Business and contract law (5cr)

Objective

You understand the most important legal principles for business operations, the structure of the Finnish legal system, and their significance in business and contract law.
You are able to apply common legal concepts to legal cases and business operations.
You can identify key legal considerations in business operations.
You are able to describe the process of creating a binding sales contract.
You recognise the importance of protecting intellectual property rights and can plan marketing strategies that do not infringe upon these rights.

Content

How is a binding sales contract formed, and on what grounds can a sales contract be invalid?
What are the rights and obligations of the seller and buyer in the sale of personal property?
How does trade between businesses differ from consumer sales?
How should intellectual property rights be considered in marketing in Finland and globally?
What are sources of law, and how are they interpreted?
What are the key principles of contract law?
What rules and principles should be considered in international trade?

Evaluation

Students can
a. use professional vocabulary systematically.
b. look for information in the key information sources of the field.
c. identify interrelated tasks.

Course material

The student is required to study the following literature/The following literature is used in the course
- Kauppa- ja varallisuusoikeuden pääpiirteet, (Hoppu ja Hoppu), Alma Talent 2020.
- Yrityksen asiakirja- ja sopimusopas 2021 (Hietala - Järvensivu - jne...)
- Markkinointijuridiikka 2022 (Koivumäki)

Other study materials are provided by the teacher in class or via the Learn platform.

Study forms and methods

• The course is carried out by way of contact teaching on XAMK Mikkeli campus according to a weekly schedule. Remote participation is not possible.
• Students make progress by attending scheduled lessons and completing tasks and assignments individually or in groups. The course consists of [insert number here] lessons and individual and small-group assignments. In addition, two written assignment must be completed.
• The teacher provides guidance during and after contact lessons.
• The assessed assignments are completed independently.
• Feedback is provided by different methods. These may include, for example, written and oral feedback and, for example, joint feedback on several returned work.
• The course consists of two parts. More detailed information available below in section “Course part description”.

RDI and work-related cooperation

Guest lectures might be given by representatives from the world of work.
Company visits are possible.

Timing of exams and assignments

The course consists of three parts. Each part includes 1-2 practice exams in the form of tests to support exam preparation. In addition, the course includes 3-4 separate actual exams. In addition, a total of two separate written learning assignments are completed during the course.

- The course ends at the time indicated in the implementation information and specified on the Learn pages.
- Learning assignments must be returned to them according to a separately announced schedule.
- The exams are completed either during the last contact teaching sessions of the course or on the Learn platform within the framework of a separately specified completion schedule.

More detailed schedules and instructions will be announced on the course's Learn platform.

International cooperation

The course does not include supervised international cooperation.

Student workload

• 1 ECTS credits equals 27 hours of work by the student.
• In a 5-credit course, the student's total maximum workload is approximately 135 hours including lessons, group work and independent study.

Course part description

The course consists of three parts:
- Commercial and contract law, legal norms and legal entities
- Market and consumer protection law
- Intellectual property

Each part includes 1-2 test exams. The written exam material for the entire course has been divided into 3-4 actual exams. In addition, the student completes two written learning assignments.

There is no need to pass sections, exams or assignments separately. Completion and grading of the entire course is based on the total number of points collected from the course.

Further information

Note: Lecture participation accumulates a part of the total score affecting the grading of the course.

Evaluation scale

1-5

Assessment methods and criteria

Successful completion of the course requires the student to achieve at least 40% of the total score of the course. Individual passing of each task, exam or sub-area is not required.

0-39 p/% = 0
40-52 p/% = 1
53-64 p/% = 2
65-76 p/% = 3
77-88 p/% = 4
89-100 p/% = 5