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The Legal and Ethical Context

Examine the legal and ethical issues facing companies operating in the global business environment.

  • Duration

    2 weeks
  • Weekly study

    8 hours

This course introduces you to some of the key legal issues facing companies operating in the global business environment especially internet law, corporate espionage as well as intellectual property rights such as copyrights, trademarks and patents.

The law alone does not fully prescribe what counts as appropriate business conduct. In order to be seen to be doing the right thing, many businesses go far beyond what is required by law.

This course therefore examines the ethical dilemmas of undertaking business in a global environment and the challenge of managing different expectations.

What topics will you cover?

  • The importance of legal issues in business
  • Competition law and corporate espionage
  • Internet law
  • Intellectual property rights
  • Business ethics and corporate social responsibility

Learning on this course

On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

  • Investigate the meaning, scope and nature of the legal and regulatory environment for global businesses.
  • Explore intellectual property rights in the global business environment and investigate how effective MNCs are in protecting intellectual property.
  • Explore the phenomenon of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and explore how it can be used as a source of competitive advantage
  • Explore business ethics, their role in international business and how they impact on decision-making

Who is the course for?

This course is aimed at people who want to move into business management. It will be of particular interest to those looking to progress into senior roles or those with an interest in developing new business ideas.

Please note that the individuals detailed in the ‘Who will you learn with?’ section below, are current staff members and may be subject to change.

Who will you learn with?

Who developed the course?

Coventry University

Coventry secured 5 QS Stars for Teaching and Online Learning in the QS World University Ranking 2020 and has received No. 1 in the world for Massive Open Online Courses in MoocLab’s World University Ranking 2021.

  • Established

    1992
  • Location

    Coventry

Learning on FutureLearn

Your learning, your rules

  • Courses are split into weeks, activities, and steps to help you keep track of your learning
  • Learn through a mix of bite-sized videos, long- and short-form articles, audio, and practical activities
  • Stay motivated by using the Progress page to keep track of your step completion and assessment scores

Join a global classroom

  • Experience the power of social learning, and get inspired by an international network of learners
  • Share ideas with your peers and course educators on every step of the course
  • Join the conversation by reading, @ing, liking, bookmarking, and replying to comments from others

Map your progress

  • As you work through the course, use notifications and the Progress page to guide your learning
  • Whenever you’re ready, mark each step as complete, you’re in control

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