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Program

The PhD project in Management Accounting and Finance (MAF) is part of the logic of the University's new strategic plan, which was drawn up through an articulated consultation process with internal and external stakeholders in order to grasp the changes in the broader area and to prepare adequate training and research offers.

The strategic plan identified four thematic platforms as 'interdisciplinary spaces for project innovation with a high national and international impact':

  1. Lifestyles, health and personal well-being;
  2. Cultural and creative heritage
  3. Sustainable economies and societies;
  4. Training and new professionalism.

By moving transversally across these frameworks, the PhD course offers contributions on profiles useful for their practical realization, within the broader field of business and management.

 

The Course is characterized by a multidisciplinary and transversal approach involving a wide range of sectors of the CUN 13 area.

The PhD programme aims to train students:

- to rigorous research with relevant applications in the socio-economic context;

- to build skills in the dissemination of the results of their studies.

The tracks offered are specifically designed to allow doctoral students to spend a period abroad where, in addition to working on their theses by interacting with local supervisors, they can enjoy the specialization courses offered by the host institutions.

 

Doctoral Committee: involves researchers operating in the doctorate's field of interest. In addition to enhancing the University's expertise and visibility, the doctorate allows for the strengthening of collaborations with organizations operating locally and the creation of new ones at national and international level. In particular, the doctorate benefits from the numerous, structured and long-lasting scientific collaborations of the members of the Committee, offering doctoral students the opportunity to spend a visiting period at prestigious foreign universities and research centers.

 

Educational programme: the PhD programme aims to enable students, over the three years planned, to play an active role in the advancement of knowledge in the areas of Management, Accounting, Finance and the frontiers of interdisciplinary research, integrating and alternating frontal teaching activities, seminars, exchanges, moments of discussion and leading research activities.

For the Management area, topics will cover the following areas:

  • management, governance, and strategic planning for companies, including small and medium-sized enterprises and family businesses, as well as professional organizations in various functional areas, business relationships, and organizational networks;
  • digitalization and collaborative processes that support innovation, new business models, and market approaches, as well as entrepreneurship, start-ups, entrepreneurial ecosystems, and platforms;
  • organizational development, change, crisis management and recovery, risk management, knowledge management, and organizational culture, as well as strategic leadership and managerial decision-making to promote sustainable economic growth and social value creation;
  • new models for organizational and human resource management and development, evolution, mutation, and development of organizational identity and the skills required in a highly complex context where training and new professional skills are the focus;
  • supply chain management and logistics management;
  • demand analysis, consumer behavior analysis, market research, marketing analytics, and big data, with a focus on consumer lifestyles and well-being;
  • strategic and operational marketing, brand management, corporate and marketing communication, digital marketing, and international marketing.

For the Accounting field, the main research areas covered are strategic management and control, governance, auditing, accounting and accountability in private, public and third sector organizations. More specifically, the following topics are included:

  • accountability and non-financial disclosure;
  • accounting history and the role of history in the social, institutional and economic context;
  • behavioral approaches to the use of reporting and performance information;
  • business ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility;
  • co-production in public services; Public value creation;
  • financial accounting, strategic control and management accounting;
  • governing and Accounting for Sustainability (SDGs, ESG disclosure, circular economy);
  • entrepreneurship and social innovation;
  • collaborative innovation and inter-organisational and cross-sectoral networks;
  • internal and external audit and corporate governance in transition contexts;
  • strategic innovation processes;
  • smart city governance and administration;
  • stakeholder theory and value creation.

 

In the field of Finance, the study and research topics will address the following areas, although not limited to them, depending on the interests of the doctoral candidates:

  • economic, managerial, organizational profiles of financial intermediaries;
  • performance analysis of financial intermediaries;
  • asset pricing, asset management models and tools;
  • risk management: financial, operational, credit, technical (insurance), climate and sustainable finance risks;
  • corporate finance;
  • finance and development; financial inclusion; finance and just transition;
  • management implications of finance regulation;
  • systemic risks and financial intermediation;
  • markets functioning;
  • process and product innovations in finance and insurance;
  • technofinance (Fintech and InsurTech);
  • models for choosing sustainable investments based on risks and opportunities related to ESG factors and sustainable finance;
  • methods and models for strategic choices under conditions of uncertainty,  analysis and measurement of financial, operational and insurance risks and the pricing of structured products.

 

Duration: 3 years

 

Scholarships:

 

Admission: An Italian language certified level B2 is required for foreign students.

 

Career opportunities: The PhD course aims to educate candidates who are adequately trained to carry out study and research activities and high-level managerial functions, both nationally and internationally. The university sphere and that of public and private research centers, although important, complement more specific options in corporate functions in charge of more strictly managerial and operational profiles.

The expected outlets can therefore be summarized as follows:

  • academic professions (teaching, research) at national and international universities;
  • researchers in national and international public and private research centers;
  • research departments of public and private companies and enterprises;
  • key corporate positions: administration, risk management, performance planning and control, finance, organization, product development and marketing;
  • business and financial consultants with a strong imprinting on the research-driven approach;
  • managers in organizations that enhance the ability to collect, analyze and interpret complex data for strategic and management decisions;
  • more specifically research-driven positions such as: CSR Managers, chief financial officers, heads of administrative and control offices (private, public, not-for profit), heads of internal control systems, professionals in the public and not-for profit sector, business development area managers, marketing managers, innovation managers, developers of innovative business models, consultants for the strategic and corporate governance area, professionist in the financial markets, asset managers, developers of technological financial innovations, officers of central banks and other regulatory and supervisory entities or in international bodies.