Business Law

Business Law

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1. Dispute Resolution

Part I

The negotiation process involves joint decision-making by the business parties with non-identical preferences in the allocation of resources. The negotiation process aims at coming at a central point of understanding for business activity to go through between the parties involved. This process’s importance is to ensure business knowledge and a long-term business relationship (Beatty, 56). There are different stages of the negotiation process before arriving on the agreement. The process first involves preparation for the negotiation by establishing the venue and the key points of discussion. What follows is the discussion whereby each partner puts forward the claims, presenting the case as they see it. In the third stage, each party clarifies the negotiation goals, providing the main viewpoints of disagreement. Negotiation for a win-win outcome is the last stage before reaching an agreement or not.

Part II

Mediation is a dispute resolution method relying on an independent third-party decision-maker, the mediator. This process is important in avoiding a long-term strained relationship and saving time through a quicker conflict resolution method. The stages of the mediation process include;

1. Opening statement by the mediator – the mediator makes an introduction explaining the mediation process’s goals.
2. Opening statement by the parties – The two parties are given time and opportunity to tell their side of the story without interruption, providing their desired solutions to the dispute.
3. Joint Discussion – The mediator guides the discussion between the two disagreeing parties, identifying the key issues to e resolved and addressing the different ways to tackle the issues.
4. Private Caucus – each party, at a private level, meets with the mediator to have an extensive understanding of each party’s claims.
5. Joint Negotiation – The parties enter into a new discussion with the mediator, having the newly discovered insights to guide them in resolving the dispute.
6. The closure is at the point of agreement where the two parties either agree on the conflict’s resolutions or reschedule for another meeting in case of disagreement.

Part III

The arbitration process involves an agreement by the disputing parties to involve one or several individuals to decide over the dispute on receiving their claims. In this process, the third party acts as a judge, not as a mediator. The arbitration process involves the following stages;

1. Initial Pleadings – This happens after the two parties agree on the choice of arbitrator. The attorneys meet the parties to establish the case for each party and their stand on the process of solving the problems. The arbitrator makes sure he or she gets a full understanding of the parties’ goals and objectives.
2. Discovery – The parties establish and track all relevant information, documents, and witnesses needed to win their case in the final hearing. The parties prepare for the final hearing by eliminating unnecessary documents and information to fine-tune their claims.

• Final hearing – At this stage, the parties make their opening statements while submitting their evidence. The panel or arbitrator deliberates on the solution or ruling to the dispute. It is similar to court proceedings.

1. Business Ethics and Social Responsibility

Part I

The area had been hit by catastrophic Katrina, leading to a shortage of gasoline. The gasoline prices shot up due to the high demand eliciting ethical arguments, with many companies being deterred from making the sudden rise of oil prices. In this case, the government is trying to cushion its people from price hikes and the effects of the Katrina catastrophe. In a free market, the supply-demand curve applies, regardless of the situation at hand. The oil companies did not hike the prices because there was a catastrophe, but there was a high demand but shortage of supply. It is ethical to increase a commodity’s prices when the demand is high, and the supply is scarce. It could be unethical if the government supplied the fuel abundantly and at fair prices, and the oil companies hike the prices.

Part II

Corporate responsibility refers to the idea that a business is given the opportunity and privilege to make the world a better place. This process can happen through various methods, including donations of funds, volunteerism, and environmentally friendly policies (Jones 123). It is up to each organization to determine the best way to demonstrate social responsibility.

1. Corporate responsibility is business self-regulation on determining the different ways through which it can be socially accountable to the stakeholders and the general public. Corporate citizenship entails impacting society’s economic, social, or environmental aspects through fund donation, volunteerism, or social policy implementation.
2. The difference between corporate social responsibility and social marketing is that corporate social responsibility is a sustainable, measurable effort of the company towards changing a certain situation in society, without necessarily using the business items. Social marketing uses marketing tools and methods to change people’s socially unacceptable behaviors or attitudes.
3. Social responsibility for corporate business has several benefits. Some of the benefits include;
4. Improved investors’ perception – A company that invests in the people attracts more attention from the investors than the one playing business. Attracting positive perceptions from the investors is again in business.
5. Talent attraction – On social responsibility events, some companies offer many incentives and goodies to their volunteers and workers. This attracts the best cream of talented workers who, apart from the salary, they are pulled by the adventurous activities.
6. The benevolent halo effect – The more business becomes socially responsible, the better its business image becomes. During social responsibility activities, society gets time to bond with the company team, perceiving its products or services, and the public company differently and positively.

1. Criminal Law

Part I

1. White-collar crime is a non-violent crime that is financially motivated by professionals and business owners. The violation of trust characterizes this type of crime through fraud, identity theft, wage theft, and forgery.
2. There are three main types of business crimes.
3. Ponzi Schemes – these are pyramid schemes that promise the investors low-risk investments with very high returns. The new investors pay the older investors in a chain of investments but end up being a scam.
4. Larceny and Embezzlement – Larceny involves taking personal property or business of another person unlawfully. On the other hand, embezzlement occurs when they take money or item of value and then fail to return or account for it.
   1. Environmental Crimes – These are crimes against the environmental conservation Acts that protect the environment from air, water, and soil pollution, among other environmental injustices.

Part II

1. In this case, about Bill being lured by the police into a cocaine business, Bill has the right to track all the communications that he has had with the police before the exact date of his arrest. This will show his innocence in the business. Secondly, the cocaine was with the police officer, not the other way round. The owner of the cocaine was the officer, while Bill owned the money. This is a piece of evidence against his case.
2. The United States laws prohibit any company within its borders from giving bribes to earn contracts or favors in and out of the country. Tectonics Corporation gave bribes to a statesman in Nigeria to win a contract, which is a crime according to the United States constitution.

Work Cited

Beatty, Jeffrey F., Susan S. Samuelson, and Patricia Abril. Essentials of Business Law. Cengage Learning, 2018.

Jones, Lucy. Introduction to business law. Oxford University Press, USA, 2019.

Valbrune, Mirande, and Renee De Assis. “[eTextbook] Business Law I Essentials.” (2019).