Project 1: Introduction to the Legal Environment of Business
Step 3: Review Case One: Blue Mood Clothing, Inc.

Now that you’ve finished your skills gap analysis and GAP survey, you take some time to collect your thoughts and review the first case Vice President Dodger assigned to you. First, you need an introduction to the legal environment of business. Next, you open the Blue Mood Clothing, Inc. case file to assess the details of this assignment.

Upon completing your initial review of the file, you begin thinking about the legal issues contained in the file. In the next step,

Project 1: Introduction to the Legal Environment of Business
Step 4: Gather and Analyze Information

As you read through the materials, try to begin answering the questions Vice President Dodger asked you. You will likely encounter many new legal concepts, so take notes about which sections apply to this case so that you can easily refer back to them when you begin to write your presentation. The VP’s precise questions about the legal issues are as follows:

• Can Colossal Corporation terminate Alex without any notice or a hearing? Why or why not? This question relates to employment-at-will.
• Did Alex, Nick, Bill, or Juanita commit any crimes and, if so, which crimes did each person commit? Fully explain your answer for each person as you explore the subject of business criminal law.
• What defenses, if any, might the relevant persons allege in response to the crimes you identified? Fully explain your answer for each person.
• Did Alex, Nick, Bill, or Juanita commit any intentional torts and, if so, which intentional torts did each person commit? Read about the law of tortsin order to make your determinations.
• What defenses, if any, might the relevant persons allege in response to the intentional torts you identified? Fully explain your answer for each person.
• Can anyone collect damages for the intentional torts? Who can collect and whom would they sue? Detail the specific damages that may be available to potential plaintiffs as you read about tort damages.

In the next step, you will formalize your thoughts so that they are ready to put into your presentation.

Project 1: Introduction to the Legal Environment of Business
Step 5: Focus on Your Rationale and Conclusions: Create Your Outline

You’ve finished your research. You’ve reflected on how the facts and the law come together in this situation. You’ve analyzed the possible arguments and determined which seem most reasonable. Now it is time to formulate these arguments, addressing all the issues raised by the narrative in the Blue Mood Clothing, Inc. case file Vice President Dodger gave you.

Outline your presentation to the leadership team, either on paper or in a Word document; don’t make the PowerPoint yet. Review your outline to make certain it covers all relevant points and progresses in a logical order. Identify the major bullet points that you will highlight on your slides, and allocate the appropriate supporting information to each bullet point—make sure that you have adequately covered all the relevant arguments or reasons needed to support them. In the next step, you’ll use your outline to create the PowerPoint presentation for the VP.

Project 1: Introduction to the Legal Environment of Business
Step 6: Communicate Your Findings and Conclusions to the Vice President of Colossal Corporation: Create Your PowerPoint

You have finished getting all of your ideas organized surrounding the Blue Mood Clothing case when you receive an email with delivery instructions from Vice President Dodger:

INBOX (1 NEW EMAIL)

From: Kenneth Dodger, Vice President, Colossal Corporation

To: You

Just wanted to check in as you begin to communicate your findings and conclusions on the Blue Mood Clothing case.

I’d like you to use your outline and research notes from your work on this case to prepare a narrated PowerPoint for the senior leadership team. As you will not deliver this in person, it will need to follow the form of an asynchronous presentation.

Further, here is a list of additional requirements I need you to follow to meet standard presentation protocol:

• Include a title slide, with your name on it, introducing the presentation.
• On the presentation slides, include only the major bullet points for each issue.
• Include no more than 20 slides.
• Use your narration to provide the supporting rationale for each major bullet point.
• Include a script of your narration in the notes section of the PowerPoint.
• Title your files using this protocol: yourlastname_BlueMoodPowerPoint_date.
• The final slide must present a clear summary of your major conclusions and any recommendations.

You should be prepared to answer questions about your presentation after you have submitted it. That should be all for now.

Looking forward to seeing the final product,

Ken

Project 1: Introduction to the Legal Environment of Business
Step 7: Review Case Two: Carz Bazaar

Feeling proud of your growing knowledge of business law and your work on the Blue Mood Clothing case, you move on to your next assignment. You open the Carz Bazaar case file to review the facts of the situation.

Once you have fully assessed the situation in the Carz Bazaar case, proceed to the next step, where you will gather the information you need to analyze the legal questions of the case.

Project 1: Introduction to the Legal Environment of Business
Step 8: Gather and Analyze Information

As you read through the materials, try to begin answering the questions posed below.

You will likely encounter many new legal concepts, so take notes about which sections apply to this case so that you can easily refer back to them when you begin to write your analysis.

In all legal cases, there are disputes about the facts and the law. In this case, we can assume the facts stated in our case file are accurate, so we just need to decide what law applies and how the law can be interpreted to support the plaintiffs’ and defendant’s arguments. The issue of who caused the accident has been settled. Wilson caused the accident, so the issue before us is whether Wilson’s employer can be held responsible for his actions.

• What are the arguments in favor of the plaintiffs (the accident victims)?
• What are the arguments in favor of the defendant (Carz Bazaar)?

Read about legal responsibilities of agents and employees to help you answer these questions.

In the next step, you’ll formalize your thoughts so that they are ready to put into your presentation.

Project 1: Introduction to the Legal Environment of Business
Step 9: Create and Submit Your Legal Analysis

As you begin to finalize your findings from the Carz Bazaar case, you receive an email from Vice President Dodger:

INBOX (1 NEW EMAIL)

From: Kenneth Dodger, Vice President, Colossal Corporation

To: You

Good to see your continued progress on these cases.

As you prepare to submit your findings for the Carz Bazaar incident, I wanted to give you some clear delivery instructions.

As in the previous case, I’d like you to use your outline and research notes from your work on this case to prepare your written analysis.

Maintaining company procedure, I’d also like you to meet the following requirements for this deliverable:

• Please divide your analysis into two parts: Part I: Arguments for the Plaintiffs and Part II: Arguments for the Defendant.
• Support your conclusion with references to legal principles and laws. Cite references to course materials and cases using APA format.
• The analysis should be no more than seven pages (double spaced, 12-point font; the reference list does not count towards the page limit).
• Title your file using this protocol: yourlastname_CarzBazaar _date.

Following this submission, I would like you to participate in a discussion with your fellow Colossal Company colleagues to see if we can reach a consensus about the winner of this case.

I hope your work to this point has been rewarding. I’ve always found that consideration and appreciation of ethical practice in a global market is the key to successful business.

Best,

Ken

Project 1: Introduction to the Legal Environment of Business
Step 10: Discuss Carz Bazaar Case Outcome

Discussion with Colleagues

After your careful analysis of the case in the previous steps, Vice President Dodger would like your opinion on the likely outcome of the case if it were to be brought to court and decided by a judge. Provide a full legal analysis and explanation for the outcome you expect. Discuss your opinion with your colleagues so the VP can evaluate any consensus in the assessment of the facts.

Go to the discussion entitled Carz Bazaar, and create a new topic entitled “Carz Bazaar [insert your last name].” Decide in favor of either the plaintiffs or defendant and explain why you made this decision. To complete this step, post your own decision, read the opinions of your classmates, and respond to at least two of your classmates’ postings. These posts can be as long or as short as you need in order to effectively make your points. See MBA Discussion Guidelines before you begin.