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Legality
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- July 1995
- Background Note
Managerial Duties and Business Law
By: Joseph L. Badaracco Jr. and Jerry Useem
Consists of excerpts from Principles of Corporate Governance, a set of legal guidelines that enumerates the principal duties of corporate managers and directors, including fiduciary duty, duty of care, and duty of fair dealing. Also addresses legal obligations relating... View Details
- May 1995
- Background Note
Note on Product Liability
By: Willis M. Emmons III, Monica Brand and Greg Keller
This note provides an overview to the evolution and current state of product liability law in the United States. View Details
- November 1994
- Case
Navistar International
By: Stuart C. Gilson and Jeremy Cott
As a consequence of laying off half its workforce in a massive downsizing program, the company--a large manufacturer of medium and heavy trucks--struggles with a huge ($2.6 billion) liability for retiree medical costs. Although the company has promised its retirees... View Details
- November 1994
- Case
Dow Corning and the Breast Implant Controversy (A)
By: Willis M. Emmons III, Monica Brand and Greg Keller
In early 1994, Dow Corning Corp. debates whether to participate in a proposed $4.2 billion product liability settlement. Specifically, the firm must decide whether to contribute $2 billion to end a class action suit filed by women suffering from connective tissue... View Details
- November 1994 (Revised January 2006)
- Background Note
An Introduction to Patents and Trade Secrets
By: Josh Lerner
Provides an overview of patent and trade secret protection. Also discusses the legal processes through which intellectual property is protected and litigated. View Details
- February 1994 (Revised August 1994)
- Background Note
Note on Contingent Environmental Liabilities
Addresses contingent environmental liabilities that are the result of unforeseen environmental risks where the dollar amount of such liabilities is unknown and depends on future events. In contrast, fines for violating environmental laws are liabilities, but are not... View Details
- July 1993 (Revised September 1995)
- Supplement
Block 16: Conoco's "Green" Oil Strategy (B)
By: Malcolm S. Salter and Susan E.A. Hall
Presents a continuation of the (A) case. New legal and social issues arise. View Details
- October 1992 (Revised February 1995)
- Background Note
Note on the Federal Sentencing Guidelines for Organizations
By: Lynn S. Paine
Describes the federal guidelines used by judges for sentencing organizations convicted of criminal wrong-doing under U.S. law as of November 1, 1991. Describes the guidelines' approach to calculating criminal fines for organizations, determining an organization's... View Details
- October 1992 (Revised August 1994)
- Case
Allied-Signal: Managing the Hazardous Waste Liability Risk
By: Richard H.K. Vietor and Edward Prewitt
Allied-Signal, Inc., one of the world's oldest chemical companies and today a diversified conglomerate, is liable for clean-up costs of old hazardous waste sites. These costs are substantial: reserves grew to nearly $500 million in 1991. Attempting to avoid further... View Details
- September 1992 (Revised August 2004)
- Supplement
Martin Marietta: Managing Corporate Ethics (B)
By: Lynn S. Paine
The president of one of Martin Marietta's four main operating companies has learned of procurement irregularities in the company he manages. The problems involve U.S. government contracts the company is working on. After getting legal advice from the company's general... View Details
- September 1992 (Revised August 2004)
- Supplement
Martin Marietta: Managing Corporate Ethics (C2)
By: Lynn S. Paine
A jury must decide whether an employee, discharged for misusing company time and filling out false time cards for work on U.S. government contracts, has been wrongfully terminated. Designed to show how the human resource manager's perspective on employee discipline... View Details
- August 1992 (Revised December 1994)
- Case
Sexual Harassment, Free Speech or ...?
By: Lynn S. Paine
Presents two brief vignettes about female employees who object to gender discrimination in their work environment. In one case, the manager of a convenience store removes "adult" magazines from the store's shelves because she sees them as damaging to women. In the... View Details
- May 1992 (Revised January 2000)
- Case
Asea Brown Boveri
In 1987, two European rivals--Asea AB of Sweden and BBC Brown Boveri Ltd. of Switzerland--merged to form Asea Brown Boveri. The new company employed 150,000 employees in 850 legal entities operating in 140 countries. The case describes the challenges facing Percy... View Details
- May 1992
- Teaching Note
Lake Pleasant Bodies Case (A) and (B), Teaching Note
Teaching Note for (9-390-212) and (9-390-216). View Details
Keywords: Legal Services Industry
- March 1992 (Revised December 1992)
- Case
Salomon and the Treasury Securities Auction
By: Dwight B. Crane
Set in June 1991, two months prior to Salomon Brothers' announcement that the firm had violated the Treasury Department's rules governing the auctions of new Treasury securities. Salomon Vice Chairman John Meriwether must decide how to address problems that continue to... View Details
- February 1992 (Revised September 2003)
- Case
Beech-Nut Nutrition Corporation (A-1)
By: Lynn S. Paine
The CEO of Beech-Nut Nutrition Corp. must decide what to do when he receives information that the company's supply of apple juice concentrate may be adulterated. The concentrate is used in many of the company's juice products. It appears that others in the company may... View Details
- January 1992 (Revised December 1994)
- Background Note
Note on E-Mail and Privacy: U.S. Law and Company Policies
By: Lynn S. Paine
Describes the legal landscape of employee privacy as it applies to e-mail interception: the various legal theories on which a privacy claim might be based and proposed federal legislation relevant to the subject. Also describes the policies companies like UPS,... View Details
- May 1991
- Article
Presidential Commitment and the Veto
By: Daniel E. Ingberman and Dennis Yao
A president's power to veto is widely recognized as an important weapon in the struggle with Congress over legislation. In this paper we investigate the effectiveness of the veto weapon with a simple model of presidential powers that incorporates informal institutional... View Details
- June 1990 (Revised October 1991)
- Case
Lake Pleasant Bodies Case (A)
Presents a classic dilemma in legal ethics--the conflict between an attorney's obligations as an attorney, in this case to protect a client's confidentiality, and his or her own moral obligations as a person. An attorney must decide how to respond to the father of a... View Details