COMLAW 304 : Business Structures for Enterprises

Business and Economics

2020 Semester One (1203) (15 POINTS)

Course Prescription

Business advisers need to be familiar with a wide variety of business structures other than companies. Emphasis is on the most common of these including franchises, joint ventures, trading trusts, partnerships, unincorporated societies and State Owned Enterprises in order to ensure that advisers are familiar with their merits and legal consequences of utilising these structures.

Course Overview

This course is primarily concerned with understanding the law governing business organisations other than limited liability companies. The course examines a wide variety of structures available to investors in business – comparing and contrasting the advantages and disadvantages from a legal point of view. 

The theme adopted in this course is to contrast the law governing more traditional structures, such as partnerships, with that governing relatively new or developing ones such as joint ventures and franchising. 

The course is presented by leading academics and legal practitioners, making the course highly practical and contemporary.   

Course Requirements

Prerequisite: COMLAW 203

Capabilities Developed in this Course

Capability 1: Disciplinary Knowledge and Practice
Capability 2: Critical Thinking
Capability 3: Solution Seeking
Capability 4: Communication and Engagement
Capability 6: Social and Environmental Responsibilities
Graduate Profile: Bachelor of Commerce

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, students will be able to:
  1. Identify the business structures which are appropriate for the operation of particular businesses, and explain why those particular structures are appropriate (Capability 1 and 2)
  2. Identify and analyse legal issues including fiduciary obligations that may arise when operating under different legal structures (Capability 1 and 2)
  3. Communicate legal analysis clearly and accurately applying legal problem solving skills (Capability 3 and 4.2)
  4. Identify and analyse the statutory and common law rules affecting partnerships and limited partnerships (Capability 1 and 4.2)
  5. Identify and analyse legal issues surrounding the use of franchises (Capability 2 and 4.2)
  6. Identify and analyse legal issues of joint ventures, State Owned Enterprises, Co-operative business organisations, Societies and Trusts (Capability 2 and 4.2)
  7. Identify and analyse legal issues surrounding Māori Enterprise and Business (Capability 2 and 6)
  8. Identify and analyse the role that taxation plays in the choice of which legal structure to use (Capability 2 and 4.2)

Assessments

Assessment Type Percentage Classification
Test 10% Individual Test
Assignments 30% Individual Coursework
Final Exam 60% Individual Examination
Assessment Type Learning Outcome Addressed
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Test
Assignments
Final Exam
The test and the exam will be open book. Students must achieve an overall mark of at least 50% to pass. 

Workload Expectations

This course is a standard 15 point course and students are expected to spend 10 hours per week involved in each 15 point course that they are enrolled in.

For this course, you can expect 36 hours of lectures, 24 hours of reading and thinking about the content and 90 hours of self-study, work on assignments and/or test preparation.

Learning Resources

A comprehensive course book will be available.

Links to recommended readings will be available on Canvas for this course.

Digital Resources

Course materials are made available in a learning and collaboration tool called Canvas which also includes reading lists and lecture recordings (where available).

Please remember that the recording of any class on a personal device requires the permission of the instructor.

Academic Integrity

The University of Auckland will not tolerate cheating, or assisting others to cheat, and views cheating in coursework as a serious academic offence. The work that a student submits for grading must be the student's own work, reflecting their learning. Where work from other sources is used, it must be properly acknowledged and referenced. This requirement also applies to sources on the internet. A student's assessed work may be reviewed against online source material using computerised detection mechanisms.

Inclusive Learning

All students are asked to discuss any impairment related requirements privately, face to face and/or in written form with the course coordinator, lecturer or tutor.

Student Disability Services also provides support for students with a wide range of impairments, both visible and invisible, to succeed and excel at the University. For more information and contact details, please visit the Student Disability Services’ website at http://disability.auckland.ac.nz

Special Circumstances

If your ability to complete assessed coursework is affected by illness or other personal circumstances outside of your control, contact a member of teaching staff as soon as possible before the assessment is due.

If your personal circumstances significantly affect your performance, or preparation, for an exam or eligible written test, refer to the University’s aegrotat or compassionate consideration page: https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/academic-information/exams-and-final-results/during-exams/aegrotat-and-compassionate-consideration.html.

This should be done as soon as possible and no later than seven days after the affected test or exam date.

Student Feedback

At the end of every semester students will be invited to give feedback on the course and teaching through a tool called SET or Qualtrics. The lecturers and course co-ordinators will consider all feedback and respond with summaries and actions.

Your feedback helps teachers to improve the course and its delivery for future students.

Class Representatives in each class can take feedback to the department and faculty staff-student consultative committees.

Student Charter and Responsibilities

The Student Charter assumes and acknowledges that students are active participants in the learning process and that they have responsibilities to the institution and the international community of scholars. The University expects that students will act at all times in a way that demonstrates respect for the rights of other students and staff so that the learning environment is both safe and productive. For further information visit Student Charter (https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/forms-policies-and-guidelines/student-policies-and-guidelines/student-charter.html).

Disclaimer

Elements of this outline may be subject to change. The latest information about the course will be available for enrolled students in Canvas.

In this course you may be asked to submit your coursework assessments digitally. The University reserves the right to conduct scheduled tests and examinations for this course online or through the use of computers or other electronic devices. Where tests or examinations are conducted online remote invigilation arrangements may be used. The final decision on the completion mode for a test or examination, and remote invigilation arrangements where applicable, will be advised to students at least 10 days prior to the scheduled date of the assessment, or in the case of an examination when the examination timetable is published.

Published on 13/12/2019 02:04 p.m.