SUSTAINABILITY PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT

The course aims to contribute to the educational goals of the Master’s degree course in Economia e gestione delle aziende, intended to provide broad economic and managerial knowledge with particular attention to the creation of value in the long term. To respond to the challenges of the current competitive environment, the integration of sustainability concerns into strategies is becoming increasingly necessary for companies. The literature has highlighted that management control and performance measurement systems may shape actors’ practices and support strategy, and, if used appropriately, push organizations in the direction of sustainability. The course aims to focus on the topic of performance measurement under a sustainability perspective.

The active participation to the activities of the course (lectures, case discussions and project work) has the purpose to obtain the following results:

1. Knowledge acquisition and application
- To gain knowledge of the specific characteristics and main issues of management control under a sustainability perspective, based on academic literature and business practice;
- to gain knowledge of the devices and tools useful to address sustainability management control issues;
- ability to identify a balanced set of measures to evaluate the sustainability performances of a specific business.

2. Judgment skills
- To be able to evaluate the congruence of a set of management control systems with an entity's specificities, its operational context and sustainability objectives;
- to be able to communicate effectively the suitability of a set of management control systems to tackle specific sustainability issues.

3. Learning skills
- To be able to face complex business problems with incomplete information and time constraints;
- to be able to collect information both in the literature and in case repositories to address business cases.

Lectures require familiarity with accounting terminology and knowledge of management control basic concepts.

- Performance and sustainability: basic concept
- Sustainability and management control systems
- Results control
- Performance measures for sustainability: the triple P approach and ESG performance
- The sustainability balanced scorecard
- The EU rules on corporate sustainability reporting
- Corporate sustainability reporting standards
- ESG ratings

- Mio, C. (2013). Programmazione e controllo delle vendite. Una prospettiva di sostenibilità. Milano: Egea. (Chapters will be communicated at the beginning of the course)
- Merchant, K.A., Van der Stede, W.A., Zoni, L. (2014). Sistemi di controllo di gestione. Misure di performance, valutazione e incentivi. Milano: Pearson. (Chapters will be communicated at the beginning of the course)

Materials for case study analysis and supplementary readings may be provided during the lectures.

Learning assessment, for both attending and non-attending students, will be based on a written exam and a project work.
The written exam is based on the material used in class and the adopted textbooks and consists of four open-ended questions (duration: 60 minutes).
The project work may involve writing an essay on one of the theoretical topics covered in the syllabus. Each student is required to agree on the content of the project work with the instructor. More details on the technical requirements and procedures for the project work will be provided at the beginning of the course.

written and oral

The lecturer has a duty to ensure that the rules regarding the authenticity and originality of exam tests and papers are respected. Therefore, if there is suspicion of irregular conduct, an additional assessment may be conducted, which could differ from the original exam description.

Excellent (28-30 e Lode)
Complete knowledge of the topics
Clear and precise expression
Strong critical analysis skills and autonomous application of knowledge

Good (24-27)
Solid knowledge with minor uncertainties
Clear expression, though with some imprecisions
Ability to apply knowledge with some limitations in critical analysis

Sufficient (18-23)
Basic knowledge of the topics, with partial gaps
Understandable but not always fluent expression
Sufficient ability in application and critical analysis

Both traditional lectures and case study presentations and discussions.

Only students who have registered online (via esse3) within the deadlines specified by the procedure will be admitted to the final exam. Any registration issues must be reported to the Economic Campus a reasonable number of days before the registration lists close.

Accommodations and Support Services for Students with Disabilities or Specific Learning Disorders
Ca’ Foscari complies with Italian law (Law 17/1999; Law 170/2010) regarding support services and accommodations available for students with disabilities or specific learning disorders.
If you have a motor, visual, hearing, or other disability (Law 17/1999) or a specific learning disorder (SLD) (Law 170/2010) and require support (such as classroom assistance, technological aids for exams, individualized exams, accessible study materials, note-taking assistance, specialized tutoring, interpreters, or other accommodations), please contact ADiSS - Settore Inclusione at: inclusione@unive.it.

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Climate change and energy" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development