Michael J. O'Hara Office Hours: by appointment,

CBA 502 UNO Omaha NE 68182 before class, Wednesday 5:30 - 6:00 PM

(402) 554-2823 (with voice mail) and after class, Wednesday 8:40 - 9:00 PM

mohara@unomaha.edu fax (402) 554-2680

http://unicron.unomaha.edu/mohara/web/ohara.htm

 

Legal Environment of Management

Fall 1998

BSAD 8010-001 # 00416 Wednesday 6:00 - 8:40 PM CBA 214

 

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

3 credit hours. "Focus upon law and ethics. Business law, legal processes, and regulations will be the subject matter focus. Business ethics will be a recurring focus of analysis. Analysis of the social environment will include public policy. Both subject matter and analysis will be integrated to build the student's critical thinking skills. Prereq.: MBA Foundation courses."

 

GRADED EVENTS:

A course letter grade of "A" is earned with a total course percentage of 90.0% or more; a "B+" is earned with 85.0% or more; a "B" is earned with 80.0% or more; etc.

35% DAILY ASSIGNMENTS

20% SOLO MIDTERM EXAM

10% PAPER

35% COMPREHENSIVE FINAL EXAMS

TEXTS:

DAILY ASSIGNMENTS

There are two types of DAILY ASSIGNMENTS and there is
NO MAKE - UP for any of the DAILY ASSIGNMENTS. However, if you will need to miss a class you may fax (402) 554-2680 or email (mohara@unomaha.edu) your negotiation preparation assignment to me prior to the start of class. It will not be an adequate excuse that my fax machine was busy with other student's faxes that started transmission prior to your attempted transmission. There are two types of daily assignments: Quizzes (usually oral) and Negotiation Preparations.

 

QUIZZES: Each Quiz grade is based on two factors. First, your level of unhesitating recall of the memorization tasks (e.g., able to recite like you recite your phone number). Second, your familiarity with that day's assigned readings.

 

Quizzes usually are oral and are worth a total of 20% of your course grade. Quizzes will be conducted at the beginning of the class. Students who are late for the start of the quiz will earn a failing grade on that quiz. For written quizzes all students will be quizzed. For oral quizzes, students will be called on randomly and will be called on in-groups of four, but will be graded individually. Over the course of the semester, you personally will have six quizzes --but you will be graded as if you only had five quizzes-- each worth 4% of the course grade. Excluding the first class, the midterm exam, and the final exams, there are thirteen class meetings.

 

The typical quiz earns a grad of 80% and each Quiz will be grade on a truncated scale of:

When Oral Quizzes focus on memorization tasks (as distinguished from the day's assigned readings) the questions will come from the list of major topics in the course (see web page and class handout). For these major topics you need to memorize material. The list only identifies the topics for memorization; the list is not the thing to be memorized. For example, the major topics list includes fraud. For "fraud" you need to memorize that it has five elements: knowing, intentional, misrepresentation of material fact, justifiable reliance, and injury. You should scan the major topics list prior to doing the reading for the week and you should bring the major topics list to every class so that you can keep track of which topics have been covered to date.

 

Your memorization tasks are focused on lists of questions to guide your legal analysis (e.g., Was it knowing?, Was it intentional?, etc.). In contrast to Oral Quizzes on the day's assigned readings, Oral Quiz questions on memorization material only will address material covered in prior lectures. Quizzes start September 2 and end December 2.

 

NEGOTIATION PREPARATIONS: For a total of 15% of the course grade, there are four typed negotiation preparation assignments and one negotiator grade. The first is due October 28 and the last is due December 2. Each is worth 3% of the course grade. Each will be graded on a truncated scale of:

The typical negotiation preparation will receive a grade of 80%. In addition to the written negotiation preparations, you can earn 3% of the course grade based on your performance as a negotiator. This grade will be based upon how each of the five persons who negotiate with you grade your performance on the truncated scale given above, as well as the instructor's observations of your negotiator skills.

 

A negotiation preparation form will be distributed (see web page). You are free to use or to re-design this form. However, your negotiation preparation assignments must use the topic heading on the distributed form. See TYPING REQUIREMENTS. Your negotiation preparation form will be easiest to read and use if you print it: [1] in landscape (instead of the ordinary portrait) layout; and [2] use at least two columns to shorten the lines of text and to group the text.

 

EXAMS:

There are three exams, a Solo Midterm Exam, a Solo Comprehensive Final Exam, and a Group Comprehensive Final Exam. The Midterm Exam is on October 14, the night of the play. We will change building the night of the play. The Midterm Exam is worth 20% of the course grade. The Comprehensive Final Exams are at the Regent's scheduled final exam time December 16 and are worth 35% of the course grade. The Solo Comprehensive Final is worth 25% and the Group Comprehensive Final is worth 10%. See web page for examples.

 

The Midterm Exam will be 50 true-false questions based on the lectures and the text. The Solo Final will be 100 true-false questions based on the lectures and the text. The Group Final will be 20 zero-guess (i.e., a, b, c, all, none, a+b, a+c, or b+c) multiple-choice questions based on the Solo Final questions. Each group will get three attempts at successfully completing the Group Final exam.

 

Groups will form no later than the end of break on December 2. Groups may have 3 or 4 members. All student groups must be voluntary associations:
no student may be forced to join a group and no group may be forced to accept a student. If all students are not in voluntary groups by the end of break on
November 18, then the instructor will randomly assign all students to involuntary groups. No group exists until all students are in voluntary groups or the instructor assigns involuntary groups.

 

PAPER:

All students shall attend a live performance of the play Company: A Musical Comedy on October 14 and each student shall prepare a two-page, typed legal analysis of the play. See web page for examples.

 

The paper assignment is worth 10% of the course grade. 1% is earned by attendance at a live performance on October 14. 1% is earned on the first final draft of the paper due at the beginning of class on November 4. 8% is earned on the second final draft of the paper due at the start of the final exam on December 9.

 

Performances are staged in the Weber Fine Arts Building: between and south of the UNO Library and the Durham Science Center. Performances start at about 8:00 p.m. and generally are over about 10:30 p.m. On October 14 the class as a whole will attend the play as an extension of the regular class. Attendance will be taken for earning the 1%. Family members and guests are most welcome. Tickets cost under $10 and reservations may be made through the UNO Theatre Box Office at 554-2335. Class will start at its ordinary start time of 6:00 p.m. and there will be a lecture until about 7:45 p.m. We will relocate to a pre-arranged campus building (most likely, room 214 in the Weber Fine Arts Building) for the lecture. October 14 also is the night of the midterm exam.

 

This assignment has two (not necessarily, but often separate) one-page assignments. These two one-page assignments will be typed on to or photocopied onto one sheet of paper. Your first task is to analyze a transaction in the play for a "contract" and your second task is to analysis a transaction in the play for a "tort." In one of these two transactions you shall conclude that there is "no adequate remedy at law" and then proceed to an analysis of the most appropriate equitable remedy. The easiest paper to write is to conclude there is a tort, and conclude there is no contract and thus no adequate remedy at law for the contract transaction and proceed to the equitable remedy for the contract transaction.

 

On November 4 each student shall submit two copies of a First Final Draft. During class on November 4, one copy will be evaluated by two other students and returned to the student author. The other copy will be evaluated by the instructor on a pass-fail basis as to whether the First Draft is, objectively, a good faith attempt at a "final draft." A pass will earn 100%, while a fail will earn 0%. See TYPING REQUIREMENTS.

 

On December 9 each student shall submit one copy of a Second Final Draft which will graded by the instructor. See TYPING REQUIREMENTS.

 

TYPING REQUIREMENTS:

All typed assignments shall be in #12 font typeface, may be single or double-spaced, shall use one inch margins on all four sides of a page, and shall be typed on both sides of a single sheet of 8 1/2" x 11" white paper. DO NOT USE A COVER SHEET, instead use a single line header (e.g., see top of this page) on each page identifying, from left to right: (1) the student author; (2) the role played or assignment [e.g., Mizer or First Draft]; (3) the date submitted. The computer labs will not let up print front to back on their laser printers. The computer lab laser printers are networked and such printing would require you to have control of the print queue, which is incompatible with appropriate network security.

 

The ENRON Computer Lab in CBA 403 has word processing software and hardware for you to use and for which you have been charged a fee. Campus computing rooms in CBA 007, EAB 009, and DSC 104 also provide computer support. Grammar, punctuation, and spelling do influence your grade. For page limits and other assignment specific TYPING REQUIREMENTS, see the specific assignment. Significant failure to comply with the typing requirements will cause, at a minimum, an automatic deduction of 5% of your earned assignment grade.

 

MAKE-UP WORK:

Make-up work is strongly discouraged. There is no make-up work for DAILY ASSIGNMENTS. There are two prerequisites for make-up work.

ACADEMIC DISHONESTY:

Any form of academic dishonesty (e.g., looking on another student's solo final exam) will be grounds for a course grade of "F."

 

 

DATE CHAPTERS TASKS and DEADLINES