SBM2501 Business Law and Due Diligence Assignment Brief Introduction Students need to conduct their project work in their units of study to develop their competencies and contribute to the development of best practice models applicable to marketing and business communications. It is planned to use real life organisations as the site of learning for this unit of study. The benefits of this approach are as follows: • Learning is reality based • The outcomes of learning is a tangible intellectual asset • Students learn valuable workplace knowledge Summary In this unit, you will undertake a group assignment. As a group, you will select a case project in your field of interest. It is anticipated that you will use a ‘real life’ project as a vehicle for learning. This case project will have 3 milestones, in the form of assessments that need to be submitted. 1. Literature Review – due Sunday 9th April 2017 2. Research Methodology – due Sunday 7th May 2017 3. Business Law and Due Diligence Plan – Sunday 21st May 2017 Scope or focus of the Learning Projects The focus of this group assignment is on changes in government policies, rules and laws, and how it impacts business. Your group will need to examine how one recent (past, current or pending) change in government position will impact on the business you have selected for the case project. This government change can be from Australia or overseas. You will need to consider all aspects of the business that will be affected, explain how it will be affected (negatively and positively), and suggest how the business could most efficiently and cost effectively transition to comply with the new government policy, rules and laws. What changes will the business need to implement, what time frame is required and what resources will be needed, are just some of the many questions you will need to address. Ultimately your research should lead to a final written report (Business Law and Due Diligence Plan) to the Executives/Directors of the business advising how best to approach this government change, with the least disruption to business-as usual. Examples of changes in government policies, rules or laws are: • Lock out laws http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/lockout-last-drinks-laws-relaxed-after-review-20161207-gt6f21.html • Cut in Sunday penalty rates for staff http://www.news.com.au/national/breaking-news/pm-tries-to-explain-penalty-rate-decision/news-story/2f8a342cd031c90c69cf7adbe7249cbe • Legalisation of Uber and impact on the Taxi industry http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-17/uber-x-legalised-in-nsw-under-government-proposals/7037600 • Backpackers Tax https://www.ato.gov.au/newsroom/smallbusiness/employers/changes-to-the--backpacker-tax-/ • Greyhound racing ban http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-11/greyhound-racing-ban-bill-passed-by-nsw-upper-house/7718580 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-11/greyhound-ban-baird-government-confirms-backflip/7921000 • Rupee demonization http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/pm-modis-address-to-the-nation/liveblog/55315325.cms • USA travel ban http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38798588 These are just suggestions, you can pick any recent, current or pending government change to policy, rules and laws that you think will relevantly impact on your chosen business. You can pick a change that is nationwide (such as Sunday penalty rates) or state specific (such as legalising Uber) or international (such as the USA travel ban). In this unit of study the scope comprises the following activities: 1. Establishing clear and concise project objectives – select a case organisation within an Australian or overseas jurisdiction where legal research in respect of relevant laws could be conducted efficiently (Refer to Figure 1: Start-Up). You will need to submit a Team Workplan prior to completion of your Literature Review. This is a preliminary task. 2. Conduct a Literature review of the government change you have identified. This may involve reading the legislation and explanatory material, relevant committee reports and lobby documents. You may wish to examine similar government policy changes in other countries, and how industry implemented the change. What difficulties did organizations’ face and how long was the implementation process. Research the different business law and social issues this government change will affect. Consider how you could manage these issues from the perspective of an enterprise or a business unit or a major functional department in a major organisation (Assignment 1). 3. Distillation of key issues/theories reviewed in the literature and of the best practices in business law and due diligence management that the team considers to be suitable to the case organisation. Develop a conceptual model by critiquing and analysing relevant laws in relation to the business – topics should include at least 2 or more of the following areas of law: (1) Business Structures, Partnerships and Corporations; (2) Business Related Offences and Ethics; (3) Torts; (4) Contract Law; (5) Sale of Goods and Australian Consumer Laws; (6) Property Laws, Leases and Intellectual Property (Assignment 1). 4. Develop a research methodology to demonstrate how data will be collected in the case organisation. Use the selected best practice model developed in assignment 1 (conceptual model) as the basis to review the current business law and due diligence management practices in the case organization and their ability to comply with the new government policy, rule or law. Once the current practices are identified, apply the MIRAT system for solving legal problems – all arguments are to be supported by cases and legislations properly cited by using Australian Legal Citation (Assignment 2). 5. In this assignment the team is to address areas of law that are found to be inconsistent with prescribed laws within the market/industry and demonstrate the risks/costs to business as a result of breaches. Critique and analyse relevant laws in relation to the case organisation using the MIRAT system and Australian Legal Citation, and further develop a revised business law and due diligence plan for the case organisation (Assignment 3). 6. Present your business law and due diligence plan and your entire project work (Final Assessment) To be successful in the conduct of this assignment you need to identify a suitable case project/organisation (from any industry sector) which is prepared to supply you with the information on their business law and due diligence practices. The case project/organisation does not have to be a large organisation or an entire corporation; it can be a business unit or an arm of a large organisation or a major functional department within a large organisation. The most important criterion for its selection is that it should be acting as a more-or-less autonomous unit, including having its own organisation structure. If the selected case project/organisation outsources its business then it is not necessarily a good candidate organisation for the study of business law and due diligence. In such cases it is best to focus on the contractor organisation that has contracted to conduct the work on behalf of the client organisation. Figure 1 shows the scope of your team project graphically. You will only need to complete 3 major activities in a structured manner (activity 3 and 4 are combined). This brief needs to be read in conjunction with the information published in the SBM2501 website. As may be noted, students will conduct their work in teams and should manage their own IP (not sharing their work with others). Figure 1: Approach to the conduct of learning project in this unit of study   Terms of Reference (TOR) The assignment should be executed through a quality-managed process (as per your Team QA/Workplan) following all the requirements spelt out in the website of SBM2501 within the permitted duration. Each team develops and submits their own work in MS Word format. Please keep your own separate copies (please note that the College will keep a copy of all submissions for examination purposes and may use such submissions in manners deemed appropriate by the College for educational purposes pursuant to the College’s Intellectual Property Policy published on the College website). A marked copy of the electronic version will be sent back to each team to provide feedback on the work submitted. For this reason all electronic submissions should be in Word or a compatible format. The final submission should include a single page qualification statement in the form of a table that gives reference to where each item of the requirements of the assignment has been addressed and if the submitted Report complies with all the requirements; if not why not. Your business law and due diligence plan must be based on sound research and well justified in terms of conceptual studies. Teams should avoid superficial adoption of the methodologies found in different standards or source documents. The idea is for the teams to show a degree of freshness in tailoring concepts to suit application or coming up with a really optimum solution to the challenge under consideration. Submissions 1-3 need to be designed to build up and easily consolidate to form the final submission for the unit of study under consideration. Your Team QA/Workplan needs to be included as an appendix to the main report. The final submission should be ideally 50-70 pages in size. Its Table of Contents should be similar to that included below. (Please note that the suggested table of contents is a notional one provided for guidance only; your team needs to research and design its own table of contents as variations are expected depending on the case project, host/client organisation and industry sector under consideration.)   Cover page – Project Title (e.g. Business Law and Due Diligence for XXX Case Project/Organisation) Executive summary (approx 1 page) Table of Contents Chapter 1 – Introduction and Overview (Start-Up – approx 10 pages) 1.1 Project Background 1.2 Project Objective(s) 1.3 Project Problem/Research Question 1.4 Project Justification 1.5 Outcome(s)/Benefits 1.6 Team QA/Work-plan 1.7 Declarations and Ethical Considerations 1.8 Assumptions and Constraints 1.9 Summary Chapter 2 - Literature Review (Assignment 1 – approx 20 pages) 2.1 Literature on business law and due diligence practices (perceived to be applicable to the case project/organisation) – research and documentation of best practice model for business law and due diligence management from the perspective of an enterprise or a business unit or a major functional department in a major organisation 2.2 Review industry best practice models where available – distillation of key issues/theories reviewed in the literature and of the best practices in business law and due diligence management that the team considers to be suitable to the case organisation 2.3 Develop a conceptual model of the key issues or theories – to consider when developing your Project Plan topics should include at least 2 or more of the following areas of law: (1) Business Structures, Partnerships and Corporations; (2) Business Related Offences and Ethics; (3) Torts; (4) Contract Law; (5) Sale of Goods and Australian Consumer Laws; (6) Property Laws, Leases and Intellectual Property 2.4 Outline of review methodology to gather project data – consider legal research within the relevant jurisdictions, sources of law etc. 2.4 Summary Chapter 3 – Critique and Analysis (Assignment 2 – approx 10 pages) 3.1 Outline of review methodology – to gather project data 3.2 Case organisation description, background and context 3.3 Review current business law and due diligence plan of case organisation or strategic goals as defined by interviewing key managers, reading the organisation’s annual report, business law and due diligence audits or other relevant sources 3.4 Team’s perception of the case project, challenges and opportunities – develop a research methodology to demonstrate how data will be collected in the case organisation. Use the selected best practice model developed in assignment 1 (conceptual model) as the basis to review the current business law and due diligence management practices in the case organisation. Once the current practices are identified, apply the MIRAT system for solving legal problems – all arguments are to be supported by cases and legislations properly cited by using Australian Legal Citation 3.5 Other observations and conclusions 3.6 Summary Chapter 4 – Application and Development (Assignment 3 – approx 10 pages) 4.1 Basis for the design of a business law and due diligence plan for the case organisation 4.2 Requirements and challenges of business law and due diligence plan in the case organisation – critique and analyse of relevant laws in relation to business using the MIRAT system and Australian Legal Citation 4.3 Addressing key issues and areas of laws (evaluation of conceptual model or best practices [Assignment 1] and the current case) – application of relevant laws in relation to the case organisation using the MIRAT system supported by cases and legislations using Australian Legal Citation 4.4 Business law and due diligence plan components (organisation structure, roles, competencies, etc) – address areas of law that are found to be inconsistent with prescribed laws within the market/industry and demonstrate the risks/costs to business as a result of breaches 4.5 Develop a complete business law and due diligence plan – critique and analyse relevant laws in relation to the case organisation using the MIRAT system and Australian Legal Citation, and further develop a revised business law and due diligence plan for the case organisation 4.6 Summary Chapter 5 – Conclusions and Recommendations (Assignment 4 – approx 10 pages) 5.1 Review and revision of draft business law and due diligence plan to reflect the literature and feedback 5.2 Critical findings and recommendations 5.3 Proposed business law and due diligence plan 5.4 Gaps and limitations of this research 5.5 Implications for further research 5.6 Conclusion Appendix (if applicable – e.g. questionnaire) Bibliography (approx 100 references)   Criteria 1. Only those submissions that are made within the Schedule of Submissions published in the SBM2501 website will be assessed; late submissions will not be accepted. The exception is where the team has proposed a different schedule for its submissions within its Team QA/Workplan and when this has been endorsed by the Course Convenor. This option still requires completing the project within the specified 10 week duration. 2. In such situations, the intermediate submission dates will be as per the team’s endorsed QA/Workplan. Please note that endorsement of QA/Workplan by the Course Convenor does not remove the responsibility for timely completion of the entire Project Phase from teams. This endorsement is always subject to team’s bearing full responsibility for meeting the relevant deadlines and the final quality they achieve in their project work or competency acquisition efforts. 3. Submissions must be of an adequate professional standard in terms of technical writing, academic referencing, overall structure and flow and graphical design and presentation. All poor quality submissions will be returned without assessment to the team concerned. A team whose work has not been accepted on account of quality of presentation will not receive a final mark. It is important that you and your team to learn how to compile and write high quality technical reports to recognized standards for all purposes. This assignment is a good opportunity to further improve your report writing skills. Poor composition, misspelling of words, poor lay-out and illustrations all detract from the quality of the submission and are not acceptable. In designing your submission you should consider the objectives, readers’ needs and requirements, contents, document structure, where to include any supporting material and academic referencing. 4. Please note that marking of each report will be based on the Project Assessment Criteria a copy of which may be found in the APIC website.