CH.1 Legal, Ethical, and Global Environment of Business

CH.1 Legal, Ethical, and Global Environment of Business Breaches - to violate a law, by an act or an omission, or to break a legal obligation that one owes to another person or to society Factors that influence Business Decision Making - 1. Contracts 2. Sales 3. Negotiable Instruments 4. Creditor's Rights 5. Intellectual Property 6. E-Commerce 7. Product Liability 8. Torts 9. Agency 10. Business Organizations 11. Professional Liability 12. Courts and Court Procedure Ethics - the study of what constitutes right or wrong behavior Primary Sources of Law (sources that establish the law) - 1. The U.S. Constitution and the constitutions of the various states 2. Statutory law 3. Regulations created by administrative agencies, such as the Food and Drug Administration 4. Case law and common law doctrines Secondary sources of law - books and articles that summarize and clarify the sources of law; Courts refer to these sources for guidance in interpreting and applying the primary sources of law Examples of Secondary Sources of Law - Legal Encyclopedias, treatises, articles in law reviews, and compilations of law such as the Restatements of the Law Constitutional Law - the law as expressed in these constitutions (the supreme law of the land, the basis of all law in the United States) Statutory Law - Laws enacted by legislative bodies at any level of government, such as the statues passed by Congress or by state legislatures, make up the body of the law; Statutory laws also include local ordinances What happens when a legislature passes a statue? - That statue is ultimately is included in the federal code of laws or the relevant state code of laws