Harshly criticises the Italian business degree to half of the guests (8)
I believe the answer is:
lambasts
'harshly criticises' is the definition.
'lambasts' can be an answer for 'criticises' (lambasting is a kind of criticizing). I'm not sure about the 'harshly' bit.
'the italian business degree to half of the guests' is the wordplay.
'the italian' becomes 'la' ('the' in Italian).
'business degree' becomes 'mba' (Master of Business Administration degree).
'to half of' indicates taking half.
'guests' halved is 'sts'.
'la'+'mba'+'sts'='LAMBASTS'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for lambasts that I've seen is " Thrashes or scolds severely".)