GRA 6430 International Contract Negotiations - RE-SIT EXAMINATION

APPLIES TO ACADEMIC YEAR 2013/2014

GRA 6430 International Contract Negotiations - RE-SIT EXAMINATION


Responsible for the course
Cathrine Bjune, Carl Arthur Solberg

Department
Department of Marketing

Term
According to study plan

ECTS Credits
6

Language of instruction
English

Introduction
In the wake of increasing globalisation and international trade, the demands placed upon management to draft and negotiate sustainable contracts are greater than ever. This course addresses the needs for professional approaches in this context.

Learning outcome
The objective of this course is to givethje students adequate basic knowledge of critical aspects of the making and maintenance of international commercial agreements. The students will at the end of the course be able to identify relevant problem areas in international contracts and relate them both to the strategic alternatives open to the firm and to their legal consequences. They will also acquire insight into different methods of conflict resolution.

Prerequisites
A bachelor degree qualifying for entrance to the Master programme

Compulsory reading
Books:
Rigault, Didier. 2010. International business agreements : a practical guide. 4th ed. International Business Law Group of Brækhus Dege advokatfirma

Other:
During the course there may be hand-outs and other material on additional topics relevant for the course and the examination.


Recommended reading

Other:
To be announced


Course outline
Introduction to the course

  • Purpose and overview of the course
  • Presentation of case work for seminars
  • Contracts and contract law - basis of all business agreements
  • Key elements of contracts and contract negotiations

Legal aspects
  • Legal terminology and regimes
  • Contractual parties – who can enter into contracts?
  • Legal entities and contracts
  • Jurisdiction and choice of law
  • International Conventions
  • Methods of dispute resolutions
  • The contract stages – drafting, negotiations and planning
  • From memorandum of understanding to final contract
  • Contract clauses – general overview
  • UNIDROIT principles
  • Payment conditions and Letters of Credit
  • Delivery terms
  • INCOTERMS
  • EU and Competition Law
  • Impact of competition laws on international contracts.
  • Agency and distributor contracts
  • Licensing and joint venture contracts

Economic aspects
  • Economic theory and contracting

Negotiation process
  • Pre-negotiation
  • Face to face
  • Post negotiation
  • Preparation for the seminars
  • Negotiation seminars

    Computer-based tools
    It's learning

    Learning process and workload
    A course of 6 ECTS credits corresponds to a workload of 160-180 hours.

    The course will be carried out through lectures and seminars covering the issues above. The cases will be drawn from Norwegian companies experience from international contract negotiations and dispute resolution. The students will be required to review and criticise a given contract during the seminars.

    Please note that while attendance is not compulsory in all courses, it is the student’s own responsibility to obtain any information provided in class that is not included on the course homepage/It's learning or text book.


    Examination
    1. Term paper, counts for 50 % of the final grade
    The term paper should analyse a concrete contract between an exporter and one of its partners abroad

    2. Oral examination 50% of the final grade
    The oral examination will test the students in contract theory and legal issues relevant to international business contracts..


    All parts of the evaluation must be passed in order to obtain a grade in the course

    Specific information regarding student evaluation beyond the information given in the course description will be provided in class. This information may be relevant for requirements for term papers or other hand-ins, and/or where class participation can be one of several elements of the overall evaluation.

    This is a course with continuous assessment (several exam elements) and one final exam code. Each exam element will be graded using points on a scale (e.g. 0-100). The elements will be weighted together according to the information in the course description in order to calculate the final letter grade for the course. You will find detailed information about the point system and the cut off points with reference to the letter grades on the course site in It’s learning.

    Examination code(s)
    GRA 64301 continuous assessment accounts for 100% of the final grade in the course GRA 6430.

    Examination support materials
    A bilingual dictionary.
    Exam aids at written examiniations are explained under exam information in the student portal @bi. Please note use of calculator and dictionary in the section on examaids

    Re-sit examination
    It is only possible to retake an examination when the course is next taught.
    The assessment in some courses is based on more than one exam code.
    Where this is the case, you may retake only the assessed components of one of these exam codes.
    Where this is not the case, all of the assessed components of the course must be retaken.
    All retaken examinations will incur an additional fee.

    Additional information
    Honor Code
    Academic honesty and trust are important to all of us as individuals, and represent values that are encouraged and promoted by the honor code system. This is a most significant university tradition. Students are responsible for familiarizing themselves with the ideals of the honor code system, to which the faculty are also deeply committed.

    Any violation of the honor code will be dealt with in accordance with BI’s procedures for cheating. These issues are a serious matter to everyone associated with the programs at BI and are at the heart of the honor code and academic integrity. If you have any questions about your responsibilities under the honor code, please ask.

    Semester

    Oversettelser