PROJECTS
(Student permission was granted to post these projects)
The Morality of Employee-at-Will Non-Compete Agreements
(2005)
Eye-opening interviews of managers/senior level corporate executives on leverage issues in employment contracts.
Students then need to assume that they are small business owners in Georgia, and comment on the overall effectiveness and morality of utilizing non-compete agreements for lower level employees-at-will.
The Non-Compete Project (Word doc)
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Eminent Domain: Can a Sports Team Move Homeowners to Build an Arena? (2004)
Is it moral for a local government to exercise its eminent domain powers without a clear-cut public purpose (the case of the New Jersey Nets basketball ownership group, its potential move to Brooklyn, and the local residents’ attempt to block their relocation for the benefit of building a sports arena). The best group projects were sent to the New Jersey Nets and to the local residents’ group for critical comments.
U.S Supreme Court rules against Homeowners, for Developers, June 2005
U.S. Supreme Court expected to rule on Eminent Domain issues
The Eminent Domain Project (Word document)
Student Paper Against Construction (Word document)
Student Paper For Construction (Word document)
Best student papers were sent to: The New
Jersey Nets and the Brooklyn Tenants Group,
along with a cover letter from Professor Binder
Letter to Nets & Tenants Group (Word document)
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This project is based on the actual facts surrounding the movie, The Insider (viewing the movie is recommended, but not required). More specifically, it centers on the conduct of Dr. Jeffery Wigand, a scientist and VP of Research & Development, who signed confidentiality agreements both prior to and upon leaving the Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation (B & W).
The Insider MBA Project
(Word document)
The Insider Undergraduate Project
(Word document)
(best team paper was sent to Jeffrey Wigand, whose life was portrayed in the movie)
Excerpt from what Mr. Wigand wrote back to my MBA class on ethics:
Teaching ethics and embedding moral character at the last stages of an education is difficult if there are marginal foundations from birth. Aristotle was right...it is hard, has to be practiced everyday in every element of one's life and the derivation of happiness is not the avoidance of the consequences of immoral behavior but in doing what is morally and ethically right....Kant, Rawls and JS Mill are great reads for students trying to understand ethical imperatives.
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9-11 Reality Education Projects (2003 & 2002)
A Portion of 9-11 Project (Word document)
A. MBA 9-11 PROJECTS:
1- TOPIC: New York City is liable to a rescue worker at ground zero who was not issued a mask during the cleanup of the World Trade Center after 9-11. Beginning on Sept. 11, the worker spent 14 straight days, 10 hours a day at ground zero. Currently, he has respiratory problems, cannot climb 3 flights of stairs without getting winded, and cannot competently work as a fireman.
AFFIRMATIVE POSITION (proposition is correct - Word document)
NEGATIVE POSITION (proposition is incorrect - Word document)
2- TOPIC: WTC CLAIM BY WIDOW OF MAN TOLD TO STAY IN BUILDING: More than 450 families who lost relatives on Sept. 11 have filed legal papers preserving their right to sue the Port Authority of New York over alleged safety lapses and poor evacuation procedures at the World Trade Center. One widow who has decided to sue the Port Authority is Beverly Eckert, who lost her husband, Sean Rooney, an executive at Aon. He had climbed toward the roof of the south tower, searching for air and a rooftop rescue. But the door leading to the roof was locked.
These two MBA student papers assess whether Mrs. Eckert is entitled to relief, applying New York law. These papers are presented for educational purposes only, and not for the dispensing of any legal advice.
Mrs. Eckert is entitled to relief (Word document)
Mrs. Eckert is NOT entitled to relief (Word document)
3- TOPIC: MBA students debate whether the attack on the World Trade Centers was
One Insurable Event ($3.5 billion) or Two Insurable Events ($7 billion) (WORD Document)
- Discovery battle
- Order entered in case for Insurance Companies (pdf, 30 pages)
4- TOPIC: Economic analysis of Government's Compensation Fund (WORD Document)
B. UNDERGRADUATE 9-11 SHORT PROJECT - Sample Student Project (WORD Document)
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Morality in Leveling a Consumer’s Playing Field – Confronting Gateway Computers on its one-sided Service Agreement (2001)
Morality in Leveling a Consumer’s Playing Field is an exercise where students are placed in the shoes of a senior vice president and directed by the CEO to work hand-in-hand with in-house counsel to make its consumer contracts more “consumer friendly.” In the process, the company is being asked to give up certain legal rights in this fictitious scenario, summarized below:
MBA Gateway Project
(Word
document)
Letters sent to
Gateway & Clark Howard
(Word documents)
Gateway
Service Contract (Acrobat
required)
Proposed
MBA Students' Revision to Gateway's Contract
(Word document)
Consumer Advocate Clark Howard on
Extended Warranties
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