D1. KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING. At the end of the course, students will have to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the basic concepts and principles on which the strategies and methodologies for quality management oriented towards excellence, social responsibility and sustainability are based. D2. APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING. At the end of the course, students will have to be able to: - identify the approaches and the tools adopted by a company for quality management - and know how to recognize the reference models adopted by a company for Social Responsibility. D3. MAKING JUDGMENTS At the end of the course, students will have to demonstrate that they have not only acquired knowledge and concepts but also the ability to provide appropriate judgments. D4. COMMUNICATION SKILLS At the end of the course, students will have to be able to express themselves and argue appropriately through the specific terminology acquired with the lessons provided, the teaching material or the textbook. D5. LEARNING SKILLS At the end of the course, students will have to demonstrate that they are able to apply the knowledge, skills, and competencies described in this syllabus.

This course does not involve specific prerequisites.

PART ONE – Business quality management approaches and international certification schemes.

PART TWO – Management approaches and international certification schemes for the environmental sustainability of products/services and organizations.

Bravi L., Murmura F., I sistemi di gestione per la qualità, l'ambiente e l'etica. Aracne, 2020. EAN: 9788825530223; ISBN: 8825530226.

PART ONE – QUALITY MANAGEMENT AND CERTIFICATION
• Main definitions of the concept of quality in the business field. • The Garvin model for defining a product's quality, the quality gap models, and Kano’s model for customer satisfaction analysis.
• Evolution of quality business approaches: from product and process control to the systemic approaches oriented to customer satisfaction and continuous improvement.
• Quality standards: scope, purpose, and definitions. • The main bodies for standardization, accreditation, and certification at national, European and international level. • Evolution of the ISO 9001 standard for quality systems: from "quality assurance" to "quality management".
• Introduction to the ISO 9001 requirements for the quality management system certification.
• The main steps for the implementation and certification of quality management systems. • Quality system audit: types and purpose.

PART TWO – ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT AND CERTIFICATION
• The dimensions, pillars and principles for corporate sustainability.
• Evolution of business strategies for the environment: management models and the ‘cleaner technologies’.
• The voluntary approaches for the environmental sustainability of the organisations: the ISO 14001 standard and the European Eco-management and audit scheme (EMAS).
• The environmental sustainability of production and consumption. The 'Life-Cycle Thinking'-based approach.
• Types and main purposes of the Ecolabelling: Type I – the EU Ecolabel and the national ecolabels for green products and services; Type II – self-declarations; Type III – the Environmental Product Declaration (EPD).

Frontal lessons and seminars held by managers are recorded so that they can also be used in asynchronous mode. During the lessons, students will be involved in in-class group work to encourage active learning.

The teaching materials will be provided by the teacher, downloadable from MS Teams (lesson slides, scientific papers, recordings) or accessible from Moodle (self-assessment quizzes).

For students who have attended in-class at least 70% of the classes, it is possible to have an intermediate written exam focused just on the first part of the course (Quality Management and Certification). The class test results will contribute to the overall assessment (worth 60% of the final grade). The oral exam will be, therefore, just on the second part of the course (Environmental Management and Certification), accounting for the remaining 40%. For non-attending students, the oral exam, articulated in the form of an interview, includes a minimum of three questions and has an average duration of about 20 minutes to verify the level of knowledge of the program topics, the level of mastery of specialised language and the ability to develop reasoning by applying basic theoretical knowledge to concrete cases. The exam is based on the entire course program. The evaluation grid adopted is the following: - Excellent (30|30 cum laude): excellent knowledge of the topics, language skills, and analytical skills of the student; s/he can brilliantly apply theoretical knowledge to concrete cases. - Very good (27-29): good knowledge of the subjects, remarkable language properties, good analytical skills of the student; s/he can correctly apply theoretical knowledge to concrete cases. - Good (24-26): good knowledge of the main topics and good language skills of the student; s/he shows an adequate ability to apply theoretical knowledge to concrete cases. - Satisfactory (21-23): the student does not show complete mastery of the course's main topics despite possessing the fundamental knowledge; however, s/he shows satisfactory language properties and sufficient ability to apply theoretical knowledge to concrete cases. - Sufficient (18-20): minimal knowledge of the course's main topics and technical language, limited ability to adequately apply theoretical knowledge to concrete cases. - Insufficient: the student does not have adequate knowledge of the contents of the different topics in the program.

This course explores topics closely related to the following United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):