OBE118 Syllabus
California State University, Sacramento
Department of Organizational Behavior and Environment
College of Business Administration

Spring 2002

Instructor

Calendar

Overview

Resources

Syllabus

WebCT

Objectives

Assignments

Grades

Technology

Materials

OBE118. Legal Environment of Business.  
A study of business law for the business professional. Aside from investigating substantive law, the course stresses critical thinking and analytical evaluation of contemporary business problems. Encourages the identification of ethical concerns along with the ability to anticipate potential legal problems with the goal of preventing them. Covers introduction to the legal system; court procedures; contracts and sales; business organizations; real and personal property; labor and employment law; product liability, and the government regulation of business. OBE 16 or the equivalent is recommended. 3 units.

View the course schedule.

View a sample online module.

Course Objectives

•  Provide students with an understanding of basic processes and institutions in the US legal system.  Students should be able to explain common court processes and compare alternatives to these processes presenting reasons why and when one might choose a court or an alternative.

• Enable students to distinguish, explain, and provide examples of the interrelationship between rules of law and rules of ethics.

• Enable students to distinguish different sources of law, their attributes and strengths and weaknesses of each source.  Special attention to enabling students to explain the why and how administrative agencies regulate business conduct.

• Provide knowledge of legal rules which businesspersons must apply on a day to day basis including tort law, including an ability to define and provide examples of intentional torts, negligence, and strict liability torts, and the common defenses, about the legal requirements of a contract, contract rights and duties, and the nature and consequences of the failure to perform a contract obligation and about basic rules of sales, especially warranties and product liability law, personal and intellectual property, agency, business associations, and employment law.

• Enable students to read, listen, or observe a set of facts with legal consequences and separate facts from opinion or speculation, identify the legal issues, know how to set forth the legal rules and reach a conclusion as to the probable legal result justified by an analysis of how those facts support that legal result.

• Enable students to write or orally present an analysis of a circumstance or situation providing recommendations as to future behavior as a consequence of that circumstance or situation.

• Enable students to define preventive law and identify strategies and approaches to reducing legal problems and expenses.  Includes an ability to identify legal aspects to management questions.

Homework Assignments

 The following assignments are due on the dates indicated.

Grades and Grading Policy

Technology Requirements

You should be comfortable using a computer and willing to browse the Web. This class requires online class participation on the Web assignments and electronic discussions.

You need:

• Macintosh compatible with System 9 or higher or Windows compatible Pentium running Windows 95/98 or Windows NT.
• 64 MB of RAM
• 28.8K or faster modem - preferably 56K
• Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape 4.0 (or higher)
• SacLink or other Internet Account
• Word processing skills

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  Students need an electronic mail account and computer access to the Web. All CSUS students enrolled in one or more units can create a SacLink account for electronic mail and Internet services. Although a home computer with a high speed modem running Netscape or Internet Explorer would be beneficial, students can use the Web from one of the campus student labs.

Materials

• Required:  Business Its Legal, Ethical and Global Environment, 5th Edition, Marianne M. Jennings, West Legal Studies in Business, 2000.
• Optional:  Study Guide Business Its Legal, Ethical and Global Environment, Fifth Edition, Jennings and Tabor, West Legal Studies in Business, 2000. 

You can purchase books through the Hornet Bookstore. Check their Distance and Distributed Learning page at http://www.bookstore.csus.edu/bookstore/distance/ for ordering information.