A&L - Accounting and Law

ACC1000 Introduction To Financial Accounting
Foundation Management

4 Credits

ACC1000 will provide you with an introduction to the construction, analysis and forecasting of financial statements. These financial statements consist of the income statement, the balance sheet and the statement of cash flows as well as the associated explanatory statement footnotes. Using actual entrepreneurial companies as well as publicly traded companies you will learn how to prepare, analyze, interpret and forecast financial statements. By the conclusion of the course, you will be able to forecast and analyze financial statements for investment decisions as well as to model and analyze the financial effects of different strategic directions as an owner of the company. These skills will benefit you in whatever career path you choose.

ACC2002 Managerial Accounting

4 Credits

Managerial Accounting builds on knowledge acquired in Financial Accounting. The objective of the course is to help students develop the skillset needed to identify, measure and analyze relevant information for making strategically appropriate decisions in the pursuit of superior financial performance. This skillset is critical for all entrepreneurs and business managers. 

The course explores how costs are measured and viewed, how costs relate to revenues, and how both costs and revenues will react to proposed business actions. The course covers of a variety of topics related to the measurement of operational results, including how measurement can motivate appropriate business behavior. It challenges students to use their newly acquired skills to evaluate the design and measurement of business operations, to select beneficial tactical actions, and to make strategic business decisions.  

Prerequisites: ACC1000

ACC3500 Intermediate Accounting I
4 General Credits

Students who have taken ACC3502 cannot take ACC3500 or ACC3501

Broadens the base of financial accounting concepts introduced in ACC1000 and delves more deeply into accounting concepts, techniques and procedures. Topics include inventory, tangible and intangible assets, statement of cash flows, accounting changes, revenue recognition and current and long-term debt. This course is essential for those who plan a career in accounting and recommended for anyone whose career will involve the extensive use of financial statements.

Prerequisites: ACC1000

ACC3501 Intermediate Accounting II
4 General Credits

Students who have taken ACC3502 cannot take ACC3500 or ACC3501

This course extends the in-depth study of accounting concepts and techniques which began in Intermediate Accounting I. Topics include earnings per share, leases, pensions and investments.

Prerequisites: ACC3500

ACC3502 Financial Reporting and Analysis
(Formerly Intermediate Accounting for Finance)
General Credit

Students who have taken ACC3500 and/or ACC3501 cannot take ACC3502

This course is especially designed for finance majors who want to become more proficient in the financial accounting skills necessary to effectively read and interpret financial reports. The course is recommended for students interested in careers in financial management and Wall Street. Topics such as inventory, deferred taxes, inter-corporate investments, and pensions will be explored through study of accounting principles, transaction analysis, financial statement disclosure, and through financial statement analysis as it applies to corporate finance, credit analysis, and aspects of investment banking.

Prerequisites: (SME2031 or ECN2002) and (SME2001 or ACC2002)

ACC3510 Financial Planning and Cost Control
4 General Credits

Explore cost systems and control for operations in profit and nonprofit organizations, and
budgetary considerations and variance analysis, including their relation to fiscal planning and
administration.

Prerequisites: ACC 2002

ACC3536 Accounting Analytics
4 Advanced Management Credits

Students who have taken ACC3545 cannot take this course and vice versa

Data and analytics are being used to assist businesses in becoming more efficient and effective in their decision-making process. This course will improve your ability to critically analyze data in order to make better business decisions and to communicate this information effectively to your audience. Students will learn how to use analytics tools from the lens of a manager, a financial statement user, a tax analyst, an auditor, and a forensic accountant. The course will introduce you to various analytics software products, and provide an opportunity to interact with professionals in the field.

Prerequisites: Junior or Senior Class standing

ACC4520 Auditing
4 General Credits

This course examines the interrelation of audit standards, procedures, and internal control techniques with the final auditor's certificate; auditing techniques, statistical sampling methods, and the impact of electronic data processing (EDP) procedures on the auditor.

Prerequisites: ACC3500

ACC4530 Advanced Accounting
4 General Credits

This course extends the in-depth study of accounting concepts and techniques which began in Intermediate Accounting I and II. Topics include business combinations and consolidation of financial statements, accounting for variable interest entities, translation and remeasurement of foreign currency-denominated financial statements and consolidation of foreign subsidiaries, governmental and not-for-profit accounting and accounting for partnerships.

Prerequisites: ACC3500 & ACC3501 as a pre-requisite

LAW1000 Business Law & Ethics

(Formerly Business Law)

Foundation Requirement

4 Credits

This course provides students, as future business managers and leaders, with broad exposure to important areas of business law and with an introduction to business ethics. Legal and business considerations often are closely related. Students need a good working knowledge of legal and ethical principles in order to succeed in the business world. Law can be used to create and capture value for business activities as well as to mitigate legal and business risks. 

Course goal #1 is to enable students to identify when they face legal issues in their professional lives and understand how to find additional information and/or consult intelligently with an attorney about them. Goal #2 is for students to be able to manage a business and its legal environment effectively. This includes understanding the significance of various legal and ethical issues, knowing how to manage and resolve legal disputes, knowing how to effectively structure businesses and deals, learning how to use the law to their advantage, and perhaps even when and how to try to change existing law. Goal #3 is to consider the limitations of the law and the role of ethical business principles and practices in sound decision making. To these ends, students read and analyze legal and ethics materials, apply precedents to new situations, complete group and individual projects, and practice analyzing, thinking, speaking and writing in a logical manner.

Business Law furthers three out of four overall learning goals of the undergraduate program

Collaboration – group projects such as negotiating contracts or conducting risk analyses and developing recommendations Communication – writing-intensive course involving writing assignments (research papers, contracts, analyses) and extensive Socratic dialogue in class through law case method teaching Problem solving – continual application of precedent to analyze fact situations and identify the application of legal principles to resolve the legal dispute in question, as well as the use of law as a larger policy tool to address wider social issues and problems. This course also has learning objectives specific to law and ethics. By the end of the course, students should be able to:

Understand substantive legal rules as well as procedural rules, institutions, and mechanisms; Appreciate the complex relationship between law and ethics; Identify ethical issues commonly arising in business and personal situations and understand and employ an ethical framework to manage these issues; Evaluate the ongoing role of law as a means of channeling human behavior in an interdependent society; Use law as a tool for understanding and solving business and social problems; and Utilize legal reasoning and understand how to make and defend basic legal arguments by drawing upon a broad range of relevant sources of legal authority.

Prerequisites: None

LAW3504 Good Company, Good Game: Law, Ethics and Leadership in Sports Business
4 Advanced Management Credits 

Following 2-3 preparatory classes held in Boston, students will travel to the Atlanta, Georgia area over a ~7-day period in order to develop a comprehensive understanding of how business leaders navigate legal, ethical and management decisions in sports businesses by studying the Arthur M. Blank family of businesses. Students will visit AMB Sports + Entertainment businesses, including the Atlanta Falcons, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta United and PGA Tour Superstore, and meet with organization leaders in a variety of roles, including executive leadership, legal, human resources, sales, events management, etc. Other meetings could include visits with other sports businesses headquartered in Atlanta, such as the Atlanta Braves, Atlanta Hawks, and Atlanta Dream. 

Participants will examine the way sports business leaders use legal, ethical and values-based decision-making frameworks to further their business success while also being good neighbors to their communities and forces for good in society at large. By first understanding the legal, regulatory and league requirements of sports business, students will be able to analyze challenges faced by these organizations and apply ethical and values-based leadership principles to determine whether a potential option is “lawful but awful” or a good strategic, ethical and values-based decision for a business and its stakeholders, including shareholders, employees and the larger community. 

Virtual Option: If COVID-19 restrictions prevent travel to Atlanta, the course can be held in a virtual format. Guest speakers from the AMB Sports + Entertainment businesses can join the class via WebEx. There may also be opportunities for optional cultural experiences in the Boston area (e.g. touring a Boston area stadium or attending a Red Sox game as local rules permit) for students taking the course on campus or living in the Boston area. 

(Course description to be revised once the logistics are worked out with the Blank team and in light of the pandemic.)

Prerequisites: LAW1000

LAW3515 ENTERTAINMENT LAW 
4 General Credits 

Whether it's the scandal surrounding sexual harassment lawsuits brought against Hollywood media mogul, Harvey Weinstein, accusations that pop singer Ed Sheeran engaged in copyright theft when he wrote _Thinking Out Loud_, or debates about how much Spotify should pay artists whose music they showcase, the entertainment industry is by far one of the most lucrative and newsworthy sectors of the global business economy. It encompasses everything from the latest Oscar winning films and Tony award winning plays to books on the New York times best seller list, online games and their music soundtracks, start up indie rock bands offering downloads of their music, as well as the fashion and sports industries. This course will explore legal and business issues relating to the development, production, exploitation and regulation of the entertainment industry. We will cover such topics as the intellectual property rights of artists, producers, publishers, fashion designers and celebrity athletes; the negotiation and formation of entertainment business contracts; the responsibilities of agents, managers and lawyers to the talent they represent; and 1st amendment issues relating to free speech and obscenity laws. All of this will be covered against the backdrop of examining such entertainment products as films, live/recorded/online music, streaming services, in print and ebooks, on line games, fashion, art, and other forms of new media. Please note that this course will be offered this Fall of 2018, and not again until the Fall of 2020. 

Prerequisites: LAW1000

LAW3525 White Collar and Corporate Crime 
4 General Credits 

We study white collar and corporate crime, which is to say, frauds and schemes and corruption. We will study an array of specific federal crimes in order to understand exactly what actions constitute the crime.   We will learn how a crime is prosecuted, from the prosecutor’s first knowledge of the crime to the final punishment. We will learn when a corporate employee can be convicted for something he was told to do by his boss, and when the boss can be convicted for something done by an employee.  You will learn what to do if you are the target of a federal investigation or are suddenly arrested, how to disassociate yourself from a conspiracy, and how to make a good faith effort to follow the law, so that even if someday you break a rule and find yourself as the subject of a criminal investigation, you may nonetheless be able to avoid prosecution or at least minimize punishment.   You will learn the vocabulary of the federal prosecutor, so that you can be a discerning reader of the law section of the Wall Street Journal and keep current: What sort of business practices is the government now targeting? When should you tread carefully? When should you say no? 

Students who have taken LAW3594 White Collar and Corporate Crime (2 credits) may not take this course. 

Prerequisites: LAW1000

LAW3560 International Law for Business
4 General Credits

This course explores the basic principles of law as they affect international business. Examines
the basic instruments and institutions of the international legal system and cultural underpinnings
of major world legal traditions, such as the European Union and the World Trade Organization.
Students learn how to structure and execute basic international commercial transactions in
goods, services, and technology, including the impact of import-export issues, contract issues,
and trade issues on business transactions. The course also examines the structure and regulation
of foreign direct investment, including strategic choices for business structures and the impact
of regulation on strategy. Finally, the course examines the ethical dimensions of corporate
conduct in a transnational setting. This course uses materials from many countries and
traditions, and makes extensive use of the World Wide Web.

Prerequisites: LAW1000

LAW3573 Building Contracts for New Ventures
4 General Credits

Every business operates in a supply chain in which it buys and sells goods and services. The links to these suppliers and customers are formalized in contracts, which is why all managers should know something about how to read and write a contract. This course will teach you how to do that. We will review basic principles of contract law and apply them in a wide variety of transactions. The course will be writing intensive and will equip you to do on the spot drafting and to understand drafts produced by your counterpart. This skill will enhance your ability to negotiate and structure deals. The foundation law course is a prerequisite, as is a solid ability to write.

Prerequisites: LAW1000

LAW3601 Public International Law and World Order
4 Advanced Liberal Arts Elective Credits

This course considers public international law as a way of framing and understanding the larger world in which we live. We will consider foreign relations and the United Nations system, the implications of global interdependence, and an increasingly robust international judicial system. Does international law actually create global order, or does it merely reflect political order that exists in other settings? When should national sovereignty yield to the wider concerns of the global community? What role do non-state actors (multinational businesses, NGOs, advocacy groups) play in the global legal regime?

These questions (and many others) have been at the center of the quest to create order in a rapidly changing world where the pace of technological innovation, entrepreneurship, and the increasingly free movement of people, capital, and ideas often far outpace the capacity of any legal regime (domestic or international) to keep up. We will study these issues and related themes throughout the semester. Special emphasis is placed on understanding international institutions, human rights (including the intersection of human rights with global business), refugee law, the regulation of warfare (including “humanitarian” intervention and responses to global terrorism), international environmental law, transnational dispute settlement, and business ethics in the global setting.

Prerequisites: Foundation Law course, (LAW1000)

LAW3602: International Human Rights Law 
4 Advanced Liberals Arts credits 

This course considers the development, structure and efficacy of international human rights law. Topics include:• Fundamental rights to freedom, family, and bodily integrity, as well as other rights to health and education, cultural expression, and the like• The emerging intersections between international human rights law and global business, and how business activity can enhance or detract from human rights• International and regional human rights instruments and systems, the obligations of states and individuals to uphold human rights, and remedies for violations• International crimes such as genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes• Historical development, how and why human rights standards came into being, and how they change over time• The use of international human rights law to protect specific groups (eg, women, children, LGBTQ persons, cultural minorities, etc.)• The role of non-state actors (multinational businesses, NGOs, advocacy groups) in the global legal regime around human rights Special emphasis is placed on the role of international human rights law in international and domestic institutions, transnational businesses, and personal and professional ethics in the global setting. There will be some comparative analysis of international and domestic laws and frameworks. A common theme throughout is the intersection of national and international legal norms with the realms of national and international politics, and the extent to which one or the other is better suited to address the serious challenges faced by the international community. 

Prerequisites: LAW1000 or equivalent

LAW3602: Law Through Film

4 advanced liberal arts credits

Building on LAW 1000, Business Law and Ethics, this course provides an overview of fundamental business law principles, as well as how to apply those rules in practical situations through the lens of film. Critical reading, debate, clear writing and logical reasoning skills are emphasized. Course themes include using the law to add value to businesses, ethics and fairness, issue-spotting, and some legal strategy. The overall course objective is to provide knowledge of substantive legal issues and the ability to apply legal principles in a "real world" context. The process of legal analysis will be emphasized throughout the course.

Prerequisites: LAW1000

LAW 3604: Environmental Law & Policy

4 Advanced liberal arts credits

This course provides an overview of environmental law – and, consistent with Babson’s curricular approach, its wider context as it relates to the natural environment, society, and entrepreneurial activity. In terms of core legal content, we will focus on common law principles, federal statutes and regulatory frameworks in the United States, and aspects of other government policy that relate to the natural environment. International frameworks and treaties will be covered. Implementation and enforcement issues will also be investigated, as well as “soft law” approaches such as regulation-by-disclosure.

This course fits Babson’s curricular themes such as integrated sustainability. Specifically: this course will endeavor to consider the legal content against the background of existential crises in ecosystems, and with an eye to how legal frameworks either hinder or enable entrepreneurial activity to eliminate harms cause by human activity. We will also consider the legal content as it relates to other sustainability courses, and current cases and controversies in the news.

Prerequisites: LAW 1000

LAW3605 Privacy Law 
4 Advanced Liberal Arts Credits 

From the scandal surrounding Cambridge Analytica's alleged use of personal data from Facebook users, Edward Snowden's whistleblowing about the NSA's surveilling the lives of average citizens, Google's scanning email content to help marketers engage in target advertising, to police use of DNA data on ancestry sites to track alleged criminals - we live in an age where privacy is in short supply. Nevertheless, the U.S., and lately Europe more so, have laws that place a high value on the privacy of their citizens. These laws try to strike a balance between honoring individual privacy, free speech, and creating economic growth and innovation that comes from monetizing private data. This course will explore privacy law, with a special focus on helping students cultivate the requisite leadership skills to develop forward thinking company privacy policies, greater individual awareness and empowerment over the use of their own data, and public policy. We will examine relevant leading technological developments, the internet, US domestic and global privacy law, and the cultural context in which these areas operate. Topics will include the US Constitution, free speech,intimacy and privacy, racial and DNA profiling, health records privacy, copyright law, tort law,wiretapping laws, anonymity, government records and public access, fair credit reporting, employer,monitoring of employees, student records privacy, and new European laws on data mining and,protection and cyber security. Note that this is also a writing intensive class, which will help students develop and enhance their writing skills through various kinds of writing assignments. 

Prerequisites: LAW1000

LAW3615 Sports Law and Policy
4 Advanced Liberal Arts Credits

Sports Law provides students with a broad overview of how sports leagues and player conduct are regulated and how various bodies of substantive law, regulation and policy are applied in the context of the sports industry. The course examines the legal relationships among athletes, teams, leagues, governing bodies, sports facilities, licensees, broadcasters, and fans. This includes the history of the various leagues and organizations, the influence of politics on sports law, and public policy governing sports. Substantive legal topics covered include antitrust law, contract law, labor law, marketing law, and other regulatory schemes. In addition, this course will discuss other sports law topics, such as the role of the league commissioner; different league structures; agent certification; gaming law; and others.

Prerequisites: LAW1000

LAW3661 American Constitutional Law: Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. 
(Advanced Liberal Arts Elective) 

Explores the specific limitations imposed upon federal, state, and local governments by the United States Constitution in the areas of civil and political rights. These include the rights to free speech and a free press; the right to practice one's religion; the rights of the criminal defendant to counsel and trial by jury, and against self-incrimination, cruel and unusual punishment, and unreasonable searches and seizures; the rights of privacy and due process; and the right to equal protection under the law. Students will study significant United States Supreme Court cases of the past, as well as cases currently pending. This course is typically offered in the following semester: Spring

Prerequisite: LAW1000 

LAW3662 American Constitutional Law: The American Federal System of Government 
4 Advanced Liberal Arts Credits 

The purpose of this class is to acquaint you with the basic legal principles undergirding the American federal system of government. You will study the nature and powers of the Congress, the President, and the Courts, and the interplay of these federal authorities with each other, and the State governments. You will further discover how these principles inform the debates over some of today's most controversial issues, such as health care reform, gun control and the government's war powers. 

Prerequisites: LAW1000

LAW3675 INNOVATION LAW AND POLICY
(FORMERLY INNOVATION AND THE LAW: A CRITICAL EXAMINATION)
4 Advanced Liberal Arts Credits

Innovation is often praised as a key to entrepreneurship and economic growth. For this reason, intellectual property law seeks to stimulate innovation beyond competitive free market levels through through patents, designs, copyrights, trade secrets and trademarks. At the same time, other areas of law such as safety, advertising, consumer protection and antitrust law may be called upon to regulate possible negative effects from innovation. This course explores how these areas of law apply to innovation to ask the ultimate question, how should the legal system best encourage or regulate innovation, if at all?

Prerequisites: LAW1000

The sophomore management experience MAC and TOM module (SME) integrates two subject streams: Technology and Operations Management (3 credits) and Managerial Accounting (3 credits). This module focuses on the internal organization and processes required for entrepreneurial leaders and managers to successfully test and execute business strategies. To be effective, entrepreneurs and managers must design operations, model the expected performance of operational designs, make decisions that strategically manage costs, and take actions that achieve desired results in an ethical manner. The two streams in this module will help build the skills you need to become ethical entrepreneurial leaders and managers. You will experience how the design of operations impacts measured performance, and how modeling expected results before action is taken leads to improved operational decisions. SME will also provide learning experiences that demonstrate the interconnections between the streams.

SME2001 Managerial Accounting
3 Intermediate Management Credits

The Managerial Accounting stream in SME builds on knowledge acquired in Financial Accounting but shifts the focus to providing entrepreneurs and managers with relevant information that supports decision making and performance measurement. The stream introduces the language of managerial accounting and teaches students to perform basic management accounting analyses (e.g., costing of cost objects, cost behavior, differential analysis, and performance measurement). The stream requires students to use the results of their analysis to evaluate the design of operations, to make strategic decisions, and to propose action. Issues covered include selecting a profitable mix of products and services, analyzing profits and costs during product development, budgeting for operations, analyzing whether to outsource or insource activities, and managing performance through measurement systems. Throughout the semester we will explore interconnections between management accounting analyses and operational actions.

Prerequisites: FME1001 and ACC1000

TAX3500 Taxes
General Credit

Studies tax administration; income, deductions, and credits; treatment of gains and losses;
income taxation of individuals, businesses, estates, and trusts, with an emphasis on income
taxation of individuals; and estate and gift taxation fundamentals.

Prerequisites: LAW 1000

LAW3650 Tax Policy
4 Credits

Tax policy is a government’s choice regarding what taxes to levy, on whom and in what amounts in order to raise the funds it needs and to influence taxpayer behavior.

Students will learn the timeless design principles of good tax policy, evaluate taxation in America over time through the lens of these design principles, examine the roles of influential individuals, discuss social, environmental, economic responsibility, and sustainability (seers) aspects as well as global and ethical considerations in the tax policy debate, assess alternative approaches to the current federal income tax system in the U.S., and develop policy as well as implementation recommendations.

Prerequisites: LAW1000; prior completion of TAX3500 is beneficial