ACADEMIC PAPER
Description: • Individual task. • Answer the following questions in a single document using the material and information given to you throughout the course. Once you have decided which
country you will be working in, the UK, Canada or the USA, you must research and find the laws or regulations that correspond to the questions that you are answering. Remember to use Harvard citations in the document and to provide a reference page at the end.
1. Jim who recently quit his job after receiving a very large bonus payment is interested in forming his own business. He is not sure how to begin and he has
asked you to help him identify and analyze what company formation options he has available. He can set up his business in the UK, Canada or the USA, he will go where you decide.
a. Please advise him on what it means to be unincorporated, the advantages and disadvantages b. Then explain to him the significance of opening an incorporated business? What are the advantages and disadvantages of this type of business? c. Then explain to him what is a Limited Liability Partnership? What responsibilities and liabilities do the partners have for themselves individually, to
the firm/to each other in the firm and to the public? d. Explain to Jim if he needs additional capital to begin his new company what are some ways he could finance his new company?
2. 5 years later Jim has done very well but he is facing competition from 4 other similar businesses, he is considering the idea of merging with one of his
competitors or trying to acquire one of them. a. Explain to Jim what a merger is. Then identify and explain the steps that he and the other party would need to take to merge together – remember
this will vary country to country. b. Jim was able to convince Bob to merge their companies together, explain to Jim what three separate groups of professionals are recommended to
be consulted to assist him with this merger. c. Explain to Jim and Bob what issues they will need to agree to when the two comes merge into one new company. For example, who will be the
Director, etc…
3. (In case Jim cannot merge with someone) Jim soon realizes that none of his competitors want to merge with him but still facing stiff competition, so he asks you to assist him in acquiring one of the competitors to give him a bigger advantage in the market.
a. Explain to Jim what is an acquisition and then explain to him the different ways he can acquire one of his competitor’s company. b. Explain to Jim what the significance of him acquiring a competitor’s company would be in relations to control of the company, decision making,
directors, etc…
4. If Jim cannot merge with a competitor is there the possibility of a Strategic Alliance or Joint Venture between the parties? a. Explain what is a Strategic Alliance? What are the main characteristics of a strategic alliance and the advantages/disadvantages? b. Explain what is a Joint Venture? What are the main characteristics of a joint venture and the advantages/disadvantages?
BCO125 BUSINESS LAW – Task brief & rubrics
Formalities: • Wordcount: From 1000 to 1500 words. • Cover, Table of Contents, References and Appendix are excluded of the total wordcount. • Font: Arial 12,5 pts. • Text alignment: Justified. • You are encouraged to quote relevant publications, such as academic journals and books, case studies or business reports to support your arguments. To
find relevant publications, you may browse through EBSCO (link is on Moodle) and/or Google Scholar, where you’ll find access to many publications. • The in-text References and the Bibliography have to be in Harvard’s citation style.
Assignment Launch: Week 10.
Submission: Week 13 – Via Moodle (Turnitin). Submission will be accepted all Week 13: From the 4th to the 10th of May at 23:59hrs (Barcelona’s time).
Weight: This task is a 40% of your total grade for this subject.
Outcomes: This task assesses the following learning outcomes: • Understand the role of law as a business and management tool. • Identify different issues and laws applicable in the context of doing business. • Examine the different legal approaches and legal tools available for the conduct of business.
Rubrics
Exceptional 90-100
Good 80-89
Fair 70-79
Marginal fail 60-69
Knowledge & Understanding
(20%)
Student demonstrates excellent understanding of key concepts and uses vocabulary in an entirely appropriate manner.
Student demonstrates good understanding of the task and mentions some relevant concepts and demonstrates use of the relevant vocabulary.
Student understands the task and provides minimum theory and/or some use of vocabulary.
Student understands the task and attempts to answer the question but does not mention key concepts or uses minimum amount of relevant vocabulary.
Application (30%)
Student applies fully relevant knowledge from the topics delivered in class.
Student applies mostly relevant knowledge from the topics delivered in class.
Student applies some relevant knowledge from the topics delivered in class. Misunderstanding may be evident.
Student applies little relevant knowledge from the topics delivered in class. Misunderstands are evident.
Evaluation (30%)
Student evaluates the findings in excellent ways, drawing outstanding conclusions and proposing new paths of work.
Student evaluates the findings in a significant manned, drawing some conclusions and proposals.
Student creates a fair report but misses some elements learned in class. Misunderstandings may be evident.
Student creates an incomplete report plan with some important missing elements and/or some irrelevant details.
Communication (20%)
Student communicates their ideas extremely clearly and concisely, respecting word count, grammar and spellcheck
Student communicates their ideas clearly and concisely, respecting word count, grammar and spellcheck
Student communicates their ideas with some clarity and concision. It may be slightly over or under the wordcount limit. Some misspelling errors may be evident.
Student communicates their ideas in a somewhat unclear and unconcise way. Does not reach or does exceed wordcount excessively and misspelling errors are evident.
