Raising good corporate citizens

What do you do when students come to class with the preconception that the law is only relevant for lawyers?

When Dr Benjamin Hayward and Mrs Carolyn McDermott from the Department of Business Law and Taxation teach first-year students, they tackle a common misconception.

“Business law isn’t ‘law light’, but rather law tailored to a specific purpose,” says Dr Hayward.

“We tackle the elephant in the room head-on by explaining to students how the law touches on business transactions and activities, and the potential for legal liability where harm has been caused to others,” says Mrs McDermott.

The recipients of a Monash Business School 2020 Dean’s Award for Teaching Excellence, the pair couch legal compliance as "good corporate citizenship" fundamental to business success.

“Legal cases can seem abstract, so we bring them to life by using realia, multimedia, storytelling and reflection to emphasise the ‘real world’ connections,” says Mrs McDermott.