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Introduction to Business Law

  • Module code: BD3003
  • Year: 2018/9
  • Level: 3
  • Credits: 30
  • Pre-requisites: None
  • Co-requisites: None

Summary

The aim of this module is to give you a general understanding of the principal areas of English law that may be encountered in business. The module is to give you an introduction to how business law is made. You will be introduced to possible business liabilities under criminal and civil law, the main methods of resolving business disputes including the court system of England and Wales and alternative methods of dispute resolution. You will learn what constitutes an enforceable contract and what happens if one party fails to perform their part of the contract. You will learn some of the basic principles of employment law and the rights and responsibilities of employers and employees in the workplace.

Aims

  • To give students an introduction to the legal environment in business.
  • To provide the student with an understanding of dispute resolution in business.
  • To provide a practical understanding of a substantive area of business-related law.
  • To develop teamwork and individual development.

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:

  • identify how business law is made
  • identify and explain the role of legal personnel that may be encountered in running a business
  • understand how business disputes can be resolved inside and outside the court system
  • explain the basic principles of contract formation
  • demonstrate an understanding of the scope of legal protection under the Equality Act 2010 and how this impacts on recruitment and selection of staff and the treatment of staff in the workplace
  • Understand the business and legal implications of employing staff permanently compared to using zero hour workers, agency workers or self-employed workers.

Curriculum content

Subject specific:

  • differences between criminal and civil law
  • How business law is made - Acts of Parliament, Judiciary, European Union Law, European Court of Human Rights.
  • Brexit - how EU law is made and the impact on business law as a result of leaving the EU
  • Trial courts that may be used to resolve business disputes
  • Personnel of the English legal system, judges, magistrates, solicitors and barristers, legal executives.
  • Alternative dispute resolution: conciliation, mediation and arbitration
  • Contract formation
  • Employment rights
  • The 'gig' economy - employment status of workers - eg. Uber/ Pimlico Plumbers/ Deliveroo

Students will also acquire a number of skills, in that they will be able to demonstrate:

  • an ability to research issues of law relevant to a problem using a variety of source materials
  • the ability to work in a team and receive feedback
  • independent study: time management, research, referencing, effective reading and note taking
  • the ability to communicate effectively in writing
  • the ability to use analytical skills in problem-solving as well as critical thinking

These are skills which are transferable to other contexts and the development of which will be at least as important as a knowledge and understanding of the legal system for future employability.

Teaching and learning strategy

This module is worth 30 credits and is, therefore, expected to involve about 300 learning hours including the time spent in class and independent study  

The class contact hours will include a mix of content delivery and in-class exercises such as practical case studies. Students will participate in a range of lectures, workshops, interactive activities, individual and group work. Students will be required to carry out group based and independent research using academic sources. The use of active learning methods within sessions is designed to encourage student participation and many opportunities for formative assessment are built into the delivery. Feedback from the formative activities will provide students with many opportunities to refine their understanding and skills prior to summative assessment. will be expected to use formative feedback in future work.

Independent study will be supported by appropriate resources via Moodle. Students will be expected to work both individually and in groups, inluding wider research to support assignments.

The module guide contains the outline of class content. Materials for each lesson (eg. PowerPoint slides for each lecture) are available on the VLE so that students can download them (or make a note of them) in whichever format best suits the students method of note-taking in class. Students are encouraged to spend a short time after each class considering what they have learnt from it and, if necessary, correcting the notes which the student made before the session.

Breakdown of Teaching and Learning Hours

Definitive UNISTATS Category Indicative Description Hours
Scheduled learning and teaching Seminars, lectures, group/individual workshops 128
Guided independent learning Independent study 172
Total (number of credits x 10) 300

Assessment strategy

A key feature of the teaching and learning delivery of the module is to provide students with ample opportunities to engage with relevant formative assessment prior to summative assessment. Formative exercises will generally mirror the styles of assessment required for summative success in the module, for example, practice tests and sample case studies. It is recognised that a significant proportion of the assessment in this module is by formal time constrained testing which will be supported with additional formative material to allow students to hone their skills in "exam technique" prior to summative assessment. Students will be encourage to engage actively with the feedback they receive on formative assessment so that this is effective as a means of feed forward for the summative elements of assessment.

The following items of make up the summative assessment for the module:

  1. Two 1 hour in-class tests (15% for each test) - The tests will be in the format of structured short answers questions to assess knowledge of how business law is made, legal personnel, the court system, legal liabilities of business.
  2. A Group work assessment and group presentation based on a business case study relating to dispute resolution and how to solve the issues arising from the case study. (30%)
  3. Exam (40%) will be split into two sections: Section A is worth 20% and will cover contract law and Section B is worth 20% and will cover employment law.

Mapping of Learning Outcomes to Assessment Strategy (Indicative)

Learning Outcome Assessment Strategy
Identify how business law is made Short answer test – to assess knowledge of how business law is made Formative assessment by way of class activities
Identify and explain the role of legal personnel that may be encountered in running a business Short answer test – to assess knowledge of the legal personnel Formative assessment by way of class activities
Understand how business disputes can be resolved inside and outside the court system Coursework – group presentation Formative assessment by way of class activities
Explain the basic principles of contract formation Exam Formative assessment by way of class activities
Demonstrate an understanding of the scope of legal protection under the Equality Act 2010 and how this impacts on recruitment and selection of staff and the treatment of staff in the workplace Exam Formative assessment by way of class activities
Understand the business and legal implications of employing staff permanently compared to using zero hour workers, agency workers or self-employed workers. Exam Formative assessment by way of class activities

Elements of Assessment

Description of Assessment Definitive UNISTATS Categories Percentage
Group work and presentation Practical exam 30%
In class short answer tests x 2 coursework Written exam 1 30%
Direct theory based questions and short problem solving questions Written exam 2 40%
Total (to equal 100%) 100%

Achieving a pass

It IS NOT a requirement that any major element of assessment is passed separately in order to achieve an overall pass for the module.

Bibliography core texts

Adams, A. (2016). Law for Business Students, 9th edn. Pearson.

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