Business History and Archives
A.Y. 2025/2026
Learning objectives
The course aims to offer intellectual elements of buisness history, its theoretical orientations and discipline-specific terminology. The course also aims to provide the basic tools to know and operate within a corporate archive.
Expected learning outcomes
The course intends to introduce participants to the historical reflection of buisness from a global perspective, through a plurality of written, oral and visual sources and the beginning of the use and discourse of business and labour archives, as well as through digital tools available online. Through the analysis of historical cases, students will be able to apply the theoretical instrumentation necessary to undertake historical investigation and analysis of archival documentation. At the end of the course, the attending students will be able to critically read primary sources and scientific texts relating to the early-modern and modern historical periods, and to develop independent reflections and research on the main aspects of modern enterprise in its various forms. Students will also exercise their research abilities and individual assemssments skills to set up and carrying out work of document inventory, as well as its communication and usable availability on digital platforms, including talks with professional historians and archivists.
These skills will be acquired through a direct and continuous meeting with the instructor in the classroom. Educational tools will be made available on Ariel.
Students opting not to attend the lessons will be able to make use of the educational tools provided by the instructor on Ariel, deepen their knowledge of main topics through special readings indicated in the exam program for non-attending and if desired (after reading the exam program) contact the instructor both by email and during office hours.
These skills will be acquired through a direct and continuous meeting with the instructor in the classroom. Educational tools will be made available on Ariel.
Students opting not to attend the lessons will be able to make use of the educational tools provided by the instructor on Ariel, deepen their knowledge of main topics through special readings indicated in the exam program for non-attending and if desired (after reading the exam program) contact the instructor both by email and during office hours.
Lesson period: First semester
Assessment methods: Esame
Assessment result: voto verbalizzato in trentesimi
Single course
This course cannot be attended as a single course. Please check our list of single courses to find the ones available for enrolment.
Course syllabus and organization
Single session
Responsible
Lesson period
First semester
Course syllabus
Course title: Business History and Archival Experiences - In collaboration with the Intesa SanPaolo Historical Archive and the Bracco Historical Archive.
Module 1 (20 hours): Business History from a Global Perspective: Industry, Labour, Banking and Financial Systems.
Module 2 (20 hours): Cataloguing and research experience at the Intesa SanPaolo Historical Archive.
Module 3 (20 hours): Cataloguing and research experience at the Bracco Historical Archive.
The course begins with a series of general lectures (Module 1) on the history of business and industrial work at a global and contemporary level. This module aims to demonstrate how adopting a historical perspective can enhance our understanding of contemporary businesses, considering their various forms, sizes, production sectors, and primary financing methods (banking and stock exchange systems). Attention will also be paid to the main paradigms of industrial work organisation (Taylorism, Fordism and Toyotism) up to the present-day Integrated Factory.
The course then consists of two modules taking place at two leading international business archives: the Intesa Sanpaolo Historical Archive (Module 2) and the Bracco Historical Archive (Module 3). Students will join working groups that are already active at these archives.
The archival part of the course is based on the idea that the advent of the web has radically changed access to archives, first through the online publication of inventories and then through the availability of digital reproductions of documents on the internet.
In the coming years, the challenge will be to create genuine networks of data and information from different archival institutions based on open, interoperable data, rather than just the interlinking of web pages that characterised the first phase of the internet.
The Intesa Sanpaolo Historical Archive (https://asisp.intesasanpaolo.com/intesa-web/) is working on a multi-year project called 'Archivi. Che Imprese!' to build an information network of archival sources on Italian companies, with the aim of creating a historical register of Italian companies from the 20th century, starting with those listed in the archives of banks and financial institutions.
The Historical Archive of Bracco, one of the world's leading chemical and pharmaceutical companies (https://www.archiviostoricobracco.com/it), will guide students through archival work involving materials produced by the Cultural Activities and Press Offices. Students will learn to organise and describe these materials using specific software. Additionally, the archive will demonstrate how documents from company archives can be promoted via the archive's website and social media, and utilised for educational activities in schools of various levels and fields of study.
Module 1 (20 hours): Business History from a Global Perspective: Industry, Labour, Banking and Financial Systems.
Module 2 (20 hours): Cataloguing and research experience at the Intesa SanPaolo Historical Archive.
Module 3 (20 hours): Cataloguing and research experience at the Bracco Historical Archive.
The course begins with a series of general lectures (Module 1) on the history of business and industrial work at a global and contemporary level. This module aims to demonstrate how adopting a historical perspective can enhance our understanding of contemporary businesses, considering their various forms, sizes, production sectors, and primary financing methods (banking and stock exchange systems). Attention will also be paid to the main paradigms of industrial work organisation (Taylorism, Fordism and Toyotism) up to the present-day Integrated Factory.
The course then consists of two modules taking place at two leading international business archives: the Intesa Sanpaolo Historical Archive (Module 2) and the Bracco Historical Archive (Module 3). Students will join working groups that are already active at these archives.
The archival part of the course is based on the idea that the advent of the web has radically changed access to archives, first through the online publication of inventories and then through the availability of digital reproductions of documents on the internet.
In the coming years, the challenge will be to create genuine networks of data and information from different archival institutions based on open, interoperable data, rather than just the interlinking of web pages that characterised the first phase of the internet.
The Intesa Sanpaolo Historical Archive (https://asisp.intesasanpaolo.com/intesa-web/) is working on a multi-year project called 'Archivi. Che Imprese!' to build an information network of archival sources on Italian companies, with the aim of creating a historical register of Italian companies from the 20th century, starting with those listed in the archives of banks and financial institutions.
The Historical Archive of Bracco, one of the world's leading chemical and pharmaceutical companies (https://www.archiviostoricobracco.com/it), will guide students through archival work involving materials produced by the Cultural Activities and Press Offices. Students will learn to organise and describe these materials using specific software. Additionally, the archive will demonstrate how documents from company archives can be promoted via the archive's website and social media, and utilised for educational activities in schools of various levels and fields of study.
Prerequisites for admission
There are no specific prerequisites other than those required for admission to the master's degree program in Historical Sciences.
Teaching methods
Attendance at classes is compulsory for students enrolled in the course. Teaching consists of lectures and practical work in the archives, aimed at acquiring the knowledge, skills, and language specific to the discipline and to working in business archives. Discussion with the instructor, archivists, and other students is an integral part of the teaching method and aims to promote critical thinking and the ability to apply the skills and knowledge acquired.
The course makes use of teaching materials, including multimedia materials available on the myARIEL platform.
The course makes use of teaching materials, including multimedia materials available on the myARIEL platform.
Teaching Resources
PROGRAM FOR ATTENDING STUDENTS
- Program for 6 CFU:
Knowledge of the topics covered in class (teaching units 1 and 2) and the related documentation made available on myARIEL; writing a final report on the archival work carried out.
Students who have to take a 6-credit exam may leave the classes at the end of the second module, although full attendance is recommended for them as well.
- Program for 9 credits:
Knowledge of the topics covered in class (units 1, 2, and 3) and the related documentation available on myARIEL; writing a final report on the archival work carried out.
PROGRAM FOR NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS
Program for 6 credits:
Knowledge of the two volumes:
Vera Zamagni, Forme d'impresa. Una prospettiva storico-economica, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2020;
Germano Maifreda, L'organizzazione del lavoro. Dalla rivoluzione industriale allo smart working, Milan, Pearson, 2022.
Program for 9 credits:
Knowledge of the three volumes:
Vera Zamagni, Forme d'impresa. Una prospettiva storico-economica, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2020;
Germano Maifreda, L'organizzazione del lavoro. Dalla rivoluzione industriale allo smart working, Milan, Pearson, 2022;
Renato Giannetti, Michelangelo Vasta, Storia dell'impresa italiana, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2012.
International or incoming Erasmus students are invited to contact the course professor in a timely manner to agree on the exam program, which may also be in English.
- Program for 6 CFU:
Knowledge of the topics covered in class (teaching units 1 and 2) and the related documentation made available on myARIEL; writing a final report on the archival work carried out.
Students who have to take a 6-credit exam may leave the classes at the end of the second module, although full attendance is recommended for them as well.
- Program for 9 credits:
Knowledge of the topics covered in class (units 1, 2, and 3) and the related documentation available on myARIEL; writing a final report on the archival work carried out.
PROGRAM FOR NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS
Program for 6 credits:
Knowledge of the two volumes:
Vera Zamagni, Forme d'impresa. Una prospettiva storico-economica, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2020;
Germano Maifreda, L'organizzazione del lavoro. Dalla rivoluzione industriale allo smart working, Milan, Pearson, 2022.
Program for 9 credits:
Knowledge of the three volumes:
Vera Zamagni, Forme d'impresa. Una prospettiva storico-economica, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2020;
Germano Maifreda, L'organizzazione del lavoro. Dalla rivoluzione industriale allo smart working, Milan, Pearson, 2022;
Renato Giannetti, Michelangelo Vasta, Storia dell'impresa italiana, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2012.
International or incoming Erasmus students are invited to contact the course professor in a timely manner to agree on the exam program, which may also be in English.
Assessment methods and Criteria
- Method: writing a paper to be discussed during the exam
- Type of exam: oral interview
- Assessment criteria: ability to demonstrate and elaborate on the knowledge acquired, ability to critically reflect on the work carried out and to frame it within general historical processes; quality of presentation, competence in the use of the discipline's lexicon, effective communication and clarity; quality of the work carried out in the archives.
- Type of assessment: mark out of 30
The examination procedures for students with disabilities and/or SLDs must be agreed with the teacher, in agreement with the relevant office.
- Type of exam: oral interview
- Assessment criteria: ability to demonstrate and elaborate on the knowledge acquired, ability to critically reflect on the work carried out and to frame it within general historical processes; quality of presentation, competence in the use of the discipline's lexicon, effective communication and clarity; quality of the work carried out in the archives.
- Type of assessment: mark out of 30
The examination procedures for students with disabilities and/or SLDs must be agreed with the teacher, in agreement with the relevant office.
Modules or teaching units
Unita' didattica A
SECS-P/12 - ECONOMIC HISTORY - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Unita' didattica B
SECS-P/12 - ECONOMIC HISTORY - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Unita' didattica C
SECS-P/12 - ECONOMIC HISTORY - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Professor(s)