Courses
Business Law and Ethics
- BUS–L 100 Personal Law (3 cr.) Effects of law on everyday lives. Topics may include family law, criminal offenses and traffic violations, personal injury and property damage claims, employee rights, landlord-tenant law, consumer rights, debt collection, selected real and personal property issues, wills and estates, selected contract law issues, and forms of business organization (partnership, proprietorship, and corporation).
- BUS–L 201 Legal Environment of Business (3 cr.) P: Sophomore standing. L201 is an I-Core prerequisite that is required of all business majors. Emphasis on understanding the nature of law through examining a few areas of general interest, such as the duty to avoid harming others (torts), the duty to keep promises (contracts), and government regulation of business. Credit not given for both L201 and L293.
- BUS–L 255 Topics in Business Law & Ethics (1–3 cr.) Variable topics course dealing with current legal issues and trends in Business Law and Ethics.
- BUS-L 271 Global Business Analysis (1.5 cr, 8 wks) P: BUS-D 270 with a grade of C or higher. Students apply the country analysis skills, learned in BUS-D 270 Global Business Foundations, to a specific country or region. Many Kelley departments offer versions of this course. This means that, while all versions focus on business analysis, each could emphasize a different field of business and/or region of the world.
- BUS-L 272 Global Business Immersion (3 cr, 8 wks plus travel) P: BUS-D 270 with a grade of C or higher, additional department consent required. The Global Business Immersion course includes international travel. It extends the knowledge gained in Global Business Environment, D270 and concentrates directly on the management of multinational firms. Sample Topics:
- Business and Human Rights in South Africa: Students examine businesses’ role in protecting human rights and remedying abuses, and learn to analyze a human rights crisis and recommend a course of action.
- The Business of Medicine in Australia: Discover the legal and ethical issues of the business of medicine from an Australian perspective.
- BUS–L 293 Honors Legal Environment of Business (3 cr.) P: Sophomore standing or Hutton Honors College freshman and admission to Hutton Honors College or Business Honors program. L293 satisfies the L201 prerequisite for I-Core that is required of all business majors. Emphasis on understanding the nature of law through examining a few areas of general interest, such as the duty to avoid harming others (torts), the duty to keep promises (contracts), and government regulation of business. Credit not given for both L293 and L201.
- BUS-L 302 Sustainability Law & Policy (3 cr.) P: Sophomore standing required. The primary aim of the course is to provide students with a basic working knowledge of sustainability generally and environmental law and policy in particular, focusing on the United States but put in a global perspective. The course is designed to give students a deeper sense of the important relationship between law, ethics, business, and the natural environment and to encourage them to think critically about how best to manage these relationships. Core course content includes U.S. statutes, regulations, and international treaties dealing with managing waste, air and water pollution, public lands, and global environmental resources. Alternative ways of addressing environmental problems, such as market-based incentives, information disclosure requirements, and voluntary programs will also be considered.
- BUS-L 304 Critical Thinking, Decision Making, and Advocacy (1.5) P: BUS-L 201 or BUS-L 293 with a grade of C or higher. This course will improve students’ ability to understand and evaluate their own and others’ reasoning, which will develop their capacity to construct, advocate, and defend strong arguments in the business context.
- BUS-L 305: Business Planning and Corporate Law (1.5 cr.) P: BUS-L 201 or BUS-L 293 with a grade of C or higher. This course examines the law governing business organizations--partnerships, corporations, limited liability companies, and others--and the social policy underlying the law. The primary focus is on corporations, including such topics as fundamental corporate transactions and the role, rights, powers and duties of the various corporate actors.
- BUS-L 310 Law of Personal Financial Planning (3 cr.) P: BUS-L 201 or BUS-L 293 with a grade of C or higher. The study of the law related to financial planning, including the rights and duties of owners of personal property and the rights and duties of debtors and creditors affecting the decsions of business managers, accounting professionals, financial and investment executives, and financial planning advisors.
- BUS–L 311 Law for Entrepreneurs (3 cr.) P: BUS-L 201 or BUS-L 293 with a grade of C or higer. Focuses on legal issues affecting new and growing businesses. Topics include choosing a legal form for the business; financing-related legal issues; avoiding employment-related liability; contracts and sales; marketing and intellectual property laws; and legal issues concerning business sales, mergers, acquisitions, and liquidations.
- BUS–L 312 The Ethical Responsibilities of Business (3 cr.) P: BUS-L 201 or BUS-L 293 with a grade of C or higher. This course is designed to help students develop their abilities to identify and address real world ethical dilemmas. The course is case-based, with discussions focusing primarily on ethical situations that confront individuals engaged in business. Topics covered include honesty, privacy, diversity/ discrimination, harassment, free speech, whistle-blowing, intellectual property rights, ethics in finance, ethics in marketing, corporate social responsibility, globalization, and ethics in international business. L312 satisfied the Business Law & Ethics (L375) graduation requirement. Credit not given for both L312 and (L375 or L376).
- BUS-L 313 Cultural Norms and Peace Building through Business (3 cr.) P: Sophomore standing required or Hutton Honors College student or Business Honors student. This course examines the cultural touchstones of sports, religion, music, and film to develop a better understanding of the cultural norms that inform culture and that also provide ways for cultures to find common ground, especially in business.
- BUS-L 314 International Business Law (3 cr.) P: BUS-L 201 or BUS-L 293 with a grade of C or higher. The law and practice of international trade, licensing, and investment. Subjects include the legal risks of international business, international public law, international organizations, and private dispute settlement procedures, the risks associated with importing and emporting, foreign licensing and franchising, and foreign investment.
- BUS–L 315 The Business and Law of Entertainment and Sports (3 cr.) P: BUS-L 201 or BUS-L 293 with a grade of C or higher. L315 explores the legal and practical problems facing executives managing for-profit enterprises in or related to the entertainment and sports industry. Focusing primarily on legal issues, yet necessarily addressing collateral business issues, L315 considers the law affecting the decisions of executives in entertainment companies, including motion picture studios, television broadcasters, and music companies. It also covers the law affecting decisions of executives in sports franchises, leagues, and associations. More importantly, L315 studies the law affecting transactions between businesses with contractual or other relationships with athletes, entertainers, sports franchises, leagues, athletic associations, and entertainment companies, including especially corporate sponsors, manufacturers of licensed apparel, and equipment manufacturers, in addition to owners of stadiums and arenas. The law of intellectual property (including copyright, trademark, and right of publicity), government regulation, labor and employment law, financing alternatives, antitrust, and business ethics are emphasized.
- BUS-L 318 Business and Poverty Alleviation (3 cr.) P: Sophmore standing or higher. Addresses potential for business to create poverty solutions by accessing the market of the world's poorest five billion (i.e., developing products and services that are high-volume, low-margin profitable, and engage the poor as consumers and producers) and investigates causes of poverty, including influence of corporations in perpetuating root causes.
- BUS–L 355 Topics in Business Law & Ethics (1-3 cr.) Variable topics course dealing with current legal issues and trendsin Business Law and Ethics.
- BUS-L 356 Intellectual Property Law & Strategy in a Global Environment (3 cr.) P: BUS-L 201 or BUS-L 293 with a grade of C or higher. The course introduces students to the concept of intellectual property (trade secrets, patents, copyrights, trademarks), which accounts for more than two-thirds of the value of large U.S. businesses. It explores the basic framework of legal protection for intellectual property under U.S. and international law, as well as free competition and free speech doctrines that limit the protection of intellectual property and define the boundary between fair and unfair competition.
- BUS-L 360 Topics in Business Ethics (1.5 cr.) P: BUS-L 312 or BUS-L 375 or BUS-L 376. This course provides an in-depth exploration of a particular dimension or issue in business ethics. The focus of the course will vary from semester to semester. Students may repeat BUS-L 360 for credit so long as the topics differ. Sample topics:
- White-Collar Crime and Corporate Ethics
- Ethics & Law in Fashion
- BUS–L 375 Ethics and the 21st Century Business Leader (3 cr.) P or C: BUS-L 201 or BUS-L 293 with a grade of C or higher and Junior standing. This course is a graduation requirement for all Kelley majors. The course is designed to enhance students’ awareness of the ethical dimensions of business decisions and their ability to make reasoned judgments about them. It provides students with basic tools of ethical reasoning and the opportunity to practice these skills and reflect on their responses to ethical dilemmas. Credit not given for both L375 and (L376 or L312).
- BUS–L 376 Ethics and the 21st Century Business Leader: Honors (3 cr.) P or C: BUS-L 201 or BUS-L 293 with a grade of C or higher, admission to the Hutton Honors College or the Business Honors Program, and Junior standing. L376 is the honors version of L375, a graduation requirement for all Kelley majors. The course is designed to enhance students’ awareness of the ethical dimensions of business decisions and their ability to make reasoned judgments about them. It provides students with basic tools of ethical reasoning and the opportunity to practice these skills and reflect on their responses to ethical dilemmas. Credit not given for both L376 and (L375 or L312).
- BUS–L 408 Real Estate Law (3 cr.) P: BUS-L 201 or BUS-L 293 with a grade of C or higher. Legal problems related to ownership and transfer of real property; attention to landlord-tenant law and the tools of land-use planning (nuisance law, zoning, private restrictions, subdivision control, and eminent domain).
- BUS-L 413 Applied Dispute Resolution (1.5 cr.) P: BUS-L 304 or BUS-L 305. This Law, Ethics & Decision Making capstone course builds upon the argumentation and persuasion skills and the legal and ethical frameworks gained in previous coursework. Through a series of applied exercises, it develops and hones students' skills in legal research, negotiation, written and oral advocacy, and dispute resolution.
- BUS–L 455 Topics in Business Law & Ethics (1–3 cr.) Variable topics course dealing with current legal issues and trends in Business Law and Ethics.
- BUS–L 490 Independent Study in Business Law (1–3 cr.) P: Consent of department chairperson and of the instructor. Supervised individual study and research in student’s special field of interest. The student will propose the investigation desired and, in conjunction with the instructor, develop the scope of work to be completed. Comprehensive written report required.
