Management Case Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Management Case Study - Essay Example by â€Å"jobs low in specialization (with a broad variety of tasks and responsibilities), no clear chain of command (team based approach), and a wide span of control, and are highly decentralized with a low level of formalization.† These two organizational configurations as stated previously lie on polar extremes and there is a huge possibility that other organizational structures exist which are in between these two extremes. Mason Electric Service Company will be evaluated to determine its organizational configuration depending on the six elements of organizational namely work specialization, chain of command, centralization, span of control, formalization, and departmentation. To simplify the discussion of these elements and their application to the company, a table which summarizes the evaluation is presented below. This will be supported by a more detailed discussion to elaborate the evaluation. In terms of division of labor, Mason Electric follows a mechanistic structure as tasks are simple, specific and repetitive. As discussed in the case, the top management became so overwhelmed with the employee turnover which often result to hiring persons who are not familiar with the previous’ employees job description. To answer this dilemma, the management sought to establish â€Å"Standard Practice Instructions† which are specific job functions for the employees. The case also highlighted that the employees’ role in the organization is rigid as specific task directives flow downward to the organization. The utilization of this standard procedure also signifies a high level of formalization within the company. Adherence to the chain of command is strict as each employee reports and is evaluated by his immediate superior. The strict adherence to the chain of command is also shown by the specific guidelines received by the employees from their supervisors. It is apparent that employees are not empowered but are being directed and subjected to the company’s

Can We Attain Happiness Without God Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Can We Attain Happiness Without God - Essay Example They perceive that the attainment of the happiness is dependent on the attainment of the presence of God in our lives in certain manner. The religious teachings and the normal points of the view differ in achievement of the happiness. A majority of the religions speak of the importance of God as the primal force behind the attainment of the happiness. There are a number of prominent philosophers, like Aristotle; who have propagated that happiness is a state of mind. This forms the base of the contradictory nature of the definition of happiness. The Christian teachings place a lot of importance on the seeking of God as a means of happiness (Milton 179). This can be attributed to the basic view of God as a driving force of this universe. This also emanates from the fact that God as seen as an omnipotent being who does well to all. This essential property qualifies him as a quintessential source of happiness. The contemporary philosophers like Voltaire have pointed to the material natur e of happiness (Olson 201). They also argue that happiness is a state of the mind. Some have an external locus of happiness, as for example, the material possessions, money, clothes and wife. For some others, it is internal in nature. After a thorough analysis of all the points, I concur with the view of the faith, that God gives us happiness. It is of likelihood to me as it puts the onus of happiness to a greater power. This rests the grail of happiness in a power that is bigger than us, better than us, more intelligent than us and ultimately makes happiness seem more attainable. VIRTUES Virtue is a kind of moral excellence. The denomination of virtue is positive and renders a sense of inherent goodness in any human being. They serve as the cornerstone of the development of any person. They are inherent to the development of the greatness of any individual. This can also be termed as the pattern of the thought in all the individuals. The virtues can be considered as a subset of the values. The values are the base of the system of the operations of a person. If the values are maintained in the proper way, that leads to an all-round development of the individual. There is a classification of the virtues, which tend to divide the virtues into a number of tangible patterns. The established literature talks about two kinds of virtues, one is the Kantian virtue; the other is the Aristotle kind of the virtue. Aristotle values mention a list of values. They are temperance, the practice of justice, the practice of liberality, magnificence, the pride (being aware of the achievements of self and not being pompous), gentleness and a few other qualities. These are the general list of the virtues that are common to the literature. Aristotle has suggested the practice of the moderation in all the virtues. This shall help in the attainment of the needs of all the humans. Everything must be practiced in the right kind of the moderation for the attainment of the goals. This he lps in the development of the fundamental nature of humans at any point of time. One of the examples is the use of the moderation over the thinking. There is the need to practice middle path by not getting too anxious about anything, while maintaining the seriousness of any situation. I believe in the practice of the virtues, as they would help us in becoming better humans. It would also allow us to gain a

The concerns of donating bodies for research

The concerns of donating bodies for research There have always been concerns on whether a person should donate his or her body to science. Some people say its morally wrong not to have a regular funeral. Others say its the right thing to do because you could potentially be saving peoples lives, or helping a life out in some way. There are many advantages and disadvantages. Some people may be confused by body donations and organ donations. When you donate your organs, the doctors usually only take the organs they need to perform surgery to another being. A body donation consists of using your body to run test and hopefully find new ways to cure illness and disease. There are many advantages to donating your body to science. Most of these are going towards the advancing of scientific studies. There are still many diseases and cancers that go un- treatable. There are some treatments you can take to lower your risk of getting cancer a second time, but chances are very likely that you will get it a second time. There are still thousands of diseases that we do not know the cure to or how to treat them and the only way to find out more about these cancers and diseases is to study them and learn from them. There are other ways to study these cancers and diseases, but the best way that doctors and scientists can figure these illnesses out is to study and research donated bodies. Of course there are some people who dont think it is right to donate their body to science, but others would rather help people in the future to hopefully find cures for some diseases. This will also develop the advances in medical sciences. Throughout history, people have studied the anatomy of mankind to learn more about the human race to become smarter. Many people choose to become organ donors when they receive their license or state I.D. Both kinds of donation are very important to science. Some people have a hard time deciding whether to donate their body to science. On one hand, it could help find cures to diseases and it could help the study of young doctors to train with them. For the people who decide not to donate, it may be an issue with their religion where it is not right to donate, and they want a regular burial service. Some of the people who decide not to donate believe they cannot donate because they will not have them in the afterlife. Some people choose not to donate for many reasons. One of these reasons being they feel that they should have a regular funeral arrangement with and open casket ceremony. Many people are very religious and will always go by what they believe, which there is nothing wrong with that. Some families want to have an open casket ceremony to say their final goodbyes and have them buried beside their loved ones. However it is possible to have a funeral ceremony and a showing for all of the families to say their goodbyes and then later donate the body to science. No matter what people decide to do there is no right or wrong in donating or not donating. It is simply a personal decision, or a religious decision. If I had to decide whether to donate my body to science, I would choose to have a regular funeral. All through my familys history we have always buried our loved ones beside each other and we will continue to do so. There are many reasons why I believe in a showing and burring families together. On the other hand I do believe in organ donations, but no donating your entire body to science. Even though some people believe its right to donate your body to science to help the future doctors of the world, there are many more ways to study human corpses without donating your whole body. There have even been instances where the morgue and doctors have taken organs from dead bodies without the consent of the parents. For example, in 2005 a kid got into a car wreck and passed away. The morgue or doctors took the brain of the child out of the body without the parents consent the parents. This is why there is always a debate on whether you should donate your body to science or not. My personal belief is that if you have always had a regular funeral and the history of your family has always done it that way, you should keep doing it. If you dont have many religious beliefs and you not sure what to choose, maybe body donations would be a good idea to do. I believe in regular burial services, but at the same time we need some people who do not mind what happens with their body after death, to donate their body to research. The reason some people choose to donate is because sometime in their life they needed an organ from someone else to keep living their life. In this case, the person who donates is trying to help someone in the future by hopefully giving someone an organ of his or hers to help someone in the future. In this case, I believe donating organs is the right thing to do. Many religions such as Christians, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism believe it is okay to donate organs to someone else, because they believe it is an act of kindness, and giving. My opinion is that if you are going to donate anything you should donate money, blood, and organs. Just by donating blood and organs you can help, and save many lives without donating your whole body to science and research. All of this is just a personal decision. Whatever someone chooses to do, they should consider others in their decision and how they can help somebody else before they pass away. Although there are many reasons why people should donate their body to science, I still believe you do not have to donate your entire body. Just organ donations alone can help save many lives and donating blood can potentially save up to three lives. For the people who are trying to decide whether or not they should donate something to science, I think they should talk about it with parents, friends, and doctors to make the best choice. In some cases, some peoples bodies would not be a good donation to science and would only be hurting the cause. If you have a past of drug use or alcohol abuse you would not be a good candidate to donate your body. If you have lived a long healthy life and you believe your organs could potentially save another persons life, then go ahead and donate. Many doctors and lawyers will tell you that you need to donate your body to science. But before listening to them, think to yourself what would be right. A lot of doctors say that body donations are the only way to advance in anatomy science and they need more and more donations. This is not true; there are many more ways to help with the advancement of science without donating your body. You could give blood and money, or just donate your organs alone. There are many disadvantages to donating your body to science. One of these reasons is that your never know exactly how you are going to die, and if for some reason the doctors and morgue dont like the condition your body is in, they do not have to accept your body. This will leave the loved ones of the dead body with un-expected funeral costs and everything that goes along with a funeral. In todays society money is a serious issue and people would like to know exactly whats going on with issues that involve money. In the end, no matter what you decide to do, whether its donating your whole body to the research of science and anatomy, just donate certain organs of your body, or decide to go with a regular funeral service, you should always think and talk about it to your loved ones first. Many people who decide one of these options usually go with what their family history has chosen in the past. This may be the best way, but in some cases its not. If you or a loved one has ever been in a situation where you need another persons organ to live, you will know what its like to have to go through that pain, and depression. In this case, I believe it is right to donate your organs, but you do not need to donate your whole body. I believe in conducting a normal funeral service along with being an organ donor. Usually the DMV will ask youre when you receive your license or state I.D. if you would like to be an organ donor. I elected to be an organ donor, because I know if I were in a situation where I needed someone elses organs to live, I would be hoping someone chose to be an organ donor. This goes back to being a religious family. Many religions believe in organ donning because it shows characteristics of kindness and unselfishness. It all depends on what youre and your family believes in. My family has always been the type of family to give organs, but at the same time have a regular burial service, and thats the way I believe it should be. Before you choose which way to go with donations, have some feelings for people who are in dire need for an organ to live a full and happy life. The book â€Å"Stiff† by author Mary Roach is a very interesting and exciting book. Normally you will read a book and it will end with a death or crazy climax. In â€Å"Stiff† the best part of the book begins after the death. She describes what really happens after death and puts it into a perspective where everyone can understand. She also makes her story kind of funny in some parts which keep the readers interested. Many other books like this seem boring and dull, but the way Mary Roach writes and the words she uses keeps the reading laughing through the whole book. Her writing is very vibrate and knowledgeable

Mummy Portraits From Roman Egypt :: Egyptian Art History Essays

Mummy Portraits From Roman Egypt â€Å"Ancient Faces: Mummy Portraits From Roman Egypt† a special exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art concentrates on 70 portraits painted in Egypt during the first few centuries of Roman rule. Rome controlled Egypt as it controlled much else, through a policy of calculated multiculturalism. Egyptian customs were tolerated; Romans brought practices and beliefs of their own. Before long, things shaded together. The mummy paintings are traces of that process in action. The paintings were made to be placed at the head level on the outside of cloth-wrapped mummies as part of Pharaonic mortuary rites focused on the afterlife. It was likely that the portraits were painted just before or after death. As one walks into the gallery an eire feeling is in the air. The eyes of the portraits seem to follow you around the room. The Roman influence among the people is easily seen. A quote on the wall reads â€Å" The arts in Roman Egypt were as complex as the society while temple building in the tradition Egyptian style continue with few interruptions until the end of the 2nd century A.D and many fine, relief’s, columns, and other architectural elements were created in the pharaonic manner, sculptures in a purely Egyptian style practically came to an end with the Roman conquest. Portraits from the Antioopolis tend to show their subjects in distinctively restrained clothing and hairstyle presumably inspired by the city’s interest in Greek classicism. A number of Mummy portraits depict young men between the ages of 14 and 20 with their first facial hair, a feature that had particular connotations in Greek educated society of Roman Egypt. The way Emperor Hadrian had his hair combed forward and wearing a short beard that demonstrates love for ancient Greece. There are several inscriptions on panel paintings written in Greek, which was the suggested language of the educated upper class. These are just several examples of Greek and roman influence on the Egyptian society. An exhibit I found more interesting was The Mary and Michael Jaharis Gallery of Archaic and Classical Greek Art. The Greek Art is elaborate with many of the statues being large scale. Many of the statues have a deep meaning behind them. Like the statue of Aphrodite it is a full body with animation appearing to be graceful and seductive.

Birmingham International Airport Essay

In the space of just 30 minutes every weekday, around 5.00 in the evening, around 20 flights arrive and depart from the Eurohub Terminal. At the same time, aircraft are arriving and leaving from the Main Terminal next to the Eurohub. Across the runway and acres of tarmac, at the site of the original airport, the overnight freight operation is just beginning to wake up with the arrival of staff and the preparations for the first aircraft from Europe or the United States. Some of the 7,000 staff from the 150 organisations based at Birmingham International Airport (BIA) see to the needs of their customers. The baggage handling operation is sorting, checking and dispatching bags to the many departing aircraft. The ground crews are loading and unloading aircraft, putting meals on board, filling the fuel tanks and cleaning aircraft during their brief spell at the airbridge. The airlines’ ticketing staffs are dealing with lines of passengers, each of whom may have a different final destination. The information desk is fully staffed, dealing with the many queries, such as people wanting to know if their plane is on time, the location of a bank or hotel, or trying to work out how to get by road or rail to their final destination. Passengers flow through the lounges, passport control and security checks, and use toilets, duty free shops and restaurants, all of which have to be kept clean and stocked for their convenience. All of these activities, and more, are coordinated by BIA’s Operations Director, Richard Heard. Richard explains his role: ‘Out of all the people that work at the airport, BIA employs about 700 and I oversee about 600 of them. These operations people are basically concerned with the day-to-day running of the airport and the short and medium-term operational planning. This includes a whole raft of things on the airfield and in and around the terminals. The air-field side of things essentially involves maintaining the runways, agreeing slot allocations with the airlines, developing and implementing the safety management systems and  keeping the fire crews fully trained. For example, this is a heavily regulated area so we work very closely with the Civil Aviation Authority. The other side of the operation is about managing the terminal buildings and other facilities. This is almost like running a shopping centre with its focus on customer service but with special security arrangements. Airport security is a key task which we run in-house, employing about 300 people. I also have a facilities manageme nt team and an engineering services team that look after the maintenance of the whole site. ‘In terms of long-term design and development, we set up teams to oversee the planning of new building projects, such as new catering outlets, car parks and people mover systems. This plan uses the forecasts of passenger numbers and guides our decisions about what to build and when, and how to pay for it. We have been growing at a rate of about 10 per cent a year over the last 10 years. In 2000 the airport handled 7.6 million passengers and our growth is set to continue, with an anticipated 10 million passengers expected to travel through Birmingham by 2005. This plan involves serious money; we are talking about a capital plan of about  £50 million a year over the next 15 years. This is all very much driven by operational needs. Managing and developing the airport’s operations are huge challenges. ‘One of the major tasks for operations is not just to provide the infrastructure for all the other organisations on site – such as airlines, handling agents, retailers, cargo handlers – but also to provide the leadership and coordination for them. There are also groups off site, such as community groups, which we liaise with as we work to monitor and improve the environment. My personal job is about coordination and setting the safety and customer service standards for everyone to adhere to. ‘All of us from the different organisations try to work together as a team and there is a great community spirit here that has built up over the years. Everyone wants their own bit to work well and the whole thing to work well together. We all have a great understanding of everyone’s problems and there is an excellent spirit of cooperation. ‘The real secret of managing operations, if you are ever going to sleep at night, is to make sure you have really good processes and procedures in place. We can’t have people making it up on the spot. Everything has to be thought through and tried and tested. We spend a great deal of time reviewing and developing processes. We have to have procedures for fires, evacuations, bomb threats, ill passengers and even deaths in the terminal. Unfortunately, we do have medical emergencies, not surprising since we have about 30,000 people passing through the airport every day in the summer. ‘Another key task is operational planning. We do this on an annual basis. Operational planning is about making the operation as efficient as possible by working out how we can best allocate our infrastructure to the airlines. For example, we need to decide who is going to get the airbridges, who is going to get certain stands, who is going to have their passengers bussed to the terminal at peak times and so on. However, you have to remember that the operational plans are just that and as ever, things go wrong – schedules fall apart because of plane delays or mechanical problems, for example. So we also have terminal duty managers whose job it is to sort out the day-to-day operational problems. Our team of terminal managers covers the airport 24 hours a day, every day of the week, with one senior manager overseeing each shift. ‘Many of the things that happen are recurring problems, such as delays or diversions and you know you will end up with a lot of passengers waiting around a lot longer than they want to. The job of the duty manager is to coordinate all our efforts, ensuring that the catering people know what’s happening and making sure our information services people know so they can tell the passengers, for example. The terminal managers need to keep their own ears and eyes open. Passengers may report that they have seen someone acting suspiciously and the managers need to know what to do. When passengers get off the plane and their bags are not there, although it’s the responsibility of the airlines or their handling agents, our people may have to pick up the pieces. When people try taking prohibited items through security, such as a family heirloom with a large curved blade, we have to explain patiently to them that they have to leave it with us. ‘ The terminal managers also have to deal with major incidents – things like bomb threats or, like last year, when Spanish coach drivers went on strike leaving many passengers stranded at the airport. The job of the terminal manager is to sort it all out and make sure everyone knows what is happening. It involves a great deal of common sense but it is not easy. If you do an evacuation, for example, everyone will be at different stages in the passenger processing and security clearance procedures, so when the incident is over, we have to try and put them all back where they came from without mixing them up or making them start the process again! ‘We have the equivalent of the terminal duty managers looking after the airfield side: operations duty managers. Their job is about dealing with the day-to-day problems, such as changing stand allocations when delays occur or arranging snow clearance if we have a sudden fall. Again plans are in place and everything has to be thought through. We also have weekly communication meetings when we get the operations and duty managers to work with the operational planning department. ‘Our mission is to be the best regional airport in Europe. To do this we need continually to try and improve everything we do. It sounds simple, but it is not easy. For example, we have almost no capacity at peak times, that is between 7.00 a.m. and 8.00 a.m. and between 5.00 p.m. and 6.00 p.m. when we are busy with short-haul European traffic, so we are trying to encourage other airlines to fill in the off-peak times. This is ideal for long-haul operators and we now have flights to South East Asia and America, and just last year we added an Emirates flight to Dubai. This allows us to use the middle of the day when we have runway and terminal capacity and it suits everybody as we can all make better use of our facilities. ‘Running an airport is a fascinating and exciting challenge. No two days are the same. We know that we can make a real difference to our customers, both passengers and airlines, by what we do. We also make a major contribution to the impact on the local economy by encouraging inward investment and exports. As an operations manager, my job is to make it all happen. It’s a  fantastic opportunity and it really does make a difference – its great!’ Long-term issues are mostly derived from day-to-day tasks which are not addressed properly and get accumulated into a bigger problem. For example, the recurring delays and arranging for snow clearance are common problems, operations duty managers must have a good plan in place so everything is thought through and covered – avoiding any unanticipated events. Richard is able to handle this through weekly communication meetings where the operations and duty managers work work with the operational planning department. It is through interaction and communication that allows Richard to have a better overview of what is currently happening so long-term plan can be thought off. Another example, the airport is trying to encourage other airlines to fill in their off-peak times to fully utilize their resources. This is also a day-to-day observation where a long-term plan is being drawn out. It is apparent that Richard is able to oversee the day-to-day tasks and manage long-term issues through communication and proper operational planning. It is with planning, he is able to anticipate what could go wrong before it could happen or becomes a big issue. Through operational planning the airport is able to make a major contribution to the impact on the local economy by encouraging inward investment and exports.

Aspects of contract and business law Essay

Identify the legal criteria for offer and acceptance in a valid contract A contract is defined as a legally binding agreement and are very important in business. This is because: * it is risky to enter into a business arrangement without some form of contract * this is because, in the event of something not going as planned, a business contract is your safety net * without a business contract that stipulates the procedures, policies and expectations of the concerned parties, it is also likely that a dispute will arise in the course of the transactions * a broken contract can result in a law suit or an out of court settlement and the payment of damages caused by the breech of contract There are many different types of contracts. The main elements needed for a standard contract are: – Offer – Acceptance – Capacity – Consideration Offer And Acceptance Offer An offer is a definite promise made by an offeror to an offeree about the agreement made. They make this promise with the intention that it shall become binding or legally enforceable as soon as it accepted by the person receiving the offer (the offeree). Acceptance A valid offer must be accepted by the offeree to the contract. In normal circumstances, acceptance of the offer must be communicated to the person making the offer, (the offeror). Acceptance of an offer must be in the form specified in the offer. This can be both written or oral. An example of an offer and acceptance would be: A vending machine. The machine is offering you the items and you are choosing whether to accept the offer by putting your money into the machine to purchase the item. A person going into a shop to purchase an item, they would pick up the item and take it to the till to pay. When the customer, the offeror, hands the shop keeper the money they are making an offer, as soon as the shop keeper, the offeree, accepts the money they are showing acceptance. Sometimes the situation can just be as simple as this and no words have to be spoken. Invitation to treat There is a big difference between an offer and acceptance and an invitation to treat. An invitation to treat is an indication that a person is prepared to receive offers from another person. In this sense, ‘treat’ means to ‘trade’ or ‘to do business’. The person who is available to receive an invitation to treat can accept or reject the offer until the final moment of acceptance. An example of invitation to treat would be: – Goods displayed, with a price ticket attached, in a shop window or supermarket; the customer can make an offer to buy the product, this can then be accepted or rejected by the seller up to the point of sale. – Products advertised in catalog, brochures, Internet etc, even if the word offer is used by sellers to promote their goods. An offer must be distinguished from an invitation to treat. Carlill vs carbolic smoke ball company (1892) The carbolic smoke company placed an advertisement in newspaper to tell people of their new flu remedy. The advertisement stated that it would pay  £100 to anyone who took the remedy for 14 days but still got the flu. Mrs carlill used the remedy but unfortunately still got the flu, and made a claim against the company for the money. But the smoke ball company refused to pay the money. The company tried to claim that the advertisement was an attempt to make an offer to the whole world which meant communication of it was impossible. Normally an advertisement in the newspaper or on television etc, would be an invitation to treat, but in this case as the company had actually gone out of their way to put money into the bank they lost the argument, and it made it an offer and acceptance. The company had made an offer to the whole world and mrs carlill choose to accept their offer meaning they had to pay her as a contract had been made. Counter offers Counters offers are offers that are made and then gone back on and adjusted. As soon as a counter offer is made it voids the original contract. For example, if I want to buy a car and the offeror offers it to me for  £5000 and I choose not to accept as it is too high, but then to counter offer by offering them a lower price for it and then the original offeror chooses not to accept my offer, and I then say okay I will pay  £5000 and then they say no sorry, you can have it for  £5500. This is a counter offer, as I rejected the original offer and then by counter offering I made the original offer void, and then they can make a new offer. Task two (p2) Explain the law in relation to the formation of a contract in a given situation A contract comes in to existence when the offer that has been made by the offeror is accepted by the offeree. Contracts can be written or verbal/oral. A verbal contract is when two parties agree through the spoken word and therefore bound by a verbal agreement. This is often done between friends or business people that know each other well enough to agree to be bound legally on a spoken word or a hand shake. An example of this could be, ‘I will wash your car for ten pounds’, ‘okay thank you very much’. Written contracts are much more common in the work place. It is much easier and simpler for people to be bound by the terms of a written contract, where the details of the contract are included in a document signed by each party, (the offeree and the offeror). These can range from relatively simple agreements to much more formal contracts signed by the parties. Some examples of these could be, the sale of land, regulated credit and hi agreements and employment. Sometimes, a written contract can be much more beneficial and could be a lot safer to use, some examples why are: * A well written, clear, concise contract can avoid customer disputes and complaints. The contract should make clear both parties rights and regulations and obligations. * The subject matter can be easier to understand in a written contract. * Written contracts can specify delivery times, deadlines etc. * It is easier to put down the payments terms in a written document. * A written contract can provide alternative methods for the settlement of certain disputes. Also there is standard form contracts. Consideration Under contract law, the agreement between the parties will not in itself create a legally binding contract. There must be some degree of consideration between the parties for a valid contract to take place. Consideration is what one party to a contract will get from the other party in return for performing contract obligations. A contract is based on the exchange of promises. Each party to a contract must be both a promisor and a promisee. They must each receive a benefit and each suffer a detriment. This benefit or detriment is referred to as consideration. Consideration must be something of value in the eyes of the law. – This excludes promises of love and affection, gaming and betting etc. A one sided promise which is not supported by consideration is a gift. The law does not enforce gifts unless they are made by deed. An example of this would be, An event organiser promises to pay a band  £1000 if they sing at an event. The consideration for the event organisers promise would be to pay band if they promise to play at an event. The consideration for the bands promise to play at the event is the event organiser to pay the band  £1000. Consideration can take two forms: * executed consideration – an act in exchange for a promise, such as a reward case where the person making the offer promises to pay the reward upon the act of the act being completed. * executory consideration – the parties exchange promises to perform acts in the future, most contracts begin this way. For example, a seller promises to deliver to a buyer as a result of the buyers promise to buy at the agreed price. Consideration from the buyer is the promise to pay the price on completion. There are 5 rules of consideration, which are, 1) consideration must not be past 2) consideration must be sufficient but need not be adequate – there is no requirement that the consideration must be market value, providing some of value is given eg  £1 given in exchange for a house would be valid, the courts are not concerned with whether the parties have made a good or bad bargain 3) consideration must move from the promise – if a person other than the promisee is to provide the consideration, the promisee can not enforce the agreement Tweed one v Atkinson (1861) A couple were getting married and the father of the bride entered into an agreement with the father of the groom saying that they would each pay the couple a sum of money. Unfortunately both the father of the bride and the father of the groom died without paying any money. The groom then made a claim against the executor of the will. The claim failed as the groom was not party to the agreement and the consideration did not move from him. Therefore he was not entailed to enforce the contract. 4) an existing publics duty will not amount to a valid consideration – where a party has a public duty to act, this can not be used as consideration for a new promise 5) an existing contractual duty will not amount to valid consideration – if a party has an existing contractual duty to do an act, this act can not be used as consideration for a new promise Capacity Capacity is the legal power to enter into a contract. Who does not have the legal capacity? * minors – do have limited capacity * bankrupts * incapacitated persons – do have limited capacity For example, minors. Legal rules have been developed to protect minors from contractual liability and to allow them to also enter into agreements in limited circumstances. There are two types of contract that bind minor when dealing with adults, – supply of necessary goods – employment Also incapacitated persons are unable to enter into a contract. People suffering from a medically diagnosed mental health condition cannot enter into a valid contact as it is believed they do not have sufficient mental capacity to understand what it is they are doing. Also if the person is intoxicated and able to prove they were at the time the contract came into place they are seen as an incapacitated person and are unable to legally enter into a contract. Privity of a contract The doctrine of private means that a contract cannot confer rights or impose obligations arising under it on any person except the parties to it. Under common law only a promisee may enforce the promise meaning that if the third party is not a promisee they are not a privy to that certain contract. It is a legal concept denying third parties the right to sue on a contract. Price v Easton (1833) This case involved a three way argument. Basically Easton agreed with X that he would pay Price for the work that X had done. They completed the work and Easton refused to pay Price the money, Price tried to sue Easton but he failed. This was due to private of a contract. The contract was made between Easton and X therefore Price was not a privy to the contract. Task Three (p3) Describe the law with respect to misrepresentation in a given situation. Misrepresentation is a false statement of fact made by one party to other party before the contract is made with a view to inducing the other to enter it. For example, ‘one carful owner’ this statement is very misleading as you would expect that only one person has owner the product before and has been very careful with it, but this statement really could mean, it may have only had one careful owner but had ten bad owners. This statement is not lying it is just stating a fact and leaving out important detail therefore this is an example of misrepresentation. Once it has been established that a false statement has been made and that it induced the contract, it is necessary to determine the type of misrepresentation in order to determine the available remedy. There are different types of misrepresentation. For example, Fraudulent – A person will be liable for fraud if they make a statement which they know to be false or they have no belief in its truth or they are reckless or careless whether it is true or false. For example, Lapland new forest produced a website showing fantastic winter scenes. Unfortunately, the photos on the website were not taken at the park and customers were hugely disappointed when they arrived at the resort to find it is not at all like the website, many demanded their money back. In 2009 the owners of the park appeared in court and were charged with fraudulent misrepresentation. Innocent – a false statement made by a person who had reasonable grounds to believe that it was true, not only when the contract was made but also when the contact was entered into. Negligent – A person can be liable when they make a false statement and have no reasonable ground for believing the statement to be true. In the situation given I believe that it is negligent misrepresentation as Esso had no reason to believe that the statement given by their experienced representative was true at the time or the time the contract was entered into. I think the representative gave a false statement to get Martin to enter into the contract. I think Esso were inducing Martin into entering the contact, although, Martin would have expected the statement to be correct as it was an experienced representative for Esso who gave the statement he would have thought that they would be a reliable source so he probably did not do any checks on the land and just thought their word for it. Task Four (m1) Analyse the impact of the requirements for a valid contract in a given situation. 1) Mr Baron You have not entered into a valid contract as Mrs Anderson did not accept your offer. She informed you that she intends to sell her car at a certain price and you said you would like to buy it. There is o evidence that offer and acceptance has taken place here therefore no contact was made. 2) Mr Cunningham Although the seller offered you the product at  £900 as soon as you offered him  £800 the contract was broken. This is because of counter offer taking place. Even though you were prepared to pay the full price in the end, you had broken the contract by counter offering him therefore it is his choice whether to sell the product or not and whether to enter into another contract with you. 10) Mrs Lawrence (I wasn’t sure if the garage checks/services the car before they sell it on so I did two explanations) This is a case of fraudulent misrepresentation. Before the car was sold to you, the car sales showroom should have checked the car to make sure everything they were stating about the car was correct. Therefore they should have known that the mileage was significantly higher when you purchased it. This is a case of innocent misrepresentation. At the time when the car sales showroom sold the car to you they did not know that the mileage was significantly higher therefore it can not be seen as their fault as they were lead to believe that the statement they were giving was true.