BUSINESS CONTINUITY IN LIGHT OF THE CORONAVIRUS DISRUPTION—A GROUP EXERCISE
by Nanci K. Carr
KEY WORDS: LEARNER-CENTERED INSTRUCTION, BUSINESS CONTINUITY, CRISIS MANAGEMENT
ABSTRACT:
The coronavirus and variants continue to sweep the world, adversely affecting individuals, schools and businesses. As the pandemic began, global communities were plagued by a lack of supplies, canceled travel and events, and an almost instantaneous economic decline. While we may typically teach disruption in the context of new technologies, the disruption caused by the coronavirus is an excellent opportunity to teach business continuity. In a business law context, we can highlight that clients all over the world are contacting their attorneys for advice on how to keep their businesses running until the crisis is resolved, and engage in an exercise based upon an actual client request.
LAW IN THE TIME OF CORONAVIRUS: HOW AND WHY TO COVER COVID-19 DISRUPTIONS IN A BUSINESS LAW OR LEGAL ENVIRONMENT COURSE
by Tonia Hap Murphy
KEY WORDS: BUSINESS LAW, PEDAGOGY, TRAUMATIC EVENTS, PANDEMIC, COVID-19, LAW AND STRATEGY, QUARANTINE AND DUE PROCESS, FRAUD, NEGLIGENCE, TRADEMARK DILUTION, CONTRACTS, FORCE MAJEURE, MATERIAL ADVERSE EFFECTS
ABSTRACT:
The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic presented an array of legal challenges for businesses. Students have a natural interest in relating the virus that has upended their lives to classroom material. This article contains guidance and several detailed exercises for covering coronavirus-related issues in Business Law/Legal Environment courses. The links to over fifty resources, including video clips, court rulings, government and law firm advisories, news reports, law reviews, company press releases and actual contracts,enable professors to incorporate coverage of the pandemic in a knowledgeable, sensitive and effective manner—integrating legal concepts with broader practical and strategic questions.
GETTING OUR HANDS DIRTY: MAKING THE PROBLEM OF DIRTY HANDS WORK FOR US
by Barry Sharpe
KEY WORDS: ETHICAL THEORY, PEDAGOGY, DIRTY HANDS, MORAL REMAINDERS
ABSTRACT:
Business ethics instructors looking for a different way to explore ethical theory with students may want to consider the problem of “dirty hands.” The traditional approach to introducing ethics to students—a parade of ethical theory from utilitarianism to deontology to virtue ethics, etc.—may inadvertently lead to a distorted view of ethical landscapes that obscures the messiness of ethical decision making. The problem of dirty hands presents a different frame for discussing moral conflict, dilemmas, agency, justification, responsibility, moral injury and moral costs.
THE RIVER OF CASE LAW AND THE ENGAGEMENT RING
by Nancy J. White
KEY WORDS: BUSINESS LAW PEDAGOGY, CASE LAW, COMMON LAW, GIFTS, COURT SYSTEMS, PERSONAL PROPERTY
ABSTRACT:
This Article presents a short lecture, a reading, and an in-class exercise designed to efficiently teach students how case law is made in a typical court system.[1] The content is based on an analogy to a river. Cases go upstream in the river of case law, starting from the trial court, moving to the appeal court and finally to a supreme court. Law, as compared to cases, flows downriver in the river of case law. That is, law from an appeal court is put into the river of law but flows downriver (is precedent for) only to the courts below that appellate court. Law from a supreme court is put into the river at the headwater and flows down into all of the courts in the system and is therefore precedent for all of the courts in the system.
[1] Permission granted to educators to use, copy, and modify as desired, no attribution necessary; however, no commercial use may be made.
SPEAKING THEIR LANGUAGE: ASSIGNING INFOGRAPHICS AND VIDEOS AS “DIGITAL DELIVERABLES” TO TEACH LEGAL ENVIRONMENT OF BUSINESS STUDENTS ABOUT SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY
by Susan L. Willey and Cheryl Black
KEY WORDS: SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY, DIGITAL LITERACY ASSIGNMENTS, PROTECTED WORKER SPEECH, GENERATION Z LEARNING PREFERENCES
ABSTRACT:
This article describes an innovative, engaging and versatile social media project that can be completed in a traditional, hybrid, or online format. The project requires students to analyze a corporate social media policy, summarize its key provisions in an infographic, create a “training” video that depicts an employee confronting a social media issue, and determine whether employees have violated the company policy in two scenarios. The project builds on the preferences of our tech savvy Generation Z students for audio and video learning and problem-based learning activities by providing them the opportunity to create and share “digital deliverables” that demonstrate what they have learned.