Business law
Assignment
M.Kugan
2001149
Student assessment submission and declaration
When submitting evidence for assessment, each student must sign a declaration confirming that
the work is their own.
Student name: MURUGENDRAN Assessor name: Harsha Widanapathirana
KUGAN
Issue date: 11/03/2023 Submission date: Submitted on: 10/06/2023
11/06/2023
Programme: Pearson HND Business Management
Unit: Unit7: business law
Assignment number and title: Assignment 1
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is a particular form of cheating. Plagiarism must be avoided at all costs and students who break the rules,
however innocently, may be penalised. It is your responsibility to ensure that you understand correct referencing
practices. As a university level student, you are expected to use appropriate references throughout and keep carefully
detailed notes of all your sources of materials for material you have used in your work, including any material
downloaded from the Internet. Please consult the relevant unit lecturer or your course tutor if you need any further
advice.
Student Declaration
Student declaration
I certify that the assignment submission is entirely my own work and I fully understand the consequences of
plagiarism. I understand that making a false declaration is a form of malpractice.
Student signature: MURUGENDRAN KUGAN Date: 10/06/2023
CONTENTS
introduction 04
Sole trader 04
partnership 06
Public limited company 07
Private limited company 09
corporation 10
Task 03 12
scenario 12
recommendation 12
Legal advises for Thomas 13
conclusion 16
Reference list 18
TASK 2
Introduction on business organization
Business organization is a group of people who working in order to achieve a vision or mission of the
group, this can be in a for of professional services or even producing and distributing goods and services,
this can be classified into different types according to their structure, size, ownership and their role in the
economy as a purpose ( unacademy, 2023). Organizations operate in various types and in different sectors
in an economy with facing challenges and opportunities in the life cycle, these can be faced as poltical,
legal, social and more. In this section of report shows the advantages and disadvantages of different types
of busines organizations and how they manage and fund their business to run (openstax,2023).
♦ Sole trader
Sole trader is type of business where its owned and controlled by a single person, which is a simplest
form to start an organization. This type of business as just one owner who is responsible for all liabilities
and management of the business life cycle. Most of the sole traders are self employed and this can even
become a medium sized organization as well by the performing factors of the business. There are
different types of sole trader businesses some can be named as
• Grocery shop
• Plumber
• Technician
• Content writer
• Phone smith and etc...
Every business runs into problems as hurdles and some hype as advantages, each type of business
organizations experience advantages and disadvantages according to their style, below shows the
advantages and disadvantages of sole trader proprietorship,
Advantages
✓ Since there is just a single owner, he has the access to all of the business profits
✓ The entrepreneur, has all responsibility of timing of the company and can make every decision
made by himself
✓ This type of business can be easily started, as the initial cost may be low according to the type of
business sector
✓ Its easy to change the legal structure of the business later in any circumstances
✓ The organization has the maximum privacy compared to other form of business
Disadvantages
The main risk of this type of form of business is that the owner is responsible for all of his debt at
its known as unlimited liability
There is high chance of the owner to lack on some skills, this is due to less expertise options or
people to consult on tough situations
The absence of the owner may affect the business continuity, which will impact the customers
and business life cycle
Less capital brought up by a single person compared to having multiple owners
Management and funding of sole trader proprietorship
In managing the business organization, since it’s a sole proprietorship all the decisions and business is
managed by the owner, this includes in operations, marketing, human resources, and in finance. The
owner needs to diversed in their skill set to manage a business effectively and efficiently leading to their
business achievement on their business objectives.
Funding of a sole trader typically starts from the savings of the owner and additionally from investments,
loans etc... After business starts the owners tend to reinvest their profits into the business operation to
expand. However, a sole trader will have unlimited liability unless he has the capable of assets for
collateral,
♦ Partnership
Partnership is a type of business which is controlled and owned ty two or more people on agreeing to
carry the business to achieve the goal and receive the business outcome which can be profit as well as
loss. Partnerships need to legaly and verbally agreed on their ownership, profit sharing and resources
before starting to run a business, some of the major partnerships are,
• Law firms
• Accounting groups
• Real estate investors
These are the common types of partnership , this form of business will have advantages as well as
disadvantages,
Advantages
✓ Easy to form partnership business compared to other business forms, as this require minimal legal
requirements
✓ All the partners has the responsibilities on decision making, where they can get multiple ideas and
share workload, skills and etc,,,
✓ All the partners need to invest in any form to the business, making it easy to raise capital for the
business
✓ Partners business affairs are private
✓ Business can enjoy tax benefits as the profits are shared between partners
Disadvantages
Unlimited liability , each partner is liable for their personel and business debt
Disagreements between partner can take place
If a partner leaves the value of th partnership need to be valued and given this might be costly
Management and funding of partnerships
Typically, a partnership organization is managed and controlled by the owners or known as the partners
who make the important decisions on the business. Partnership agreement may outline the roles and
responsibilities of each partner as they might have been dividing their tasks of business to each partner.
A partnership business can bring up funds in different way to the business, some of the common forms
are, partners investment from savings, each partner can bring up loans from financial institution to fund
the business and finally profit reinvestment.
♦ Public limited company
Public limited company is a type of business that is publicly traded in the stock market or stock exchange
for people to invest and purchase. This is a legal entity with its own identity, this type of business is
formed operated as PLC which needs to be governed by specific regulations and requirements set by
jurisdiction in the country the business operates (investopedia,2022). Some example of plc orgsnizations
are
• CIC holdings PLC
• Barclays PLC
• Rolls- royce PLC
Some of the advantages and disadvantages are shown below
Advantages
✓ Can raise more capitals and funds from selling of shares
✓ The company has limited liability
✓ Shares can be transferable
✓ Normally a plc organization has higher life span compared to sole trader and partnership
✓ High potential for growth on new invetors can be brought up
Disadvantages
Initial and startup cost is relatively high, this can involve in legal fees, compliance cost and etc...
Plc has numerous legal and regulatory requirements, including financial reporting, compliance
with securities regulations and more
Loss of control, as the company sells shares to public
Management and funding of public limited company
Management of Plc companies typically carried by the group of board of directors, who are elected by the
shareholders during annual general meetinhg, shareholders elect the chief executive officer and other
senior executives to maintain and run the day-to-day operations of an organization.
Since this is a public limited company most of the funds are made from issuing shares to the general
public and to some investors in large amount. This os because shares of a public limited company can be
sold freely on a stock exchange and traded. The organization even can receive bonds in a fixed intrest
rate. Share holders lose only the amount of money they had invested if the company close downs but as
well they receive divideds as profit if the organization makes profit on their business year (iedunote,
2023).
♦ Private limited company
A private limited company is a type of business entity which is owned and controlled by a limited number
of people which can be small number of individuals. This type of organizations cannot sell or trade share
publicly. Some of the private limited companies in sri lanka are;
• Dellogistics international PVT LTD
• Hsenid software international PVT LTD
• Access international PVT LTD
This type of business organization will have some advantages and disadvantages, these are shown below;
Advantages
✓ Every limited companies will receive a benefit as limited liability, since there are limited number
of shareholders and they only liable for the debts of the company up to the amount of their unpaid
shares, no personal assets are taken in the case of bankruptcy or losses.
✓ These companies will receive tax benefits as corporation tax which on profits which is lower than
personel income tax
✓ Business can be continued even a owner leaves or dies, as the business is separate legal identity
from owners, this mean the the shares can be transferred to a new owner without affecting the
operations (iedunote, 2023).
Disadvantages
Unlike public limited company the organization cannot sell their shares to the general public
Most of the private limited companies are lacking are lacking on brand recognition in the public
compared to public limited company
Private limited company needs to follow more rules and regulations than sole trader or
partnerships, this has to be registered by the government and file annual reports , pay taxes and
file accounts.
♦ corporation
A corporate company is legally separated distinct from the owners who can be called as shareholders, this
form of company is normally created by filing articles of incorporation with the government and issuing
shares to the shareholders (investopedia,2022). This form of business can enter contracts, loans, borrow
money, hire employees, own assets and pay taxes. Examples of a corporate company , advantages and
disadvantages are shown below;
• Amazon
• Google
• Microsoft
Advantages
✓ Since this is a large form of business organization , the compay can sell share and bring up more
capital to the business
✓ This lead to limited liability for the organization
✓ Shares will be more liquidity this mean shareholders can transfer their shares to a new person
without affecting the business operations
Disadvantages
The company needs to pay higher taxes from their profits as well as shareholders will be taxed
on their dividends which will lead to double taxation
This type of business needs to comply with more legal formalities on the state and federal
governmentand file annual reports, financial statements as well as deal wioth more paperworks.
As company sells shares to the public the origianl owner may lack in power and loss of control
(cfi,2023).
Task 3
scenario
Thomas is a young entrepreneur who has expertise on software's to develop various programmes which
assist the business activities for various businesses. Currently he is acting as the sole manager and the
owner of the business with 5 work colleagues.
Thomas got an offer from a very successful supermarket chain named Supermart to develop a new system
to handle stocks and record transactions. Supermart offered £100,000 for the project and Thomas agreed
to proceed and submit the project on or before the deadline which was stated as 1st of September 2022.
Thomas acquired the hardware needed for this project from vision technologies for £35,000 with no
upfront payment paid, received on credit basis and completed the project on 30th of august 2022.
However, when Thomas submitted the project to Supermart they expressed that the project was no longer
needed and refused to pay the offered amount. Has Thomas purchased Hardwares from vision technology
in a credit basis, he was facing some issues on setting the credit payment which he was agreed to pay, and
agreement was accepted by both parties. Vision technology is considering making a formal complaint
about Thomas.
Recommendations
According to the case of Thomas, Supermart has stated Thomas has an offer, according to contract law of
uk an offer is an invitation communicated by one party to another to enter legally binding contract on
specified terms. The offer states that the project of software needs to handle the stocks and record
transactions, including hardware needed for the process, and this project needs to be completed on or
before the deadline but thomas has completed the project on 30th of august which is before the deadline.
In the context of contract law a consideration is a promise performance or forbearance bargained by a
promisor in exchange for their promise, consideration is a main element on a contract, contracts cannot be
enforced if there is no consideration involved in it (claims.co.uk, 2023). In Thomas's case in offer from
Supermart, the consideration involves in £100,000 offered for Thomas to produce software which handles
their requirements with hardware's required, this enforces the contract, has a offer and consideration are
received.
In the same situation Thomas has agreed to pay the credit of £35,000 to vision technologies which he is
currently facing issues to pay back due to the Supermart refusal to pay the offered amount. The agreement
between Thomas and vision technology contains a consideration which Thomas bought hardware's from
vision technologies where in return Thomas needs to pay vision technologies the amount of £35,000 the
value of hardware purchase.
In this case two contracts has been made by Thomas, which the first contract was failed by Supermart to
achieve the consideration which resulted Thomas to fail to settle the consideration to vision technologies
contract. Which mean there are two contract breaches.
Legal advises for Thomas
According to this case Thomas failed to pay vision technologies due to Supermart refusal, but this doesn’t
coverup to vision technologies has it is a completely different contract made by Thomas to fulfill
Supermart obligations. Like vision technologies Thomas can legally file case on Supermart for breaching
the contract offer. But there are also several other legal recommendation in resolving the disputes with
vision technologies and Supermart;
• Legal consulting advices: thomas can consult a legal lawyer in specializing the contract law
where the person can guide and help to overcome the situation.
• Negotiating : thomas can negotiate with both the companies and reach a benefit solution for all
parties
• Aquiring legal claims: by analyzing the case and contract he can asses the potential claims he can
receive against supermart such as breach of contract, misrepresentation and etc...
Thomas can even consider on alternative dispute resolution which are negotiation, mediation, arbiation
and conciliation, these ae the different ways people can resolve disputes without a trial ( nycourts,2023).
Applying ADR to Thomas situation,
➢ Negotiation : this can help thomas and potentially solve the dispute between thomas, vision
technologies and supermart by allowing all the parties to reach mutual agreement and solutions,
this might have some advantages as well as disadvantages,
Advantages
✓ Cost effective
✓ Can maintain a good relationship with each company
✓ A customized solution can be made
Disadvantages
Lack of legal involvement
can lead to incomplete solutions
One party can gain more power compared to others
➢ Mediation : this is a process where a neutral third party will involve to help facilitate negotiations
between parties. Thomas can intake a mediator who can assist in reaching mutual solutions
between Supermart and vision technologies. This can result in some advantages and
disadvantages.
Advantages
✓ Cost effective
✓ Faster and harmonious way to deal with disputes
✓ The final agreement will be legally binding at court
Disadvantages
Anyone can ignore this form of solution as its not compulsory
If no solutions are mutually agreed, a new or need to start a solution
➢ Arbitration : is a formal ADR process where a impartial arbitrator or a panel of arbitrators are
appointed to make binding decisions. Thomas and the other parties can agree to submit dispute to
arbitration which is governed by arbitration act 1996 in uk.
Advantages
✓ Parties can choose their own arbitrator
✓ Hearing time and place can be set by the parties
✓ Quick response can be made
✓ Cheaper method
Disadvantages
The rights of appeal are limited
Professional arbitrator fees may be sexpensive
A legal question might not be answered by a arbitrator who doesn’t know about
legal laws
➢ Conciliation : Thomas can use conciliation as an alternative dispute resolution as this involves the
intervention of a neutral third part , the conciliator who helps in communicating and negotiate
between vision technologies and Supermart, this will result in some advantages and
disadvantages,
Advantages
✓ A neutral third-party involvement
✓ An informal process taken place
✓ A clear communication where parties open with their interest, concerns and
solutions
Disadvantages
Lack of binding decisions unlike arbitration
Unresolved issues can occur
All parties need to participate in conciliation or else the effectiveness may be
limited
Conclusion
In conclusion, Thomas is facing a challenging situation in his business life, being a sole trader
has given him less mobility on monitoring the business and the tough situations like this. Thomas
has been involved in non-payment and experiencing financial difficulties. To address this
situation several legal and ADR solutions are being stated above, by considering this Thomas
can have a clear idea of which solution would be best.
By critically evaluating and analyzing the above factors, using arbitration would be an effective
and efficient way for Thomas, even though this situation considers disadvantages for Thomas,
but the solution made can be legalized at the end for a safety factor for Thomas. Arbitration is a
legalized form of solving disputes between parties. This helps both the Thomas from Supermart
refusal and vision technologies from Thomas non-payment.
Reference list
• CFI Team (2023). Corporation. [online] Corporate Finance Institute. Available
at: https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/accounting/what-is-
corporation-overview/.
• claims.co.uk TM. (n.d.). Consideration in Contract Law. [online] Available at:
https://www.claims.co.uk/knowledge-base/contract-law/consideration-in-
contract#:~:text=in%20contract%20law-.
• IEduNote (2020). Public Limited Company: Definition, Features, Advantages,
Disadvantages. [online] iEduNote.com. Available at:
https://www.iedunote.com/public-limited-company.
• Kenton will (2022). What Everyone Should Know About Corporations. [online]
Investopedia. Available at:
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/corporation.asp.
• Unacademy. (n.d.). Business Organization. [online] Available at:
https://unacademy.com/content/cbse-class-11/study-material/introduction-
to-small-industry/business-organization/.
• ww2.nycourts.gov. (n.d.). What is ADR? | NYCOURTS.GOV. [online] Available
at:
https://ww2.nycourts.gov/ip/adr/What_Is_ADR.shtml#:~:text=Alternative%20
dispute%20resolution%20(ADR)%20refers.