Competition Law in Legal Aspects of Managerial Decisions/Competition law for business and business schools
Including Competition Law in the curriculum of business studies is not uncommon, be it on its own or as part of a wider lecture on Business Law. Still, most business students lack a legal background and thus often find themselves overwhelmed by the variety of background knowledge necessary to come to grips with this legal field. Both standard courses and textbooks on competition law reflect the mass of intricate detail and great variety of legal sources characterizing competition law. It is unrealistic to expect business students to assimilate knowledge so presented.
Yet not knowing Competition Law is for a business like getting into a boat and sailing into the economy without any knowledge of navigation. It is certainly true that a specialist can be consulted if need be – it is however necessary for a business person to know at the very least just when such need arises since companies are obliged to comply with competition rules at all times. An illegal market practice cannot be justified by the lack of knowledge of competition law.
The purpose of this course is to start with the basics of why and how Competition law works, and what the relationship is between national and European rules and enforcement practice. Without leaving any of the basics unsaid, the course will progress to answer questions such as: who does competition law apply to, when and how; who can benefit from it and who is in danger of public scrutiny and prosecution. The course will take a utilitarian rather than legally purist perspective and present knowledge beneficial to business-people noting at the same time issues which are better left to experts.
I have taken over the lecture on Competition law as part of the University of Illinois – University of Warsaw Executive MBA programme since its 2010/11 edition, generating excellent student responses.
Next course: 16/17 Nov 2012 – ‘Competition law’ in Legal Aspects of Managerial Decisions, Executive MBA University of Illinois & University of Warsaw
