D1. KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
At the end of the course, students will have to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the key concepts and fundamental principles implied by the business approaches aimed at continuous quality improvement and oriented toward the sustainable production of goods and services.
D2. APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
At the end of the course, students must be able to:
- identify the approach adopted by a company for quality management;
- identify the strategy adopted by a company for environmental sustainability.
D3. MAKING JUDGEMENTS
At the end of the course, students will have to demonstrate that they have acquired knowledge and concepts and their ability to apply them to the analysis of concrete examples.
D4. COMMUNICATION SKILLS
The oral exam aims to assess students’ skills in using, effectively, appropriately, and with specific language the concepts learned in the course.
For the attending students, verifying the communicative ability acquired in written form through partial tests will also be possible.
D5. LEARNING SKILLS
At the end of the course, students must demonstrate that they are able to apply the knowledge, skills and the minimum competencies required in this syllabus.

This course does not involve specific prerequisites.

PART ONE – Quality focus for introducing and analysing the main approaches used by businesses oriented to continual improvement.
SECOND PART - Life cycle thinking for business environmental sustainability management.

1) Essentials of Quality with Cases and Experiential Exercises (selected chapters see below)
by V. E. Sower
March 2010, Paperback.
Ch. 1 Introduction to Quality (pp 3-20)
Ch. 2 Strategic Quality Management & Operationalizing Quality (pp. 25-43)
Ch. 4 Innovation & Creativity in Quality (pp. 85-99)
Ch. 5 Quality Systems & Quality Systems Auditing (pp. 107-129)
Ch. 6 Product, Process, and Materials Control (pp. 135-148)
Ch. 8 Quality Improvement Tools (pp. 179-197)

2) Life Cycle Assessment: Principles, Practice and Prospects
by R. E. Horne, T. Grant and K. Verghese
March 2009, CSIRO Publishing.

PART ONE – QUALITY FOCUS
• The evolution of the ‘quality’ concept: some general and technical definitions.
• Garvin’s eight-dimensional model for product quality.
• The quality gaps and Kano’s model for customer needs analysis.
• The three waves of quality control and management: from quality inspections to the preventive and proactive systems for control, assurance, management, and quality improvement.
• The PDCA cycle for the continuous improvement process and the Japanese Quality Control tools (the “Toolbox”) to base decisions on facts.
• Introduction to TQM, Six Sigma, ISO 9000 Quality Management Principles and main standards.

SECOND PART ON - LIFE CYCLE THINKING
• Introduction to sustainable quality and circular economy (basic concepts and principles).
• Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Methodology: goal and scope definition, inventory of all the inputs and outputs, assessment of the potential impacts, interpretation of the inventory data and impact assessment results.
• Environmental Labeling as an example of sustainable quality: application of Life Cycle Assessment.

Frontal lessons are recorded so that they can also be used in asynchronous mode.
Critical readings and discussion of scientific papers. During the lessons, students will be involved in in-class group work sessions to
encourage active learning.

Teaching materials will be downloadable from MS Teams (lesson slides, scientific papers, recordings) and accessible from Moodle (self-assessment quizzes).

a) For students attending classes regularly, taking two written exams scheduled after the first half and at the end of the classes is possible. The written exam generally consists of multiple-choice and one/two open questions. Questions have a different weight on the final evaluation according to their difficulty level. Students must obtain a passing grade (the minimum is 18) for both written exams to pass the course. The final mark will be an average of both results. The grade is based on a 30-point scale. The duration of the written exams is two hours at the most. Those students who cannot pass the written exams must take the oral exam on one or both parts according to the obtained grades. To take the written exams, students must attend at least 2/3 of the classes, submit the assignments given for part 1 and participate in the critical reading for part 2, whose results will contribute to the final assessment. b) Non-attending students must pass an oral exam on both parts. The final exam consists of a verbal discussion about the topics treated in the course. It is based on three questions (two for the first part and one for the second part of the course) and takes 15-20 minutes on average. The grading system applied is: (18-24): sufficient or fair knowledge of the subject, adequate mastery of the technical language (25-27): good or very good knowledge of the subject, technical language proficiency, and essential ability to connect the themes addressed during the course (28-30 with honours): excellent knowledge of the subject and technical language proficiency, autonomous critical and analytical skills, and ability to apply acquired knowledge to concrete scenarios.

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