Challenges of Agribusiness Management in the New Bocconi MOOC
Population growth, climate change, scarcity of resources and food security are some of the main challenges impacting the agribusiness sector. To understand these challenges and help devise new business strategies Bocconi University has launched a new Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), Challenges of Agribusiness Management, launched on the Coursera platform.
Aimed at entrepreneurs, managers and students of the sector, the course provides insights into nature, policy, technology and management strategies to be considered to overcome these new challenges and seize upcoming opportunities.
"The course focuses on management and innovative strategies for all actors of the agribusiness value chain, with a particular focus on a more sustainable approach to agribusiness" explains Vitaliano Fiorillo, Director of the AGRI Lab at SDA Bocconi and Director of the new MOOC.
To help understand how farms, retailers, traders and multinational companies, and all the other diverse players of this value chain, can face the complexities of the industry, the course takes Italy as a large, open-air lab in which all major phenomena and business dynamics influencing agribusiness worldwide coexist. The first module analyses Italy's tradition and excellence in farming. The second module looks at the global challenges and their direct impact on agribusiness. The third module tackles innovation management and showcases how players in the agribusiness are tackling the future through technology. The fourth module shifts the focus to the strategies for the future, business models and policies, also addressing new markets and new consumers' needs.
"Certainly the changes taking place will require the players of agribusiness to find new ways of doing business. To some farms and companies, innovation is about new products, new processes and technology, to others it is about finding innovative, more profitable and sustainable practices and business models. All in all we are sure about one thing: the speed and effectiveness of innovations that will turn challenges into opportunities is in the younger entrepreneurs' hands, who if properly trained and informed will thrive in a sustainable future" says Fiorillo.
The course comprises a mix of videos, case studies and simulations with the support and contributions of Bocconi faculty and experts and managers from the sector.