Law has different meanings as well as different functions. Philosophers have considered issues of justice and law for centuries, and several different approaches, or schools of legal thought, have emerged. In this chapter, we will look at those different meanings and approaches and will consider how social and political dynamics interact with the ideas that animate the various schools of legal thought. We will also look at typical sources of “positive law” in the United States and how some of those sources have priority over others, and we will set out some basic differences between the US legal system and other legal systems.

Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction to Law and Legal Systems
Chapter 2: Corporate Social Responsibility and Business Ethics
Chapter 3: Courts and the Legal Process
Chapter 4: Constitutional Law and US Commerce
Chapter 5: Administrative Law
Chapter 6: Criminal Law
Chapter 7: Introduction to Tort Law
Chapter 8: Introduction to Sales and Leases
Chapter 9: Title and Risk of Loss
Chapter 10: Performance and Remedies
Chapter 11: Products Liability
Chapter 12: Bailments and the Storage, Shipment, and Leasing of Goods
Chapter 13: Nature and Form of Commercial Paper
Chapter 14: Negotiation of Commercial Paper
Chapter 15: Holder in Due Course and Defenses
Chapter 16: Liability and Discharge
Chapter 17: Legal Aspects of Banking
Chapter 18: Consumer Credit Transactions
Chapter 19: Secured Transactions and Suretyship
Chapter 20: Mortgages and Nonconsensual Liens
Chapter 21: Bankruptcy
Chapter 22: Introduction to Property: Personal Property and Fixtures
Chapter 23: Intellectual Property
Chapter 24: The Nature and Regulation of Real Estate and the Environment
Chapter 25: The Transfer of Real Estate by Sale
Chapter 26: Landlord and Tenant Law
Chapter 27: Estate Planning: Wills, Estates, and Trusts
Chapter 28: Insurance

Business Ethics is designed to meet the scope and sequence requirements of the single-semester business ethics course. This title includes innovative features designed to enhance student learning, including case studies, application scenarios, and links to video interviews with executives, all of which help instill in students a sense of ethical awareness and responsibility.

Chapter 1: Why Ethics Matter

1.1 Being a Professional of Integrity
1.2 Ethics and Profitability
1.3 Multiple versus Single Ethical Standards
Chapter 2: Ethics from Antiquity to the Present

2.1 The Concept of Ethical Business in Ancient Athens
2.2 Ethical Advice for Nobles and Civil Servants in Ancient China
2.3 Comparing the Virtue Ethics of East and West
2.4 Utilitarianism: The Greatest Good for the Greatest Number
2.5 Deontology: Ethics as Duty
2.6 A Theory of Justice
Chapter 3: Defining and Prioritizing Stakeholders

3.1 Adopting a Stakeholder Orientation
3.2 Weighing Stakeholder Claims
3.3 Ethical Decision-Making and Prioritizing Stakeholders
3.4 Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
Chapter 4: Three Special Stakeholders: Society, the Environment, and Government

4.1 Corporate Law and Corporate Responsibility
4.2 Sustainability: Business and the Environment
4.3 Government and the Private Sector
Chapter 5: The Impact of Culture and Time on Business Ethics

5.1 The Relationship between Business Ethics and Culture
5.2 Business Ethics over Time
5.3 The Influence of Geography and Religion
5.4 Are the Values Central to Business Ethics Universal?
Chapter 6: What Employers Owe Employees

6.1 The Workplace Environment and Working Conditions
6.2 What Constitutes a Fair Wage?
6.3 An Organized Workforce
6.4 Privacy in the Workplace
Chapter 7: What Employees Owe Employers

7.1 Loyalty to the Company
7.2 Loyalty to the Brand and to Customers
7.3 Contributing to a Positive Work Atmosphere
7.4 Financial Intergrity
7.5 Criticism of the Company and Whistleblowing
Chapter 8: Recognizing and Respecting the Rights of All

8.1 Diversity and Inclusion in the Workforce
8.2 Accommodating Different Abilities and Faiths
8.3 Sexual Identification and Orientation
8.4 Income Inequalities
8.5 Animal Rights and the Implications for Business
Chapter 9: Professions under the Microscope

9.1 Entrepreneurship and Start-Up Culture
9.2 The Influence of Advertising
9.3 The Insurance Industry
9.4 Ethical Issues in the Provision of Health Care
Chapter 10: Changing Work Environment and Future Trends

10.1 More Telecommuting or Less?
10.2 Workplace Campuses
10.3 Alternatives to Traditional Patterns of Work
10.4 Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, and the Workplace of the Future
Chapter 11: Epilogue: Why Ethics Still Matter

11.1 Business Ethics in an Evolving Environment
11.2 Committing to an Ethical View
11.3 Becoming an Ethical Professional
11.4 Making a Difference in the Business World

Reviews available here: https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/business-ethics-2018

Law, in its simplest form, is used to protect one party from another. For instance, laws protect customers from being exploited by companies. Laws protect companies from other companies. Laws even protect citizens and corporations from the government. However, law is neither perfect nor all encompassing. This course will introduce the student to the laws and ethical standards that managers must abide by in the course of conducting business. Laws and ethics almost always shape a company's decision-making process; a bank cannot charge any interest rate it wants to charge that rate must be appropriate. By the end of this course, the student will have a clear understanding of the legal and ethical environment in which businesses operate. Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to: Identify sources of law in the United States; Describe the function and role of courts in the US legal system; Differentiate litigation from methods of alternative dispute resolution; List the elements of the major torts; List the essential elements of a valid contract; Describe how a contract can fail; Summarize the remedies available for breach of contract; Distinguish between real and personal property; Identify the various interests in real property and how they pass; Identify the requirements to hold various rights under intellectual property laws; Analyze the impact of the digital era on intellectual property rights; Distinguish between at-will employment and contractual employment; Identify laws that generally regulate the employer-employee relationship; Identify criminal acts related to the business world; Define white collar crime; Describe the various forms of business organization; Identify the major laws regulating business in the United States; Identify major ethical concerns in business today. (Business Administration 205)

Provides context and essential concepts across the entire range of legal issues with which managers and business executives must grapple. The text provides the vocabulary and legal acumen necessary for business people to talk in an educated way to their customers, employees, suppliers, government officials—and to their own lawyers.

Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction to Law and Legal Systems
Chapter 2: Corporate Social Responsibility and Business Ethics
Chapter 3: Courts and the Legal Process
Chapter 4: Constitutional Law and US Commerce
Chapter 6: Criminal Law
Chapter 7: Introduction to Tort Law
Chapter 8: Introduction to Contract Law
Chapter 9: The Agreement
Chapter 10: Real Assent
Chapter 11: Consideration
Chapter 12: Legality
Chapter 13: Form and Meaning
Chapter 14: Third-Party Rights
Chapter 15: Discharge of Obligations
Chapter 16: Remedies
Chapter 17: Introduction to Sales and Leases
Chapter 18: Title and Risk of Loss
Chapter 19: Performance and Remedies
Chapter 20: Products Liability
Chapter 21: Bailments and the Storage, Shipment, and Leasing of Goods
Chapter 22: Nature and Form of Commercial Paper
Chapter 23: Negotiation of Commercial Paper
Chapter 24: Holder in Due Course and Defenses
Chapter 25: Liability and Discharge
Chapter 26: Legal Aspects of Banking
Chapter 27: Consumer Credit Transactions
Chapter 28: Secured Transactions and Suretyship
Chapter 29: Mortgages and Nonconsensual Liens
Chapter 30: Bankruptcy
Chapter 31: Introduction to Property: Personal Property and Fixtures
Chapter 32: Intellectual Property
Chapter 33: The Nature and Regulation of Real Estate and the Environment
Chapter 34: The Transfer of Real Estate by Sale
Chapter 35: Landlord and Tenant Law
Chapter 36: Estate Planning: Wills, Estates, and Trusts
Chapter 37: Insurance
Chapter 38: Relationships between Principal and Agent
Chapter 39: Liability of Principal and Agent; Termination of Agency
Chapter 40: Partnerships: General Characteristics and Formation
Chapter 41: Partnership Operation and Termination
Chapter 42: Hybrid Business Forms
Chapter 43: Corporation: General Characteristics and Formation
Chapter 44: Legal Aspects of Corporate Finance
Chapter 45: Corporate Powers and Management
Chapter 46: Securities Regulation
Chapter 47: Corporate Expansion, State and Federal Regulation of Foreign Corporations, and Corporate Dissolution
Chapter 48: Antitrust Law
Chapter 49: Unfair Trade Practices and the Federal Trade Commission
Chapter 50: Employment Law
Chapter 51: Labor-Management Relations
Chapter 52: International Law
Chapter 53: Contracts

Foundations of Business Law and the Legal Environment is an up-to-date textbook with comprehensive coverage of legal and regulatory issues for your introductory Legal Environment or Business Law course.

The text is organized to permit instructors to tailor the materials to their particular approach.

The authors take special care to engage students by relating law to everyday events with which they are already familiar with their clear, concise and readable style.

Business Law and the Legal Environment provides students with context and essential concepts across a broad range of legal issues with which managers and business executives must grapple. The text provides the vocabulary and legal savvy necessary for business people to talk in an educated way to their customers, employees, suppliers, government officials — and to their own lawyers.

Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction to Law and Legal Systems
Chapter 2: Corporate Social Responsibility and Business Ethics
Chapter 3: Courts and the Legal Process
Chapter 4: Constitutional Law and US Commerce
Chapter 5: Administrative Law
Chapter 6: Criminal Law
Chapter 7: Introduction to Tort Law
Chapter 8: Introduction to Contract Law
Chapter 9: The Agreement
Chapter 10: Real Assent
Chapter 11: Consideration
Chapter 12: Legality
Chapter 13: Form and Meaning
Chapter 14: Third-Party Rights
Chapter 15: Discharge of Obligations
Chapter 16: Remedies
Chapter 17: Products Liability
Chapter 18: Relationships between Principal and Agent
Chapter 19: Liability of Principal and Agent; Termination of Agency
Chapter 20: Partnerships: General Characteristics and Formation
Chapter 21: Partnership Operation and Termination
Chapter 22: Hybrid Business Forms
Chapter 23: Corporation: General Characteristics and Formation
Chapter 24: Legal Aspects of Corporate Finance
Chapter 25: Corporate Powers and Management
Chapter 26: Securities Regulation
Chapter 27: Corporate Expansion, State and Federal Regulation of Foreign Corporations, and Corporate Dissolution
Chapter 28: Antitrust Law
Chapter 29: Unfair Trade Practices and the Federal Trade Commission
Chapter 30: Employment Law
Chapter 31: Labor-Management Relations
Chapter 32: International Law

Mayer, Warner, Siedel and Lieberman's Government Regulation and the Legal Environment of Business is an up-to-date textbook that covers legal issues that students must understand in today’s highly regulated business environment. The text is organized to permit instructors to tailor the materials to their particular approach. The authors take special care to engage students by relating law to everyday events with their clear, concise and readable style.

After introductory chapters covering the legal environment of business, Government Regulation and the Legal Environment of Business provides students with context and essential legal concepts relating to contracts, consumer credit transactions, bankruptcy, intellectual property, securities regulation, regulation of real estate, antitrust, unfair trade practices, employment law and labor relations. The text provides the vocabulary and legal savvy they will need to talk in an educated way to customers, suppliers, employees, creditors, shareholders, government regulators and other stakeholders — and to their own lawyers.

Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction to Law and Legal Systems
Chapter 2: Corporate Social Responsibility and Business Ethics
Chapter 3: Courts and the Legal Process
Chapter 4: Constitutional Law and US Commerce
Chapter 5: Administrative Law
Chapter 6: Criminal Law
Chapter 7: Introduction to Tort Law
Chapter 8: Contracts
Chapter 9: Consumer Credit Transactions
Chapter 10: Secured Transactions and Suretyship
Chapter 11: Mortgages and Nonconsensual Liens
Chapter 12: Bankruptcy
Chapter 13: Intellectual Property
Chapter 14: The Nature and Regulation of Real Estate and the Environment
Chapter 15: Securities Regulation
Chapter 16: Antitrust Law
Chapter 17: Unfair Trade Practices and the Federal Trade Commission
Chapter 18: Employment Law
Chapter 19: Labor-Management Relations
Chapter 20: International Law

This textbook provides context and essential concepts across the entire range of legal issues with which managers and business executives must grapple. The text provides the vocabulary and legal acumen necessary for businesspeople to talk in an educated way to their customers, employees, suppliers, government officials—and to their own lawyers.

Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction to Law and Legal Systems
Chapter 2: Corporate Social Responsibility and Business Ethics
Chapter 3: Courts and the Legal Process
Chapter 4: Constitutional Law and US Commerce
Chapter 5: Administrative Law
Chapter 6: Criminal Law
Chapter 7: Introduction to Tort Law
Chapter 8: Introduction to Contract Law
Chapter 9: The Agreement
Chapter 10: Real Assent
Chapter 11: Consideration
Chapter 12: Legality
Chapter 13: Form and Meaning
Chapter 14: Third-Party Rights
Chapter 15: Discharge of Obligations
Chapter 16: Remedies
Chapter 17: Introduction to Sales and Leases
Chapter 18: Title and Risk of Loss
Chapter 19: Performance and Remedies
Chapter 20: Products Liability
Chapter 21: Bailments and the Storage, Shipment, and Leasing of Goods
Chapter 22: Secured Transactions and Suretyship

This textbook provides context and essential concepts across the entire range of legal issues with which managers and business executives must grapple. The text provides the vocabulary and legal acumen necessary for businesspeople to talk in an educated way to their customers, employees, suppliers, government officials—and to their own lawyers.

Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction to Law and Legal Systems
Chapter 2: Corporate Social Responsibility and Business Ethics
Chapter 3: Courts and the Legal Process
Chapter 4: Constitutional Law and US Commerce
Chapter 5: Administrative Law
Chapter 6: Criminal Law
Chapter 7: Introduction to Tort Law
Chapter 8: Introduction to Contract Law
Chapter 9: The Agreement
Chapter 10: Real Assent
Chapter 11: Consideration
Chapter 12: Legality
Chapter 13: Form and Meaning
Chapter 14: Third-Party Rights
Chapter 15: Discharge of Obligations
Chapter 16: Remedies
Chapter 17: Products Liability
Chapter 18: Intellectual Property
Chapter 19: Insurance
Chapter 20: Relationships between Principal and Agent
Chapter 21: Liability of Principal and Agent; Termination of Agency
Chapter 22: Partnerships: General Characteristics and Formation
Chapter 23: Partnership Operation and Termination
Chapter 24: Hybrid Business Forms
Chapter 25: Corporation: General Characteristics and Formation
Chapter 26: Legal Aspects of Corporate Finance
Chapter 27: Corporate Powers and Management
Chapter 28: Securities Regulation
Chapter 29: Corporate Expansion, State and Federal Regulation of Foreign Corporations, and Corporate Dissolution
Chapter 30: Employment Law
Chapter 31: Labor-Management Relations
Chapter 32: Consumer Credit Transactions
Chapter 33: Secured Transactions and Suretyship
Chapter 34: Mortgages and Nonconsensual Liens
Chapter 35: Bankruptcy
Chapter 36: Introduction to Property: Personal Property and Fixtures

Terence Lau & Lisa Johnson’s The Legal and Ethical Environment of Business is a book for today’s student, who expects learning to be comprised not only of substance, but also of interactive exercises and multimedia. This book streamlines the presentation of material to ensure that every page is relevant, engaging, and interesting to undergraduate business students, without losing the depth of coverage that they need to be successful in their academic journeys and in their professional careers. This is not Legal Environment of Business (LEB) “light.” Rather, this is LEB without risk of students’ eyes glazing over in boredom or from lack of comprehension. This is LEB presented in an exciting way, where every page is interesting to students and relevant to real life.

The authors recognize that the sheer volume of information to be covered in a LEB course makes it one of the more challenging courses for the business undergraduate. Not only do typical LEB texts read like the first year curriculum at law school, but also the LEB course is grounded in the humanities, which can make the subject even more demanding for students who are also taking statistics, economics, finance, and accounting.

Each chapter contains not only substantive law, but also illustrative videos, interactive exercises for hands-on learning, and discussion questions for critical thought. Additionally, each chapter presents “A Question of Ethics” section, which contains real world ethical dilemmas relevant to the topic under study. These videos, exercises, discussion questions, and ethics sections all provide opportunities for students to apply concepts that they are learning in the context of relevant LEB topics that shape or restrain actual decision-makers’ actions. It’s real world practice in the safety of the classroom environment.

Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction to Law
Chapter 2: The Court System
Chapter 3: Litigation
Chapter 4: Alternative Dispute Resolution
Chapter 5: The Constitution
Chapter 6: Contracts
Chapter 7: Torts
Chapter 8: The Property System
Chapter 9: Intellectual Property
Chapter 10: Criminal Law
Chapter 11: Business Organizations
Chapter 12: Employment Discrimination
Chapter 13: Business in the Global Legal Environment