BUSINESS LAW

Laws touching employment

1. What is the employment at will doctrine? Does it exist in California?    Name 4 exceptions to the at will doctrine.    Tell me what might create an implied contract, and what some public policies are that might prevent the at will doctrine.

2. Tell me the factors that determine whether you are an employee or independent contractor.  

3. Tell me 5 things required by the FLSA

1. Based on your studies in this course, use relevant examples to differentiate between the leader-driven and the employee-driven leadership decision making styles.

Clayton Christensen was the pioneer of 'disruptive innovation’ and the prominent management thinker whose ideas on technology had a big influence on some of today's largest companies. His work describes how innovation can create new markets, value networks, and eventually disrupts an existing market and the way industry functions. Christensen et al. (2015) describes how the theory of disruptive innovation has proved to be a powerful way of thinking about innovation-driven growth. With reference to the Christensen et al. (2015) article (available on Blackboard) on “What is disruptive innovation”, evaluate how organisations manage disruptive digital technologies. In your essay you should also: • Describe the concept of ‘disruptive innovation’. • Appraise the key criteria for disruptive innovation. • Evaluate the opportunities for organisations leading disruptive innovation in mature markets. • Critique the challenges typically experienced by organisations in responding to the threat of disruptive innovation. • Provide examples and references to other cases and articles to support your answer where appropriate.  

1. Decision making is a crucial activity performed by every leader where he/she will choose a course of action to deal with a problem or an opportunity. Use relevant examples to explain the various leadership roles in decision-making.

Amy Lloyd is interested in leasing a new Honda and has contacted three automobile dealers for pricing information. Each dealer offered Amy a closed-end 36-month lease with no down payment due at the time of signing. Each lease includes a monthly charge and a mileage allowance. Additional miles receive a surcharge on a per-mile basis. The monthly lease cost, the mileage allowance, and the cost for additional miles follow:

Amy decided to choose the lease option that will minimize her total 36-month cost. The difficulty is that Amy is not sure how many miles she will drive over the next three years. For purposes of this decision, she believes it is reasonable to assume that she will drive 12,000 miles per year, 15,000 miles per year, or 18,000 miles per year. With this assumption Amy estimated her total costs for the three lease options. For example, she figures that the Hepburn Honda lease will cost her 36($299) + $0.15(36,000 - 36,000) = $10,764 if she drives 12,000 miles per year, 36($299) + $0.15(45,000 - 36,000) = $12,114 if she drives 15,000 miles per year, or 36($299) + $0.15(54,000 - 36,000) = $13,464 if she drives 18,000 miles per year.

What type of interview would you use in each of the following situations, and why? A market research project? A research project seeking to understand whether trade union attitudes have changed? Following the analysis of a questionnaire?

Robert left his position as commercial airline pilot to undertake his duties in the Marine Reserves for a tour of duty in Iraq. When he returns home a year later, his employer apologetically tells him that they filled his position during his absence and they “will call” when something comes available. They also express concern about his ability to fly commercial jets because he has not flown in the last year. What legal recourse does Robert have, if any?

1. Using relevant examples, explain the five leader styles described the Normative Model of Leadership as they relate to participation during the decision-making process.

Through our lesson, we learned that tragic events distract people from their normal ethical stance. Why do you think this is the case? Bring forward a tragic event that has happened in your lifetime as an example. For purposes of a diverse discussion here, bring forward different examples.

1. Developing a workforce schedule (using Linear Programming to model and solve this problem)

A local bank needs the minimum number of employees needed for each day of the week listed in the following table. If a staff is hired, his/her schedule will be working 5 consecutive days and take two days off. The bank operates seven days a week.

So how will you help the bank hire the staffs?

This is a discussion on the global effect of international trade

1. What do you see as the effect of increased trade tariffs on imports for retail trade in the US?
2. Do you see an increase or decrease in goods being imported to US retail trade?
3. Will profits be increasing or decreasing in the near future?

You cannot see other posts until you have made one.

Describe various company strategies to manage government intervention.

The XYZ Corporation has decided to open all mail sent to employees who work in the field. A memorandum was sent to the field staff saying, “Sorry, your mail will be either opened or returned to the sender if it is delivered to your workplace. If the sender is from a healthcare organization, it will be opened to determine if its contents relate to XYZ’s business. If the mail is from any other per- son or place, it will be returned unopened to the sender. This action is necessary from a cost-savings standpoint. XYZ cannot afford to forward the aver- age of 60 pieces of mail that it receives each month addressed to field staff.” What happens to opened mail that is not XYZ’s business remains a mystery. What is it that drives an organization to make such decisions? Is it fear of competition, paranoia, distrust, or some other hid- den issue? The answer remains elusive. Although it is legal for an organization to open all mail before sorting and delivering it, employees should be told that they should have no expectation of privacy and that they should not have anything personal sent to work that they do not want others to see. Managers should not open an employee’s mail indiscriminately; such invasion of privacy will undermine employee moral.

1. Discuss under what circumstances an organization should open an employee’s mail. 2. Discuss any legal and ethical concerns (e.g., right to privacy). 3. What should happen to the mail of an employee that is opened but is not intended for the organization? What if that information is confidential in nature and is shared with others? 4. What safeguards should organizations put into place to protect personal information?

Managers and employees have long expressed dislike and skepticism about performance appraisal, as it is typically practiced in organizations. Some HR practitioners and consultants, such as Samuel Culbert, have advocated getting rid of the standard performance appraisal programs. Culbert has suggested that the arguments typically given for performance appraisal are invalid and, in a word, “bogus.”  

a. Describe two arguments or reasons that are typically given in support of formal performance appraisals.

b. Then explain why Culbert and others who are skeptical of performance appraisal believe these arguments are weak or bogus.

c. Explain your perspective on whether performance appraisals are necessary, and why or why not. If you believe they are not necessary, explain what procedures, if any, you would recommend to fulfill the functions that performance appraisals are said to fulfill.

William Soerries was the sole shareholder of Chickasaw Club, Inc., which operated a popular nightclub of the same name in Columbus, Georgia. Soerries maintained corporate checking accounts, but he paid his employees, suppliers, and entertainers in cash out of the club's proceeds. He owned the property on which the club was located and rented it to the club, but he made the mortgage payments out of the club's proceeds. Soerries often paid corporate expenses out of his personal funds. At 11:45pm on July 31, 1996, eighteen-year-old Aubrey Lynn Pursley, who was already intoxicated, entered the Chickasaw club. A city ordinance prohibited individuals under the age of twenty-one from entering nightclubs, but Chickasaw employees did not check Pursley's identification. Pursley drank more alcohol and was visibly intoxicated when she left the club at 3:00am with a beer in her hand. Shortly afterward, Pursley was killed when she lost control of her car and struck a tree. Joseph Dancause, Pursley's stepfather, filed a suit in a Georgia state court against Chickasaw Club, Inc. and Soerries for damages. Can Soerries be held personally liable? If so, on what basis?