MGT 301 Business Law

Project Instructions

Introduction

The project involves writing a one page proposal, a detailed report of 5-7 pages (other than the title page and the References page) and making a class presentation on a relevant business law topic.

The idea is to investigate the selected topic using articles, websites, books, journal papers and/or interviews and industry feedback (optional). In the report, you are expected to discuss the case study and (1) what happened, (2) the legal issue involved, (3) how the case was resolved, and (4) references supporting your discussion.

Grade Distribution

Project Grade Breakdown:

One Page Proposal	1%
Report	9%
Presentation	5%
Total	15%

Rules:

1. You must follow the schedule presented in section 4 below.

2. The project must be done in a group of 3-4 students each. The group must be finalized by the end of week 6 (February 16).

3. The project topic must also be finalized, in consultation with the instructor, before the end of week 6 (February 16).

4. A one-page proposal, which reports initial findings as well as a detailed plan of your project, must be submitted by the end of week 7 (February 23).

5. The final report must contain all the areas of investigation discussed in the introduction above.

6. The final report must be submitted by the end of week 11 (March 16).

7. Presentations will be scheduled during week 12 (March 19-23).

8. Each member of the group must present for a minimum of 3 minutes each, followed by a 3 minute question and answer session.

9. Plagiarism is a serious offense. The report must be written in your own words and references must be cited. See below for how to cite references on the References page of your report. Within the text of your report, refer to references like this:

Tom Baker takes the view that the availability of Directors and Officers Liability Insurance (or D & O Insurance) actually leads to more corporate misconduct. (Baker, 2011)

On the References page, this book would be cited like this:

Baker, T. and Griffith, S. 2011. Ensuring Corporate Misconduct: How Liability Insurance Undermines Shareholder Litigation. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Schedule:

Week	Date Due	Item
6	February 16	Groups must be finalized
6	February 16	Topic of project finalized
7	February 23	Proposal submission
11	March 16	Final report submission
12	March 19-23	Presentations

Topics:

See the attached Topic List for suggested topics. You are welcome to suggest any other relevant topic, but you must discuss it with and get approval from the course instructor.

Report Structure and Format:

Report Structure:

Title page: This must contain the topic title, group member names and student IDs, section number and course name.

Abstract: The report must have an abstractaround 150 words which summarizes the key findings in the report.

Main Body of the report

Conclusion

The last page should state References and contain a list of References in Harvard style format. For example:

Books:

Wit, J.S., Poneman, D.B. & Gallucci, R.L. 2004. Going critical: the first North Korean nuclear crisis. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press.

Magazine or Journal Articles:

Jennings, P 1997, 'The performance and competitive advantage of small firms: a management perspective', International Small Business Journal, vol. 15, no. 2, pp. 63-75. Available from: The University of Western Australia Library Course Materials Online. [1 September 2004].

Bustamante, C 2014, Libraries welcome writers in residence, Library Journal. Available from: . [29 September 2014].

Websites:

Dawson, J., Deubert, K. Grey-Smith, S. & Smith, L. S Trek 6: Referencing, not plagiarism. [Online]. Available: http://lisweb.curtin.edu.au/guides/studytrekk/strek6.html. [4 September 2004].

For more examples and details of Harvard style referencing, see:

http://guides.is.uwa.edu.au/harvard

Font sizes:

Main Headings: 14, Bold

Sub-Headings: 12, Bold

Normal text: 12

Line spacing: 2 (double-spaced)

Business law project topic ideas

These are just ideas! If there is a topic or an idea that you are interested in, please discuss it with me. I would rather you do your project on a topic that YOU find interesting!

IN ALL CASES BELOW, YOU ARE REQUIRED TO RESEARCH THE ISSUE AND CITE TO AT LEAST 4 REPUTABLE SOURCES IN YOUR PAPER.

Misleading advertising: Discuss the legal issue faced by RedBull in this video. What was the lawsuit? What were they sued for? How was the case resolved? Have there been similar cases recently with other products? What happened in those situations?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5c11Wqdv_I

Product liability: Discuss the legal issue faced by Toyota and discussed in this video. What happened? How was the case resolved?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGe3EOJ-CMY

Employment Law: Who is Jeffry Wigand? What did he do? What are the legal issues surrounding his story? What happened and how was the case resolved?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-8nu03jJqA

Product liability: Discuss the legal issue faced by IKEA and discussed in this video. What happened? How was the case resolved?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiL9t5iy9Pg

Corporate Social Responsibility: Discuss the Social Responsibility history of Starbucks. What kinds of policies does it have and what kind of social responsibility reporting does it do? Has Starbucks faced any social responsibility issues (problems), and if so, how did they respond to them?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nly_OdvORQY&index=2&t=18s&list=PLwzIfg8KKFyU_4QdilrFHSdmmFNkFWhf4

Alternative Dispute Resolution: What is the Court of Arbitration for Sports? What kind of cases does it arbitrate? Discuss a case study of a case that went to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and what the Court of Arbitration for Sports decided.

https://youtu.be/Bg2L8hUwqj8

Corporate Social Responsibility: What is Foxconn? What Corporate Social Responsibility issues were faced by the companies that manufactured products at Foxconn? How did these companies respond to the issues? Did their social responsibility policies improve as a result of the companies response?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSvT02q4h40&list=PLwzIfg8KKFyU_4QdilrFHSdmmFNkFWhf4&index=34

Intellectual Property Law: Discuss the legal issue faced by Zara and discussed in this video. What happened? Research this issue FURTHER. Did Zara face any law suits or otherwise settle the matter with the concerned parties?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMXVKLhBWZk&t=342s

Corporate law. Who are Michael Horn and Martin Winterkorn? What did they do? What are the legal issues surrounding his story? What happened and how was the case resolved? Should Michael Horn and Martin Winterkorn be personally liable for what Volkswagen did?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BOCnwRPkEU

Employment law: What is the UAE task force on maternity leave? What is it trying to achieve? Have any changes been made to company policies or to UAE law as a result of the task forces actions? Does the task force seek to get the law changed in any way? How?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itAEfinfYvk

Contract Law: Discuss the Martha Stewart Breach of Contract suit brought by Macys. Why did Macys sue? What are the legal arguments that Macys is making? What are the legal defenses that Martha Stewart is making? Has the case been resolved? If so, how? Otherwise, what is the status of the case?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIKxQpQCIGw

Product Liability: Discuss the legal issue faced by Takata and other companies and discussed in this video. What happened? How was the case resolved?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQ7jpo1vkYc

Sports Law: What was the Bosman Ruling? What happened in the Bosman case? How did it change how football players are treated (from a contract law and employment law perspective)?

https://youtu.be/Fa8pdSdzDm4