Sign In
Not register? Register Now!
You are here: HomeEssayBusiness & Marketing
Pages:
7 pages/≈1925 words
Sources:
Level:
Harvard
Subject:
Business & Marketing
Type:
Essay
Language:
English (U.S.)
Document:
MS Word
Date:
Total cost:
$ 30.24
Topic:

Business Law (Essay Sample)

Instructions:

DBM LAW FOR BUSINESS
ASSIGNMENT – plus Marking Notes
1000-1500 words limit.
Shine Ltd was established some five years ago to manufacture industrial solvents and cleaning solutions, and John was appointed managing director.
The company’s main contract was with XYZ plc a large industrial conglomerate.
In the course of its research activity, Shine Ltd’s scientists developed a new super glue. John was very keen to pursue the manufacture of the glue but the board of directors overruled him and decided that the company should stick to its core business.
The managing director of XYZ plc is a friend of John’s and has told him that XYZ plc will not be renewing its contract with Shine Ltd as he is not happy with its performance. He also told John that he would be happy to continue to deal with him, if only he was not linked to Shine Ltd.
Following that discussion John resigned from his position as managing director of Shine Ltd and set up his own company, Flush Ltd which later entered into a contract with XYZ plc to replace Shine Ltd. Flush Ltd also manufactures the new glue discovered by Shine Ltd’s scientists, which has proved to be very profitable.
Task:
Advise the board of Shine Ltd as to whether they can take any action against John or Flush Ltd.
Suggestions:
1. This question requires an analysis of the doctrine of corporate opportunity and the rules relating to directors’ duties. Section 170, 174, 175, 177, 178, 180 and 182 of the Companies Act (CA) 2006.
2. Breach of the equitable principles and common law rules.
3. Section 178(2) specifically provides that the directors’ duties are enforceable in the same way as any other fiduciary duty owed to a company by its directors and remedies available may include:
- damages or compensation where the company has suffered loss; 
- restoration of the company’s property; 
- an account of profits made by the director; and 
- rescission of a contract where the director failed to disclose an interest.
4. IDC v Cooley (1972) case conclusion: …..The operation of the previous fiduciary duty not to make an undisclosed benefit from the position as directors and not to profit personally from what is a corporate opportunity even survived after the director in question has left the company….
“Cooley was an architect employed as managing director of IDC. He was put in charge of negotiations with a gas board, which had approached IDC concerning the design of a gas holder. During the negotiations it became clear that the gas board was unwilling to place the contract with IDC. At this point, Cooley resigned, falsely pleading ill health. Then he obtained the design contract with the gas board.
HELD: Cooley must pay the profits from the contract to IDC, since he had abused his position as agent of the company and used his inside knowledge to obtain the contract, creating a conflict of interest. Information which came to him while he was managing director and which was of concern to the company and relevant for the company to know, was information which it was his duty to pass on to the Board. It was irrelevant that his behaviour had not necessarily caused IDC to lose the contract.”
5. …. Rules against allowing a conflict of interest to arise apply even if the company cannot itself take advantage of the opportunity wrongly misappropriated, which continues the previous very strict application of principle (Regal (Hastings) v Gulliver (1942)).
6. Gilford Motor Co v Horne (1933).
Mr Horne was employed as managing director of GMAC Ltd. In his contract of employment Horne agreed that after leaving GMC he would not solicit its customers. When his contract was terminated, Horne did begin to solicit GMC’s customers. He knew that GMC would not allow him to get away with this, so he formed a company, the sole purpose of which was to employ him while he continued to solicit the customers. Horne’s defence, when sued by GMC was that his promise in his contract of employment was binding only on himself, not on the new company.
HELD: An injunction was granted preventing either Horne or the company from soliciting GMC’s customers. The court was satisfied that the company had been formed as a device, a stratagem , in order to mask the effective carrying on of a business, the purpose of which was to enable him to do what he had agreed not to do.

source..
Content:

Business Law
By Student’s Name:
Course code + name
Professor’s name
University name
City, State
Date of submission
The establishment of Shine Ltd was with the sole intent to produce industrial solvents and cleaning solutions. Appointment of the office of managing director was given to John to cover that post. During this course, the company acquired an agreement with XYZ plc a conglomerate. While still under the directorship of John the company came up with a new super glue. In his capacity as a director, he presented this to the manager with the hope that it would be supported, and the production would continue since he felt it would be a lucrative business. The board of trustees were however of a different opinion, and they ended up rejecting the project. The managing director of XYZ plc is a friend of John, and so he disclosed their intentions not to renew their contract with Shine Ltd. Their reason was that the partnership had not born as much success as they had hoped. He would, however, continue his dealings with John if only he were not attached to Shine Ltd. With this in mind, he resigned and instead formed his company, Flush Ltd. A company that later partnered with XYZ plc. The company also took up the project of manufacturing the glue Shine Ltd board of directors had rejected, and it has proved very profitable.
The corporate opportunity dictates that the director is not allowed to take for themselves any business opportunity that otherwise would have been beneficial to the corporation. It falls within the fiduciary duty of loyalty applications. The conditions in the act are clearly stipulated. It becomes limited to the Director, officers, and controlling shareholders (Esser, 2007). The act specifies that it is applicable whether the transaction harms the corporation. That is to say should the director go against this rule in the process make the cooperation benefit it does not mean he gets exempted from having broken particular law. The other part of this rule is that the corporation should not have obtained information regarding the opportunity that was presented. In the case where the board is aware and declines to take the opportunity then the fiduciary would take the opportunity for himself. Should the rule apply however the corporation becomes entitled to the profit earning for the fiduciary from the transaction?
Having considered all the activities that took place in case study this particular rule might not apply to John. While being the director of Shine Ltd, he took the idea to the board of trustees and following the rules stipulated in the Company act that would have been his responsibility. In this case, both John and the board of directors were aware of opportunity yet the board choose to ignore. With this in mind, it then becomes apparent that the opportunity would now belong to John. However, that does not mean that he gets to walk (Lowry, 2009).
Section 170 deals with the responsibility of the director of an organization. In as much as they are given the top most job, this section dictates what is expected of them from the daily operation of the group. Section 174 deals with the responsibility of the director to exercise care, skill and diligence. Their knowledge needs to be such that they are helpful to the organization. The manager has to handle the activities of the organization about his or her skills in that position. A factor also emphasized in Section 175. The part worth highlighting would be the second rule that specifies that it would be in conflict of interest to exploit information or opportunity gotten as a result of the position they hold in the company. Section 176 talks about Duty not to accept benefits from third parties. Of note is the second part where the aspect of the third party gets explained into details. Anyone who falls within the organization as a partner of an associate falls within this section. Section 177 deals with the responsibility of the organization's director who might find himself in a conflict of interest. He has to offer the board with a declaration letter to announce the presence of a conflict of interest before they get to discover on their own. Section 178 deals with the consequences of a breach of duty. It highlights that the section 171 to 177 having the same kind of punishment should the director have breached that contract. However, section 174 makes the management have an open idea concerning what can pass as a breach of contract since it is a section open to interpretation. Section 180 deals with the parts that can be considered to be in a position to assume. Having examined the effects and the position that they take make them be applicable or be ignored depending on the location.
Examining the case studies the duties mentioned above of the director were never fulfilled by John in his capacity as director of the organization. He stands liable for all accounts of the negligence of functions of the Director. He exploited the chances that they had to make better the body and instead used this privilege to gain as an individual. The company is on the right to take legal action concerning the negligence of duties as director.
The seems to be a violation of the equitable principle. That means that the data collected from the manager was wrongfully acquired. The breach of confidence in the English law gives room for a person to claim compensation for the violation of trust. The responsibility of the manager to have the clause of confidence falling within his doctrines translates to having a civil complaint. The rule applies specifically to situations where it would be unfair should the information be revealed. There exist three very fundamental aspects that would determine if a breach has taken place. Before ruling out that the case is worth being given a civil claim the three rules need to get approved to have existed. The information that is being shared should contain a certain degree of confidence. That is to say, it gets classified as being confidential. The provision of the information falls into the category of imposing on the application of obligation confidence. The information received was unauthorized when being used (Payne, 2008).
Considering the case study provided it is clear that the above conditions were all fulfilled. Working as the director of Shine Ltd the information that he shared with his friend would best fit this category. The information should not have been disclosed to anyone since the company owned it. While the information was being given he was working as the director of Shine. While there seems to be no documentation on the issue of permission to use this product for profit. Lack of proper authority to present the solution in this case ruling out the possibility that the process was ever legal (Payne, 2008).
Section 178 talks about the enforcement of the laws that govern the director's duties. In cases where the company has incurred losses due to the actions of the director then he becomes liable as a person. The director is to be made to restore the property of the company should he have lead to the destruction of any other property under his care. The director will have to account for any of the other profits they might have made while using the secrets acquired from the organization. It, therefore, becomes necessary for the board of directors to take into account section 178(2) when dealing with John (Sheikh, 2013). The director should defend himself on the grounds th...
Get the Whole Paper!
Not exactly what you need?
Do you need a custom essay? Order right now:

Other Topics:

  • Challenges to Business Success an Operations Management Focus
    Description: Choose a minimum of three of the following areas of Operations Management that you think are likely to most impact the success of your chosen business and justify your selection of each...
    11 pages/≈3025 words| Harvard | Business & Marketing | Essay |
  • Organisational Change
    Description: How and why do middle managers support and resist strategic change and how do leadership behaviors positively and negatively affect upon the employee commitment to organisational change?...
    1 page/≈275 words| Harvard | Business & Marketing | Essay |
  • How a Franchisor can Enhance Franchisee Satisfaction
    Description: Franchise business system is a very attractive business for both the small and medium enterprises (SMEs)....
    10 pages/≈2750 words| Harvard | Business & Marketing | Essay |
Need a Custom Essay Written?
First time 15% Discount!