CdLM Business Administration

Quality, Environment and Safety Management (Prof. Riccardo Beltramo)

Quality, Environment and Safety are key issues for enterprises wherever they are and whatever product they manufacture. Quality defines the capacity to listen to customers and to satisfy their desires, accordingly to resources, capacities and technologies available. Environment provides vital resources, input for the entrepreneurial activity and receives outputs, able to modify its characteristics. Safety is related to risks of negative events regarding to operations, human resources and products.

Their vital importance is generally recognized, at the point that there are International standards which guide the enterprises in identifying critical variables and in designing and implementing management systems to relentlessly drive the enterprises towards defined goals. Moreover, the holistic approach in management stresses the importance of developing integrated solutions, able to identify and monitor the relations which exist among quality, environment and safety.

International Standards (ISO9001, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001, …) can also be helpful for the identification of strategies to drive enterprises towards circular economy, which is and will be the guiding principle of development in the coming decades. The transition from linear transformative systems to circular systems is driven by the progressive reduction of material and energy resources and the resulting environmental, economic and social implications. It is a overwhelming movement that involves manufacturing and service activities.

Circular Economy implies strategic visions, based on a Life Cycle Thinking approach, which matures through the collaborative behavior of many subjects who define new collaborative relationships for the material and energy utilization of waste.

The evolution of the present production paradigm can only be achieved through technological and organizational innovations. The creative process that determines them is fueled by the knowledge of management models, related to products and processes, that integrate environmental, economic and social requirements. The lessons concern methodological fundamentals and case studies. The most relevant international management models will be described in detail and, through the presentation of success stories, the effectiveness of innovations will be analyzed. Optimizing the use of resources not only involves the individual companies themselves but redefines the mutual relationship between businesses and between them and the environment. From these considerations comes the opportunity to know the methodologies that are supportive in dealing with the unstoppable change. 

Teaching is structured in 35 hours of classroom teaching. The program addresses the foundations of business relationships and the environment, and aims to guide the student towards identifying aspects relevant to quality, safety and the environment. It also aims to fully illustrate the operational tools that make integrated management possible, with insights on Life Cycle Thinking and Circular Economy.

Didactic media are diversified (slides, articles, videos) and are designed to encourage active learning.

During the course, students are offered some exercises to take place in the classroom and in a collective manner to verify the understanding of the topics discussed and to facilitate learning.

Frequency is optional, recommended, and the final exam will be the same for attendants and not.

Verification of student preparation will take place with written exam, consisting of open questions, with a default response space. The total points (30) will be subdivided on the basis of the questions in the test by relevance and extension and pre-announced during the exam. The final score will be given by the sum of the partial scores. No oral exam is scheduled. The duration of the written test is 1 hour and 15 minutes. The subjects of the written exam will reflect the ones taught in the course and contained in the program, designed to bring students to reflect on the issues of quality, safety and environment management in enterprises. In addition to verifying the knowledge and understanding of the topics discussed, the written examination aims at verifying the abilities mentioned above (see Expected Learning Outcomes). The questions, in fact, include descriptive but critical elements as well. It is necessary to overcome the examination the appropriate use of terminology and a clear and concise written exposition that shows the logical links between the aspects considered.

Fundamentals:

- Quality, Safety, Environment

- Management

- Systemic approach

- Life Cycle Thinking

International Standards and Management Systems for Organizations

ISO 9001: 2015

ISO 14001: 2015

Circular Economy: concept and examples

ISO 26000: 2010

Eco-Management and Audit Scheme