COLORADO TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT
LEGAL ENVIRONMENT OF BUSINESS
MGM 410
SYLLABUS
1. COURSE
Course Title: Legal Environment Of Business
Course Number: MGM 410
Number of Quarter Credit Hours: 3
Hours Devoted to In-Class Per Week: 3
Prerequisites: None
Date Prepared: Jan 1, 2003
Instructor: Dr. Mendi Mullett
Adjunct Professor of Management
Phone/Voice Mail: (303) 638-6049
e-Mail: classworx@hotmail.com
2. COURSE DESCRIPTION
Today’s business environment is, by necessity, complex. The Legal Environment of Business is about the legal issues confronting managers in business. In this course, you will acquire the tools for understanding the principals underlying the legal environment of business. You will identify the current legal rules and regulations affecting businesses and also become familiar with the new developments and trends that will greatly affect future transactions.
3. OBJECTIVES OF THE COURSE
By the end of the course, the student will be able to:
a. Understand basic legal issues facing today’s business leader.
b. Understand the prevalent legal theories and definitions affecting business.
c. Think critically about, and defend effectively, his or her position on business legal issues.
d. Use cases to evaluate and apply legal theories in support of his or her position.
e. Listen, interact, discuss, engage in dialogue, and debate with students holding differing opinions, attitudes, experiences and ideas.
4. INSTRUCTIONAL APPROACH
a. Reading assignment from required text
b. Quizzes (2)
c. Critical Reviews (3)
d. Exams (2)
5. GRADING PROCEDURE
a. First Night Assessment 0
b. Class Participation 100
c. Attendance 100
d. Critical Reviews (3 @ 100 each) 300
e. Quizzes (2 @ 50 each) 100
f. Mid-Term exam 200
g. Final Exam 200
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TOTAL: 1000
6. REQUIRED MATERIALS
Text: Kubasek, Brennan, & Browne,The Legal Environment of Business, Upper Saddle River, Prentice Hall.
7. GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS
a. Attendance and participation are mandatory and critical to the learning process. The only way to ensure that the programmed learning objectives are met is to have vigorous and informed discussion. Students are expected to accomplish assigned reading prior to coming to class. It will also be helpful to come to class familiar with current events as they affect the issues raised in this class. Current events discussions supported by chapter presentations led by the students make this class an interactive. participative, learning environment.
b. Please contact me if you must miss any class. You may leave word for me by phone or by e-mail. Missed notes are the student’s responsibility for any absence.
c. Posted office hours are ˝ hour prior to class. Please call to set up a time if you need to meet with me at another time.
d. The mid-term exam is a Take-Home Exam. The final exam is in-class, closed book, closed notes. Both exams will be equally weighed. The final exam will cover the class work reviewed post-midterm exam. The exams will contain essay questions that I will design to test your understanding of the material. Please be prepared to justify and explain your answers. I will not give much credit to answers that do not include the elements of critical thinking. Exams must be taken on the assigned date absent some verifiable emergency. You must notify me of any emergency as soon as possible, preferably prior to the exam. If you fail to do so, I will reduce your grade for that exam by a minimum of 25%.
e. There will be two 50-point quizzes during this class. There will be a first-night assessment quiz for 0 points. The quizzes will focus on major areas we have covered in class to date (since the last exam or quiz). The quizzes will be essay. I will allow 15-20 minutes for each quiz.
f. There will be three critical review presentations. Each critical review paper will be 150-300 words long. For each assignment, you are to read an article or editorial from a magazine , newspaper, or Internet website that relates to the legal environment of business and write a critical analysis. The analysis should be typed, double-spaced, with the article attached. Do not simply do a “book report.” I want you to analyze the article or editorial and offer your own thoughts regarding the pros/cons, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats, advantages, disadvantages, comparisons, comments, conclusions, implications or other items of your own original thinking. SWOT Court, a panel-discussion group exercise, will be conducted to discuss the learning points of each critical review presented.
g. In-class activities will require students to work together in a collaborative environment where students will make presentations, other students will contribute discussion questions on the materials presented, and the class as a whole will develop a body of knowledge and critical thinking regarding the material presented.
h. All assignments must be turned in no later than the last day of class. Otherwise, your grade will be determined based upon the points you actually earned over the total points available (1000). Due to the intensive in-class interaction in this course, I will not issue any incomplete grades.
i. The final night of class will include a current events investigation of consumer legal issues.
8. GROUND RULES FOR CLASS TIME
a. Every opinion matters and is, in fact, critical to the learning process. Make every effort not to be offended or hurt by those who hold opinions or beliefs contrary to yours. Respect is essential.
b. Remember that being open-minded is an essential element of critical thinking. By being open-minded and thinking critically you open up yourself to learning new ideas, concepts and theories.
c. Allow others to state their views. Do not try to monopolize discussions.
d. This class is not intended to convince anyone to alter his or her beliefs on any issue. But remember that no one, even I, has all the answers, so to the extent you can remain open to persuasion, you will enhance the learning process.
e. Learning is a process, and we will treat it as such. Therefore, do not expect to find all the answers by the end of the term.
9. A COMMENT ON CRITICAL THINKING
a. This class will emphasize critical thinking, which is defined on page 4 of your text as “the ability to understand the structure of an argument and apply a set of evaluative criteria to assess its merits.” I will focus on this skill because even if you forget the specifics of the laws we study, you will be able to use critical thinking skills to analyze the reasoning behind laws and policies.
b. Our approach will be highly participative and interactive. You will learn by applying concepts and basic rules to problems in group situations. The more ill defined the problem, the better the test of your analytical skills. This active, participative learning will take a variety of forms—from problem-solving simple case briefs, to debates, to evaluating a situation to determine “what additional information do you need” or “what questions do you need to ask” and “why do I need that information or the answer to that question?”
c. Our goal is to concentrate on analysis—thinking—on using concepts rather than relying on memorization of rules and buzzwords. Remember, I am not saying that the rules of law are unimportant. I am saying that you must understand the rules in their conceptual, fact specific contexts. We will focus on understanding how facts and laws are analyzed to reach conclusions.
d. You must come to class prepared. I will ask you to express your ideas and your reasoning on the issues we discuss. It is unimportant whether we agree. What is important is that you examine why a particular rule of law or conclusion is or is not correct. You must thoroughly analyze your position and support your conclusions.
10. COURSE CONSIDERATIONS
Attendance:
Class Attendance: Attendance in class is imperative for every class period. There is a lot of material to cover and develop in the classroom.
Lab Attendance:
If you choose to do your lab work outside the CTU computer class, that is OK. Regardless of the location where you perform your lab work, your assignments are due on the dates and at the times specified by the instructor.
Tardiness:
Late arrival to class or early departure form class, unless approved in advance by the instructor, is subject to a prorated point reduction for each class period. There are 11 classes scheduled. The first time arriving late or leaving early is waived. After the first time, 10 minutes late arrival or 10 minutes early departure loses 5 points of class attendance grade for a maximum of 10 points loss per class period.
Absence:
Missing a day of class, unless approved in advance by the instructor, loses 10 points of class attendance grade. Completion of missed work for tardiness or absences is the responsibility of the student to make up, preferably, in advance. The student earns a course grade of “F” for 3 missed classes of the total 11 classes scheduled.
Participation:
Your ideas and questions are important in the class coursework learning process. When you offer ideas, ask questions, listen to information offered by others, and contribute suggestions in useful ways, the classroom offers the possibility of a better learning environment than when the instructor lectures, alone. The classroom experience is designed to encourage students to participate. It is expected that each student will interact, effectively, in the classroom during each class period.
Class Participation:
Each student is expected to come to class prepared to discuss the topics and assignments for the class period. Work that supports the class topics for the day is expected to turned-in at the beginning of class.
Team Participation:
Team selection and teamwork can add value to a class or lab by offering a collaborative environment for student growth concerning a topic. Teamwork can also offer an opportunity to share the workload. It is expected that each team member will contribute an acceptably equal amount to the team effort. Sometimes, one or more members of a team may find that the team effort is not working out as hoped or expected. If this occurs during the course, the team resolution process will be used to address the issues.
Team Resolution Process:
Members of a team are expected to work together, collaboratively, to accomplish team goals and objectives. If the members of a team find themselves in conflict with one another, there is a process to be used to overcome the conflict.
1.) As a team, discuss the conflict and identify alternatives for potentially resolving the conflict.
2.) As a team, select one or more of the alternatives identified and implement a team-wide acceptable course of action for resolving the conflict. Inform your instructor of the conflict and the proposed course of action. Propose your suggested course of action to the instructor. Make adjustments advised by the instructor.
3.) If the team has tried the course of action without success, team members are expected to deliver a written description of the conflict, the course of action and the result, and a request to fire one or more members of the team to resolve the conflict.
4.) The instructor will review the written request. If the instructor decides that firing of one or more students acceptable, then the instructor will offer an approval of the firing.
5.) The members that are left on the team are responsible for completing all aspects of the team effort. Likewise, a student fired from a team is required to complete all aspects of the effort of a team as one, doing all the work of the project as a single member team. Each team is expected to accomplish its own work.
