. Each response will be evaluated up to 5 points;
The ability to apply knowledge will be assessed during the classroom
presentation and the discussion that follows. The presentation will be
evaluated up to 7 points;
The ability to communicate with the appropriate technical language will
be assessed during the classroom presentation and the discussion that
follows. The ability to communicate will be evaluated up to a maximum of
3 points;
The autonomy of judgment and the ability to learn will be assessed
during the classroom presentation and the discussion that follows. The
autonomy of judgment and the ability to learn will be assessed up to a
maximum of 5 points.
For non attending students is required to answer to a 4-questions exam and the study of a specific reading list provided by the teacher.
Laude will be given to those particularly deserving students who, in addition to having complied to the requirements necessary to obtain a full assessment, in accrying out the exam have demostrated and overall appreciable systematic knowledge of the subject, an exellent ability to apply the knowledge to the specifica problem in question, a significant autonomy of judgement, as well a special care in the formal drafting of the exam.
During the examination, the use of calculator is allowed; no other electronic device and any material is allowed.
The results will be communicated via Esse3 platform.

Altre informazioni

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