Deliverable 7 - Action Plan Recommendation Report

Running head: DELIVERABLE 7-ACTION PLAN RECOMMENDATION REPORT 1

DELIVERABLE 7- THE ACTION PLAN RECOMMMENDATION REPORT 4

Deliverable 7- The Action Plan Recommendation Report

Ashley Santiago Ruiz

Rasmussen College

BUL4060CBE#: Business Law and Ethical Behavior

Melinda Whitman

September 25, 2020

The Action Plan Recommendation Report for Hanson Enterprises

FACTS/SCENARIO

[Summarize the facts. The “scenario” is referred to but hasn’t been provided to the reader.]

The Legal and Ethical Issues in the Scenario

There is the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) in the United States of America. Their officers have the mandate to carry out investigations relating to the Wage and Hour Division enforcement. The partner company to Hanson Enterprises is in breach of the US laws and regulations relating to the minimum wage for its workers. The FLSA act provides for criminal prosecution against employers who willfully violate the act. In this regard, a first offender can receive a fine of up to ten thousand dollars, whereas a repeat violator could result in imprisonment. In the same breath, the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) demands that workers operate in an environment with safety and health programs for both the employer and employees. In an ethical and legal sense, the continued cooperation between Hanson Enterprise and the overseas company shall bring forth various conflicts with the US labor laws. [Incomplete. Overlooked all other laws pertaining to scenario and did not discuss any ethical theories in relation to the ethical issues.] Comment by Rita Kane: Better understanding of the assignment will explain why the US Federal laws are not directly enforceable against the foreign company, but yet understanding the benefits of these laws is critical to the assignment.

Laws/Regulations that Would Address the Scenario Relating to Employment

One of the International Labor Organization (ILO)’s main principles is that employees have the right to engage in collective bargaining processes (Javillier, 2003). In this regard, the partner company's employees to Hanson Enterprises should unite to demand better working conditions such as payment of minimum wage, improved working environment, and agree on the acceptable working days as per ILO's laws and regulations. According to the Collective Bargaining Convention (No 154) article 2, "the term "collective bargaining" extends to all negotiations which take place between an employer, a group of employees, or one or more employers' organizations, on the one hand, and one or more workers' organizations on the other hand (Javillier, 2003)." Therefore, the workers have a remedial escape route to address their plight by invoking the ILO's regulations' rights to bargain with their employer. Also, the employees have the express right to negotiate with the company without depending on workers' organizations at a higher level, as per the ILO's laws under article 3, paragraph 2 (Javillier, 2003).

[Incomplete. None of the US Federal and State laws were provided or discussed in this portion. They are the bases for the terms of the contract.].

Laws/Regulations that Would Address the Scenario concerning Intellectual Property

The US federal government has laws and regulations governing intellectual property. The intellectual property laws cover creativity in the music industry, photography, paintings, drawings, and film making industry (Goldstone, 2001). Also, the intellectual property law looks after issues regarding copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets.

Having realized the massive challenge that is Intellectual property violations (IP), the US federal government, through the Attorney General's office, established a task force to deal specifically with intellectual property violations in the US and internationally (Goldstone, 2001). Indeed, the task force has made significant strides towards minimizing IP infringements in the country and abroad. In this regard, my next and obvious step shall be to report the company to the task force to ensure that the latter conduct credible investigations per its mandate. Some of the task force's primary tasks are to deal with intellectual property cases that are international in scope.

[Incomplete. None of the international organizations which regulate and enforce IP rights internationally have been identified or discussed.]

Is it Possible to Sue for Breach of Contract?

Breach of contract is a legal term that refers to a violation of a binding agreement between two parties. In some cases, the terms involve interference by one entity on another's ability to fulfill their mandate (Murray, 2020). Also, breach of contract can be in parts or in full. In other words, there are instances where one party entirely breaches a contract or a portion of the agreement.

The US federal laws stipulate several conditions that a plaintiff must meet before filing for breach of contract. For instance, one of the conditions states that a plaintiff must first notify the defendant about the contract breach before filing a complaint (Murray, 2020). In the case involving Hanson Enterprises and the partner company, we have not yet pointed out the contract issue's breach. The above point means that it is not possible to institute legal proceedings until we exhaust other avenues regarding the issue. [Incomplete. This last statement is not supported by law or the facts of the scenario. This is a cumulative assignment and encompasses previous topics which were researched and learned throughout the course. This aspect requires a “jurisdiction” for suing a foreign company discussion and the remedies Hanson should seek.]

The Consequences of not Addressing the CSR Issue

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is an essential role that every organization should play as part of its mandate to improve the living standards of the community (Cha et al., 2016). In this regard, it is risky to close eyes regarding the partner company's refusal to honor its pledge to look after the community's welfare in which the facility operates. Consumers detest companies that ignore their CSR calls (Cha et al., 2016). Loss of trust or gaining a bad reputation could lead to diminished profits, loss of customers, or lawsuits. According to Hayzlett, J (2016), "prospective employees name a company's stature in the community as the second most important driver of employee engagement." The above quote shows many people are conscious about the company's image, and failure to look after our image could prove injurious to Hansen Enterprises in the long run. [Include other content derived from Deliverable 5 – “consequences of using CSR as a PR move.]. Comment by Rita Kane: Good.

The Best Legal and Ethical Course of Action for Hanson Enterprises

The best ethical course of action for Hanson Enterprises is to first discuss with the partner company regarding the issues, such as ignoring the CSR promise. In this case, the discussions shall seek to iron out the challenges before the Hanson Enterprises can decide on terminating the contract (Murray, 2020). As stated earlier, it is advisable to first explore other measures with the offender before instituting legal measures. Suppose discussion fails to bear the desired fruits. In that case, Hanson Enterprises has the right to take legal steps against the partner company, including terminating the existing contract and seeking damages for breach of contract.

[Incomplete. Omitted recommendations for dealing with the IP infringement, Bribery issues, and lingering CSR deficiencies while awaiting resolution to breach of contract.]

References

Cha, M. K., Yi, Y., & Bagozzi, R. P. (2016). Effects of customer participation in corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs on the CSR-brand fit and brand loyalty. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 57(3), 235-249. Comment by Rita Kane: Incomplete referencing per APA.

Goldstone, D. (2001). Prosecuting Intellectual Property Crimes. William S. Hein & Co., Inc.

Hayzlett, J . (2016). Why Should Your Business Care About Social Responsibility? Retrieved from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/269665

Javillier, J. C. (2003). Fundamental Rights at Work and International Labour Standards. International Labour Organization. Comment by Rita Kane: Incomplete referencing per APA.

Murray, J. (2020). Understanding Business Breach of Contract: Defenses to and Requirement of a Breach of Contract Lawsuit. Retrieved fromhttps://www.thebalancesmb.com/breach- of-contract398138.

Ashley,

Please access the attached, graded Action Plan for more detailed feedback.

This is a good start. It is simply incomplete for the reasons stated in the rubric and the feedback within the graded assignment.

Grading Rubric

F	F	C	B	A
0	1	2	3	4
Did not Submit	No Pass	Competence	Proficiency	Mastery
Not Submitted	Used unclear verbiage about the legal (federal and international laws) and ethical (specific ethical theories) issues in scenario.	Adequately identified legal (federal and international laws) and ethical (specific ethical theories) issues in scenario in an action plan recommendation report.	Clearly identified clear legal (federal and international laws) and ethical (specific ethical theories) issues in scenario in an action plan recommendation report.	Comprehensively identified legal (federal and international laws) and ethical (specific ethical theories) issues in the scenario in a well-defined action plan recommendation report.
Not Submitted	Used unclear verbiage about the laws and/or regulations (federal and international laws) as it relates to employment law in the scenario.	Adequately identified the laws and/or regulations (federal and international laws) as it relates to employment law in the scenario of an action plan recommendation report.	Clearly identified the laws and/or regulations (federal and international laws) as it relates to employment law in the scenario of an action plan recommendation report.	Comprehensively identified the laws and/or regulations (federal and international laws) as it relates to employment law in the scenario in a well-defined action plan recommendation report.
Not Submitted	Used unclear verbiage about the laws and/or regulations (federal and international laws) as it relates to intellectual property (i.e. trademarks and copyright) in the scenario.	Adequately identified the laws and/or regulations (federal and international laws) as it relates to intellectual property (i.e. trademarks and copyright) in the scenario an action plan recommendation report.	Clearly identified the laws and/or regulations (federal and international laws) as it relates to intellectual property (i.e. trademarks and copyright) in the scenario an action plan recommendation report.	Comprehensively identified the laws and/or regulations (federal and international laws) as it relates to intellectual property in the scenario in a well-defined action plan recommendation report.
Not Submitted	Used unclear verbiage about the possibility to sue for breach of contract, or if there are any contract remedies available.	Adequately explained the possibility to sue for breach of contract, or if there are any contract remedies available in an action plan recommendation report.	Clearly explained the possibility to sue for breach of contract, or if there are any contract remedies available in an action plan recommendation report.	Comprehensively explained the possibility to sue for breach of contract, or if there are any contract remedies available in a well-defined action plan recommendation report.
Not Submitted	Used unclear verbiage about the consequences if the corporate social responsibility (CSR) is not addressed.	Adequately explained the consequences if the corporate social responsibility (CSR) is not addressed in an action plan recommendation report.	Clearly explained the consequences if the corporate social responsibility (CSR) is not addressed in an action plan recommendation report.	Comprehensively explained the consequences if the corporate social responsibility (CSR) is not addressed in a well-defined action plan recommendation report.
Not Submitted	Used unclear verbiage about the best legal and ethical course of action to take and why it is in the best interest of Hanson Enterprises.	Adequately determined the best legal and ethical course of action to take and why it is in the best interest of Hanson Enterprises in an action plan recommendation report.	Clearly determined the best legal and ethical course of action to take and why it is in the best interest of Hanson Enterprises in an action plan recommendation report.	Comprehensively determined the best legal and ethical course of action to take and why it is in the best interest of Hanson Enterprises in a well-defined action plan recommendation report.
Not Submitted	Failed to use or attribute credible sources in the action plan recommendation report.	Used and attributed some credible sources in the action plan recommendation report.	Used and attributed mostly credible sources in the action plan recommendation report.	Used and attributed all credible sources in a well-defined action plan recommendation report.