BA217 - Company Law

Credit Points: 15 credit points

Workload: 36 hours

Prerequisite: BB107 Commercial Law

Co-requisite: N/A

Aims & Objectives


This is a second-year Core Unit in the Bachelor of Business, major in Accounting, and offered as an Elective Unit in the Bachelor of Business Marketing, and Bachelor of Business Management. For Course Learning Outcomes and further information relating to Bachelor of Business programs please visit our website:  http://www.mit.edu.au/study-with-us/programs/bachelor-business.

The aim of this unit is to teach students the law relating to companies. Students will learn about the characteristics and types of companies, obtain insights of concepts, principles and legislative provisions underpinning the regulation and governance of companies. The unit will be taught through weekly lectures and the students will have the opportunity to apply the learning through weekly tutorials.

Unit topics include:

  • Regulation and the main legal characteristics of a company
  • Classification of companies and their internal management
  • Company relations with outsiders, promoters and pre-registration contracts
    • How companies raise funds
    • Share capital, membership and dividends
    • Shareholders meetings and financial reporting
    • The duties that directors and other officers must discharge to a company
    • Members’ remedies
    • External administration

Learning Outcomes

The Course learning outcomes applicable to this unit are listed on the Melbourne Institute of Technology’s website: www.mit.edu.au
At the completion of this unit students should be able to:
a. Apply legal principles in a practical context.
b. Apply the law to address problems affecting business.
c. Appraise issues in properly managing companies that involve legal, accounting and economic considerations.
d. Evaluate the procedures involved in the internal management of companies.
e. Apply analysis skills to legal business problems.

Assessment

Assessment Task Due Date A B Unit Learning Outcomes
1. Formative Assessment Week 3 5% - c
2. Contribution and Participation Weeks 1-12 - 5% a-e
3. Assignment [Individual] Week 7 20% - a,b,d
4. Report [Group] Week 10 20% - a-e
5. Major Case Study Assessment TBA - 50% a-e
TOTALS   45% 55%  

Task Type: Type A: unsupervised, Type B: supervised.

Contribution and Participation (5%)

This unit has class participation as an assessment. The assessment task and marking rubric will follow the Guidelines on Assessing Class Participation (https://www.mit.edu.au/about-us/governance/institute-rules-policies-and-plans/policies-procedures-and-guidelines/Guidelines_on_Assessing_Class_Participation). Further details will be provided in the assessment specification on the type of assessment tasks and the marking rubrics.

Teaching Methods

NOTE: All School of Business units 3-hour workshops Flipped Classroom Mode. 

Textbook and Reference Materials

Note: Students are required to purchase the prescribed textbook and have it available each week  class.

Prescribed Text Book

  • Harris, J., Hargovan, A., Adams, M. (2018). Australian Corporate Law, 6th edition. Melbourne, Australia: Lexis Nexis Butterworths.

Recommended references

  • Hanrahan, P., Ramsay, I. & Stapledon, G. (2016). Commercial Applications of Company Law, Melbourne Oxford University Press.

Adopted Reference Style: APA can be found in MIT library referencing.
The Referencing style for this using is APA: See the MIT Library Referencing webpage: https://library.mit.edu.au/referencing/APA and the Unit Moodle page for additional referencing support material and weblinks.

Graduate Attributes

MIT is committed to ensure the course is current, practical and relevant so that graduates are “work ready” and equipped for life-long learning. In order to accomplish this, the MIT Graduate Attributes identify the required knowledge, skills and attributes that prepare students for the industry.
The level to which Graduate Attributes covered in this unit are as follows:

Ability to communicate Independent and Lifelong Learning Ethics Analytical and Problem Solving Cultural and Global Awareness Team work Specialist knowledge of a field of study

Legend

Levels of attainment Extent covered
The attribute is covered by theory and practice, and addressed by assessed activities in which the students always play an active role, e.g. workshops, lab submissions, assignments, demonstrations, tests, examinations.
The attribute is covered by theory or practice, and addressed by assessed activities in which the students mostly play an active role, e.g. discussions, reading, intepreting documents, tests, examinations.
The attribute is discussed in theory or practice; it is addressed by assessed activities in which the students may play an active role, e.g. lectures and discussions, reading, interpretation, workshops, presentations.
The attribute is presented as a side issue in theory or practice; it is not specifically assessed, but it is addressed by activities such as lectures or tutorials.
The attribute is not considered, there is no theory or practice or activities associated with this attribute.