Posted: June 26th, 2015
Multinational Corporate Entities [1 ICL 7B3]
Multinational Corporate Entities [1 ICL 7B3]
Coursework Essay Question
Due for collection – 11 June 2015
Due for submission – before 10.00 am on 6 July 2015
(A) Because of the nature of companies, the conduct of natural persons has to be attributed to companies –including subsidiary and parent companies, and this applies to decisions to invest in foreign countries just as it does to most other decisions taken on behalf of companies. However, not all conduct of natural persons is attributed to companies. Please explain the concept of attribution, and discuss the correctness or otherwise of the propositions given above, giving relevant legal and other sources in support.
(B) On Friday 13 May 2012, David North met Amanda Joynes in the Executive Lounge at the Hilton Arc de Triomphe Paris Hotel at 2:00pm to discuss a proposed transaction which they hoped would be of benefit to their respective companies. David North was, and still is managing director of Staynes Plc. (Staynes – a company incorporated in England), and Amanda Joynes was, and still is an executive director of Joynes Plc. (Joynes – also a company incorporated in England).
Both companies have agreements with the Government of the Republic of Tauras (the ‘Government’) in connection with the Government’s development of a hitherto derelict area of land to the east of the capital city of Tauras. Staynes is under contract to build five new city conurbations (each with its own housing, schools, shops and other facilities) but not the roads. Joynes is under contract to build all the roads – including lighting, water conduits, sewers, and so forth.
The meeting between David North and Amanda Joynes was to agree that the project would be built in a way which would deviate significantly from the plans approved by the Government and the legislature of Tauras. The change would benefit both companies by making the building project cheaper, but without affecting the contract price payable to Stynes and to Joynes. David North and Amanda Joynes agreed that no-one else would be told about their decision.
The project is three-quarters completed, and citizens of Tauras have been living in three of the new conurbations for some while. But serious problems have become apparent and, on 10 January 2015 the Government wrote to the Chairman of Staynes cancelling their contract and intimating that the Government would be seeking compensation in the order of £95 million from Staynes. On the same day, the Government wrote to the Chairman of Joynes cancelling their contract and intimating that the Government would be seeking compensation of £45 million from Joynes.
The full Boards of both companies were wholly unaware that the project was not being constructed according to the approved plans. The Board of Staynes is understood to be frantically concerned about the claim because the break-up value of the company is thought to be only about £80 million. The Board of Joynes is very concerned because the break-up value of Joynes is thought to be in the region of £48 million.
Staynes is 35% owned by the Lemmon Pension Fund (for the staff of Staynes); 35% by the Pentland Investment Trust Plc; 20% by Joynes Plc.; and the remainder by other stock exchange investors. Joynes is owned 15% by the Stable Pension Fund; 15% by David North; and the rest by other stock exchange investors.
(C) Please analyse, compare and contrast the relationship between the issues raised in Part A and the issues raised in Part B: identifying the similarities and discrepancies between the issues in Part A and the issues in Part B, and commenting on why you think that there are those similarities and discrepancies between Part A and Part B. For example, does the Part A question raise exactly the same issues as the Part B question, or is Part A broader or narrower than Part B – if so in what way or ways?
Parts (A) (B) and (C) above comprise the whole question.
This assessment carries 30% of the total marks for the module.
- You are required to respond to the whole question by preparing a single, coherent essay
which is 1,500 words in length (+ / – 10%).
- Although marks are not awarded separately for each of the three parts, your overall
mark for this essay will be seriously reduced if you fail to answer each part effectively.
- Please use one side only of each sheet of paper.
- Please remember to number the pages.
- Please use double line spacing for the body of the essay and single line spacing for
footnotes and bibliography.
- The essay must be researched, written-up, and typed by you; presented in Times New
Roman, font size 12; with 1.5 spacing; and with standard margins (2.54cms top and
bottom, and 2.54cms left and right).
- Please remember to use footnotes, and to include a bibliography at the end of your
essay.
- Please state at the end of the bibliography the number of words used. Unless there is a
misuse of the footnote system, the word count does not include footnotes; and the word
count does not include the bibliography.
- The assessment criteria are set out in the Student Handbook.
- You are advised to formulate your own opinions in response to the essay questions; to
reference every statement of fact, law, and opinion which you use in your essay; and to
provide full citations for every reference you make.
- You are advised to prepare all your work, including drafts of your essay, in
handwriting and to preserve all your written work, print outs, and electronically stored
research work, drafts and final version at least until after you have been notified of
your degree result. This is in case you are required to submit to a viva assessment.
- From the moment that this essay question is released by the module leader, each
student taking the module must work entirely on her or his own: there must be no
discussions with other students or with anyone else; and each student must work
entirely on his or her own without help of any kind from any other person, whether a
student or otherwise.
- The University’s regulations which prohibit collusion and plagiarism apply to this
assessment (as they do to all assessments). Please see and observe the additional
information and comment below.
- This assessment is subject to the submission requirements and to the Turnitin
plagiarism detection procedures which are explained below.
WARNING REGARDING PLAGIARISM
For the avoidance of doubt, when it comes to plagiarism and other forms of cheating, the University adopts a ZERO TOLERANCE APPROACH and ALWAYS recommend the TOUGHEST POSSIBLE PUNISHMENT.
At the very least, by such conduct students who cheat make it impossible for members of staff to provide a positive reference for them in future. As the rules make clear, students breaking these rules are likely to have their registration suspended or be excluded from the whole course.
If you are in any doubt about what is expected of you or how you should proceed with your research and writing up, the onus is on you to check with your Course Leader or Module Leader.
SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS AND ADVICE
You are required to submit your essay in the following two formats: (1) as a word-processed essay to the module leader by e-mail; and (2) electronically to Turnitin. In each case, submission must be BEFORE the date and time given above on page 1.
You MUST submit precisely the same version of your essay to the Module Leader and to Turnitin.
It is imperative that you submit the correct version of your essay first time. It is not possible to recover your essay once submission has been completed either to the Module Leader or to Turnitin. You must, therefore, adopt effective project management techniques – including backups – from the outset.
Submission to the Module Leader
Please attach the final version of your essay to an e-mail which is addressed to the module leader; and ensure that the e-mail arrives with a date and time before the latest submission date and time stated at the top of this assessment instrument. The module leader’s e-mail address for these purposes is:
Turnitin instructions
Once you have submitted your essay electronically, you will receive confirmation of submission from the Turnitin service (which you should print and keep). The outline instructions for electronic submission to the Turnitin service are given below.
| 1) If you are an existing JISC user go to: | www.submit.ac.uk |
| 2) If you are a new user of JISC go to: | http://submit.ac.uk/newuser_type.asp |
| 3) Login to JISC PDS | |
| 4) Create a User Profile | |
| 5) The class is: | LLM Multinational Corporate Entities 2014-15 |
| 6) The class ID is: | 2923745 |
| 7) The enrolment password is: | Lancaster |
| 8) The assignment title is: | MCE Referral Essay Question – semester 9 |
| 9) JISC PDS accepts documents created in MS Word, RTF, PDF, and HTML formats |
There is a student User Manual available on JISC once you have reached the www.submit.ac.uk site.
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