An Entrepreneurial Strand in the Business Law Course: The Ice Cream Project

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-1722.2009.01062.x
• Published date: 01 August 2009
• Date: 01 August 2009
• Author: Regina M. Robson

An Entrepreneurial Strand in the

Business Law Course: The Ice Cream

Project

Regina M. Robson

n

America is a nation of entrepreneurs.

1

Whether engaged in a start-up op-

eration, managing a family business, or as part of an entrepreneurial ven-

ture within a larger entity, American entrepreneurs have provided the

vision and energy that have powered the U.S. economy for the last century.

Educating entrepreneurs presents special challenges, particularly in

the context of legal studies class. Entrepreneurs thrive in an active environ-

ment that uses experience to integrate theory and application. One com-

mentator suggests that forentrepreneurial education, the operativequestion

is not, ‘‘Whatam I going to teach my studentstoday?’’ but rather ‘‘What am I

going to have my students doing today?’’

2

The Ice Cream Project

3

answers

this question by asking students to take a holistic view of contracting by in-

tegrating the operational concerns of an entrepreneurial venture with the

legal concepts presented in class in the context of a procurement contract.

I. LEGAL STUDIES,ENTREPRENEURIAL DRIVE AND

ACTIVE LEARNING:NATURAL COMPLEMENTS

The traditional approach to teaching business law is based upon the as-

sumption that the purpose of the course is to create ‘‘an awareness of the

r2009, Copyright the Author

Journal compilation rAcademy of Legal Studies in Business 2009

433

Journal of Legal Studies Education

Volume 26, Issue 2, 433–456, Summer/Fall 2009

n

Assistant Professor, St. Joseph’s University, Philadelphia, PA.

1

A 1994 Gallup poll showed that 70 percent of high school students hoped to start their own

company at some time in the future. Colleges also report increasing numbers of freshman

expressing interest in entrepreneurishp as a major. James O. Fiet, The Pedagogical Side of En-

trepreneurship Theory,16J.B

US.VENTURING 101, 102–03 (2001) (citations omitted).

2

Fiet, supra note 1, at 108–09 (footnotes omitted).

3

The Ice Cream Project consists of the following discrete documents: Instructions, Back-

ground, Memo from Harry Bear, the Terms of Sale, and a Grading Rubric (collectively Ap-

pendix A).

legal and regulatory environment.’’

4

The implication is that ultimate ‘‘res-

olution’’ of issues will be left to the expertise of attorneys or other special-

ists. For many years, the business law curriculum reflected this assumption

by emphasizing broad, theoretical concepts, at the expense of specific sub-

stantive skills.

5

Yet, in many start-ups and small enterprises, an apprecia-

tion of legal issues is simply not enough. With scant resources and limited

support staff, entrepreneurs must not only identify issues but resolve them

as well.

6

Ever more frequently, tasks previously performed by counsel are

being carried out by nonlawyers.

7

Education that focuses on the role of law

in optimizing business solutions serves not only committed entrepreneurs,

but any student entering an increasingly competitive market.

8

Scholarly opinion is divided on the extent to which entrepreneurship

can be taught.

9

While no single set of attributes are a predicate to entre-

preneurial activity, researchers have identified three factorsFqualities,

skills, and attitudes

10

Fthat are key contributors to what has been termed

‘‘entrepreneurial drive.’’

The term ‘‘entrepreneurial drive’’ was first used in 1979 and was

defined as the ‘‘drive that some people have to create things, the deter-

mination they have to achieve real progress.’’

11

Studies suggest that there

4

ROGER LEROY MILLER &FRANK B. CROSS,THE LEGAL ENVIRONMENT TODAY xxv (5th ed. 2007).

For an interesting discussion of the history of the ‘‘environmental’’ approach to teaching law

in business schools, see Gary A. Moore & Stephen E. Gillen, Managerial Competence in Law and

the Business Law Curriculum: The Corporate Counsel Perspective,23A

MBUS. L.J. 351, 352–53

(1985).

5

The curriculum was influenced by the 1959 report, Higher Education for Business, which

viewed the business environment as one of ‘‘specialized staff services,’’ with little emphasis on

interdisciplinary skills. GeorgeJ. Siedel, Six Forces and the Legal Environment of Business: The Rel-

ative Valueof Business L aw Among Business School Core Courses,37A

M.BUS.L.J.717,736n.57(citing

ROBERT A. GORDON &JAMES EDWIN HOWELL,HIGHER EDUCATION FOR BUSINESS 205 (1959)).

6

Siedel, supra note 5, at 736–37 (footnote omitted).

7

Id. at 736.

8

See Siedel, supra note 5, at 742 (a survey of managers from both entrepreneurial and estab-

lished businesses found law among the top three subjects in the core curriculum).

9

Juan Florin et al., Fostering EntrepreneurialDrive in Business Education: An Attitudinal Approach,

31 J. MGMT.EDUC. 17, 18–21 (2007) (citations omitted).

10

Id. at 18.

11

Florin et al., supra note 9, at 17–18 (2007) (quoting Robert Getley, Entrepreneurial Drive,11

INDUS.&COMMERCIAL TRAINING 1, 19 (1979)).

434 Vol. 26 / The Journal of Legal Studies Education