I’ve discovered in one of those unique cyberspace ways that a course taught at Arkansas State University by Patricia Quinn Robertson titled The Legal Environment of Business cites the this blog as a class resource.  I’m deeply honored to have the Legal Literacy Blog included in your learning experience.

The hardest part of successfully navigating the legal environment of business is developing the foresight necessary to sidestep legal landmines and the ability to leverage the law to your advantage.  It’s about identifying risk and seizing opportunity.  It’s an invaluable leadership skill and a lot tougher to do than it sounds.

Indeed, when I was teaching Legal Leverage to MBA students at Duke one of the most difficult things to convey in the class room setting was the various shades of gray that managers will encounter in their business decision making.  Most of my students felt confident that when they were in positions of major responsilbility they would have no problem making crisp black and white decisions.  Those who had more work experience, however, particularly the executive MBA classes, realized that competing objectives often created more than one “right” answer and that each one of those “right” answers usually involved a compromise.

Competing objectives can create blind spots in the decision making process.  You might not push a point, like insisting on a contract, because you don’t think you have enough bargaining power.  You need the particular good or service and you have a deadline so you take a leap of faith and call it a calculated risk.  If the dollar stakes are small you might be able to take the chance, but if they are large . . . well, let’s just say you might want to keep your resume updated.  The goal is not necessarily to eliminate risk but to take reasonable, informed risks and establish the “right” trade-offs.  It’s more of an art than a science.

During this semester, while you’re studying The Legal Environment of Business your blinders are off.  While in the class your answers will have a legal ring to them — after all — this IS The Legal Environment of Business.  But how much of this legal knowledge will transfer to your marketing classes?  Or your finance classes?  Will the pricing or distribution model you discuss there have the potential to run afoul of antitrust laws?  I’m not just talking about things that are blatantly illegal.  Those are easy. 

What about actions that push the envelope?  Is that OK as long as the company makes a profit?  What if the envelope pushing creates a corporate culture that doesn’t know when to stops (a la Enron)?  How do yuou keep the corporate culture from going over the edge? 

Ah, so may important management issues and so little time.

Business functions on a legal playing field.  The law touches not only corporate governance and compliance, it touches daily decision making throughout the value chain.  Congratulations on taking this course and your decision to master the interdisciplinary aspects of business.  It’s the key to long term profits and sustainability.

Best of luck to you in your studies and future business endeavors!