The second cycle degree programme in Service Management aims to train professionals who are able to manage, innovateand internationalise services offered by small, medium and large-sizedindustrial and professional service firms, focussing in particular on thepositions of business data analyst and organisational innovation processspecialist in the service context. This is achieved by acquiring knowledge andcompetencies in business administration and marketing, accounting, finance andbusiness organisation. In particular, Service Managers should be able toidentify the opportunities arising from collection, monitoring, analysis andmanagement techniques and tools involving data flows that have an impact onservice value creation processes. This is combined with the ability to liaisewith the technical professionals in charge of data analysis, in order to reportinformation and indications to the management that are useful for decisionmaking. Graduates from the second cycle degree programme in Service Managementcontribute specific competencies to the services offered by national andinternational businesses or to businesses that are willing to launchinternationalisation processes, in sensitive areas for service management suchas the adoption of artificial intelligence tools and the implementation andcommunication of environmental and social sustainability practices. To do so,graduates are required to be very teamwork oriented and able to present dataand models for decision-making purposes.
Businesses today have to deal withtechnological, social and cultural transformations that can be very fast paced,especially in the direct interaction with customers, in bothbusiness-to-consumer and business-to-business markets. As automation graduallyreplaces humans in routinary tasks and online collaboration tools call forgreater flexibility in the relationship between workplaces and tasks, newcompetencies become increasingly sought-after in the value creation processesthat involve services, and all businesses need to provide their employees intraditional positions with these skills too. To tackle these challenges, thesecond cycle degree programme in Service Management takes an interdisciplinaryand strongly applied approach to provide professionals with a global picture ofthe complex dynamics involved in service value creation and management – bothfor businesses that offer services on the market and for businesses thatincorporate significant service-related elements into their value chain. Thisapproach allows graduates to attract a wide audience of both for-profit andnon-profit businesses and public administrations.
The second cycle degree programme inService Management is able to train professionals with the most appropriatecompetencies and knowledge to access the job market of the future, supportinnovation processes linked to the digital revolution, and comprehensivelymanage the services offered by national or international businesses acrossvarious contexts.
The main areas of learning thatcharacterise training for graduates in Service Management cover Management andBusiness Analytics, Corporate and Finance, and Organisation. The contents oflearning activities are designed to match the current demand and consider theexisting international programme catalogue and sectoral studies, which show theneed for professionals that have management and technological innovationcompetencies and knowledge in the service industry, in a global dimension.
At the end of the programme, within theManagement and Business Analytics area, graduates in Service Management willpossess multidisciplinary knowledge and competencies and theoretical andpractical training in the strategic analysis of value creation mechanisms inthe service industry, with special focus on the management, monitoring andsupport of the analysis of data from service processes. From an internationalbusiness perspective, these skills will allow graduates to master a number oftools – from those of the economic and statistical area, with special focus onthe analysis of economic behaviour and data in the service context, to those ofthe service management area, at various levels in the marketing and strategicfield. The multidisciplinary knowledge acquired allow graduates to master theservice business across a number of contexts. Specialist competencies inservice marketing, service innovation, service management and digital servicesare also provided. The knowledge and competencies to draft business pitchesfocussing on data and information that are useful for decision making are alsosupplied.
Within the Corporate and Finance areas,graduates in Service Management will have knowledge of the internationalaccounting standards and measurement methodologies used to quantify the effectsof business decisions, as well as of international market, corporate and newtechnology regulations. They possess knowledge and competencies in financialreporting, financial performance measurement, social and environmental impactmeasurement, and strategic cost management. They are able to understand howcompanies can handle threats and opportunities arising from the society'sgrowing demand for greater social and environmental engagement. They are awareof and can apply various sustainable reporting models by choosing whichsustainability key performance indicators to monitor and disclose. Furthermore,graduates in Service Management have the competencies to assess an investmentproject's ability to create or destroy value, by simultaneously analysing theinteraction between a company's investment choices and funding choices, withreference in particular to service businesses, in terms of their specificoptimal financial structure, agency problems and asset/liability matching.
Finally, within the Organisation area,graduates in Service Management will possess knowledge and competencies in theareas of human resource management and organisation theory, specialising in themanagement of front-line staff in the service context. They supervise allorganisational process management phases, with reference in particular tomotivational processes for front-line staff in the organisation, who liaisedirectly with the customer, and service innovation and internationalisationprocesses. They are able to promote and embody the principles of leadership andto adopt an interdisciplinary and interfunctional approach across all levels ofthe organisation, with a view to facilitating and supporting the continuoustransformation process required of service businesses.
In addition to traditional lectures,workshops and seminars, the degree programme will carry out a number ofinnovative initiatives and activities, such as learning activities specificallydevoted to developing soft skills, business simulations, group projects, peerevaluation, business case studies, testimonials and study trips.
