Prospects

Professional profiles:

Manager or Business Consultant 

Function in a business context:

The manager or business consultant supports the top management of a public or private company in the management of mono-business or specialised companies in the food supply chain. In addition, he/she manages the main business activities related to the definition and measurement of the achievement of strategic goals, with particular focus on the sustainability ones outlined by international bodies (e.g. Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations).

The competences associated with the professional figure include:

• Knowing how to manage issues specific to each business function, also through the management of growing digital information assets, appreciating their implications on other areas and the whole enterprise;
• Understanding the management of national and international companies and the mechanisms governing their main reference markets with reference to the sector of specialisation (e.g. food);
• Knowing the information needs of management and the models of financial analysis of management, and being able to assess the form and content of reports for management in international contexts;
• Knowing how to analyze the functioning of international financial markets and to use financial evaluation techniques for companies;
• Knowing how to identify objectives and assess company performance (also through appropriate indicators to highlight the impact of sustainability);
• Knowing the main techniques of personnel management, motivation and development;
• Analyzing and develop the relationship between corporate impact and SDGs;
• Knowing how to develop company reports/budgets oriented to Corporate Social Responsibility and ISO standards in the field of social and economic impact assessment.

The skills acquired allow access to management positions in

• industrial and service companies operating nationally and internationally;
• banks and supervisory bodies;
• national and international financial institutions;
• financial consultancy companies and investment funds;
• management consulting companies.
• highly innovative start-ups.
• local, national or international public bodies related to the food system;
• research centres and/or national or international organisations;
• business start-ups in the food industry.

Consultant or manager specialised in the development of start-ups

Function in a business context:

The consultant or manager specialising in the development of new businesses (start-ups) is able to plan and follow up from the very beginning the project of creating a new business, from the idea generation phase to the market analysis phase, from the business planning phase to the analysis of the relationship with the main stakeholders, combining analytical skills, soft skills and creativity that enable him/her to transform an idea into a real business.

The skills associated with the function include:

• Knowing how to interpret the capabilities that the competitive environment requires of the business, and assessing how to invest in developing them;
• Knowing how to evaluate and develop business plans for new business projects, including international ones;
• Being able to supervise over the organisation and planning of activities, both at the level of individual functional areas and at the level of the enterprise system;
• Understanding the various commercial structures that companies can adopt to place a product or service on the market;
• Being able to identify the strategic implications of innovation, and the specific problems of organisational change management;
• Knowing how to analyse and develop the relationship between business impact and the SDGs.

The skills acquired allow access to positions of:

• new business start-ups and start-ups also related to ecological transformation;
• specialised consultancy for start-ups;
• investment companies.