Course Objectives:
CO1 Define the legal environment that is applicable to the business world.
CO2 Review basic business law concepts
CO3 Describe the litigation system in the United States CO4 Apply legal concepts to business to business scenarios
CO5 Analyze the differences between major forms of intellectual property protection, and current ethical issues that arise under intellectual property law
CO6 Identify antitrust issues in business decisions
CO7 Analyze what a contract is, how a contract is formed, the types of law that govern contracts, the elements of common-law contract formation, and defenses to contracts
CO8 Identify various forms of business structure
CO9 Evaluate employment laws affecting business
CO10 Define ethical environment that is applicable to the business world.
CO11 Identify means to avoid alter ego liability
CO12 Evaluate how the Sarbanes Oxley Act applies to business.
PREPARE A PPT PRESENTATION:
Reflecting on the concepts in the course, select and research one (1) of the company situations listed below and prepare a PowerPoint presentation of the legal and ethical issues surrounding it. At least one source citation for each company is provided to get you started and you may use this citation as one of your required sources. It is expected you will use the course Lessons and required readings plus your own independent research of credible sources in support of this presentation. At least two sources should be peer-reviewed articles or scholarly texts from the library.
Your presentation should include the following, organized in professionally designed slides with accompanying Speaker’s Notes or Audio and/or video narrative. Further instructions for the PPT are also below:
CONTENT FOR YOUR ASSIGNMENT:
1. Introduce the company (e.g. name, type of business, its corporate structure);
2. Define and explain the core ethical dilemma confronting the company, with pertinent facts; this includes why it is an ethical issue; clearly define the dilemma and what area of law is involved (e.g. contract, torts, etc.); be clear as to the company’s situation and its ethical choices – the action the company chose to do and at least one other, different, choice;
3. Identify, define and explain an ethical framework that supports, or is illustrated in, the choice/action the company made.
4. Identify, define and explain another ethical framework that the company leadership could have utilized in this situation and explain how utilization of this alternate ethical framework would have led to a different result in deciding the ethical dilemma. Explain specifically how the company effectively could have employed this framework.
5. Recommend: Lessons learned. What lessons can business management leaders learn from this case study for management of business operations? Recommend and explain at least one business practice. In determining and designing your recommendation consider the concepts in areas of law we have studied this term, e.g. contracts, tort liability, corporate structure and policy, corporate social responsibility, Sarbanes-Oxley, employment laws, litigation, etc. A good business practice recommendation can relate to any one or combination of these elements of the legal business environment. The company you have studied for this Assignment engaged in practices on an ethical basis that ultimately touched or affected all aspects of its management. Your recommendation should be a take-away pertinent for any business to apply in practice. It is not sufficient to just say something like “do it differently,” or “be ethical.”
In addition to the above, study the Rubric for this Assignment and the Instructions for PPT.
COMPANIES – SELECT ONE (1) OF THESE COMPANIES/SITUATIONS FOR YOUR ESSAY
Ford Motor Company – Pinto car defect – Beginning informational source:
The Pinto memo: “It’s cheaper to let them burn!” (2008, October 17). The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved from http://www.spokesman.com/blogs/autos/2008/oct/17/pinto-memo-its-cheaper-let-them-burn/
Case study: Ford’s Pinto: Collective welfare versus rights and freedom. (2014, January 22). ethicsworkshop. YouTube. [Video File].
Boeing – 737 MAX defect, plane crashes – Beginning informational source:
Italiano, L. (2019, May 19). Boeing acknowledges flaw in 737 MAX flight simulators. New York Post.
Purdue Pharmaceutical – Opiod lawsuits (and at least one huge settlement): Beginning informational source:
Chatterjee, P. (2018, January 25). New York City sues Purdue Pharmaceutical and others over opiod deaths. Corpwatch.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR PPT:
Title slide followed by agenda slide that outlines the presentation.
Ends with References slide, listing seven (7)-plus credible sources from Lessons, Course Readings, and your own research in Library, in APA 7th formatted citations. (Note, you may need more than 1 slide for all fully cited references.)
In addition to the above 3 types of slides, minimum ten (10) content slides.
Slides should be presented with professional background, appropriate graphics, and content points (not paragraphs to be read like a “paper”);
Content points should be included on slides, not just “titles.”
Speaker’s notes are required for narrative accompanying beneath all slides except title slide and references slides. In the alternative audio narration or a video can accompany the slide presenting the narration portion of the presentation.
Proofread the presentation to correct errors. Avoid plagiarism! Quotes and figures require citation.
See Grading Rubric.
Submit this essay as a Microsoft PPT document attachment no later than 11:59 pm ET Sunday of week seven.
