Role of Law in Business, Society, and HR Practice
This paper examines the multifaceted role of law in business and society, drawing on scholarship from legal, criminological, and business ethics perspectives. It explores how law defines behavioral boundaries for commercial activity, including the challenges businesses face operating across international jurisdictions. The paper also addresses how law evolves alongside social change — from no-fault divorce to cybercrime — reflecting shifting societal norms and needs. A practical section applies these concepts to the human resources profession, surveying key federal statutes such as the EEO laws, FLSA, OSHA, ERISA, FMLA, HIPAA, and others that HR specialists must master to ensure workplace compliance.
- Introduction: Overview of law's importance in business and society
- The Functions and Role of Law in Business: Definitions, global business law, and law as compromiser
- The Role of Law in Society: Law evolves with social change and new technology
- Law in Human Resources: Key Federal Statutes: Federal HR laws every HR specialist must know
- Conclusion: Law must evolve alongside social and digital change
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What makes this paper effective
- Moves logically from abstract definitions of law to concrete professional applications, grounding theory in real-world HR practice.
- Uses multiple scholarly sources across disciplines — legal studies, criminology, and business ethics — to build a well-rounded view of law's functions.
- The HR statutes section demonstrates applied knowledge, giving the paper practical value beyond academic argument.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper uses synthesis across disciplines: rather than relying on a single framework, it draws on legal theory (Meiners), business ethics (Jennings), sociology of law (Barnett), and criminology (Siegel) to show that law is not a fixed institution but a dynamic social tool. This multi-source synthesis is then anchored in a specific professional context, showing how abstract legal principles translate into daily workplace responsibilities.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a brief framing introduction, then proceeds through three substantive sections: law's role in business (with international dimensions), law's role in society (with attention to social change and emerging technology), and law's role in human resources practice (a detailed survey of federal statutes). A short conclusion ties all three threads together. The structure is clear and additive, with each section building on the previous one.
Introduction
The functions and roles of law in business and society are not always understood by the general public, yet those functions are critically important. The principles related to law and its application form the backbone of how society and economies actually work. This paper reviews and critiques those functions across business, society, and professional practice.
The Functions and Role of Law in Business
The law as it applies to business refers to a "code of conduct that defines the behavioral boundaries for business activity," according to a generalization found in The Legal Environment of Business (Meiners, et al., 2006). Though "law" is a term seen as abstract in some contexts — and though there is no single precise definition of law that carries across many cultures — the noted former Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes put it this way: "Law is a statement of the circumstances in which the public force is brought to bear…through the courts" (Meiners). The Justinian Code, adopted in Roman law in 533 A.D., asserted that the commandments of law include: "live honorably; harm nobody; give everyone his due" (Meiners).
Professor Marianne Jennings explains that because businesses are operating in a global market, companies must understand the role of law in every country where they operate. For example, U.S. firms doing business — with manufacturing plants — in South America must be aware of the laws in those South American countries. In the same vein, Japanese firms building cars in the United States are obligated to understand the role of law for businesses operating in America. International laws that affect businesses include: (a) international trade customs and restrictions, and (b) international agreements that are part of the Statute of the International Court of Justice, a United Nations court that resolves disputes (Jennings, 2010).
Laws must by nature be "pervasive and cover all necessary areas," Jennings explains, but they also cannot "infringe on freedoms or become so complex" that enforcement becomes problematic (Jennings, 8). Jennings, a professor of legal and ethical studies, also argues that for businesses, law is the "great compromiser" — because while not everyone will agree on what rules should apply to businesses, law serves "to mesh different views into one united view" so that most parties in a dispute are at least "partially satisfied" (7).
The Role of Law in Society
Author Larry Barnett asserts that "regulation by law is essential" because it assures that certain behaviors people expect others to follow will indeed occur (Barnett, 2011). Law supports individuals' expectations that intergroup and interpersonal relationships will be possible — what Barnett describes as the foundation of "social life" (Barnett, 5). The author also points out that as society changes, the role of law changes as well. When there was emerging social pressure for a change in how divorce is handled legally, no-fault divorce came into being as a direct legal response.
Speaking of societal changes and the legal adjustments that result, criminologist Larry Siegel explains that recent technological advances — computers and the Internet — have brought the need for law into the digital domain. Before computers became part of everyday life, there was no computer fraud, no file sharing of music and movies, and no cyber-stalking. Now that these crimes have emerged from new technologies, the role of law is to evolve accordingly, Siegel explains (Siegel, 2011). Prior to the Supreme Court ruling on individual cases, the High Court often "considers empirical research supplied by criminologists," which helps shape how society responds to those changes (Siegel, 6).
Conclusion
The role of law is extremely important in the business world and in society. When society goes through meaningful changes — such as the digital revolution — laws must be enacted to respond to the crimes and conflicts that emerge from those new technologies. Whether guiding global commerce, reflecting evolving social norms, or protecting workers in the workplace, law remains a dynamic and indispensable force in both business and everyday life.
Works Cited
Barnett, Larry D. (2011). The Place of Law: The Role and Limits of Law in Society. Piscataway, NJ: Transaction Publishers.
Jennings, Marianne M. (2010). Business: Its Legal, Ethical, and Global Environment. Independence, KY: Cengage Learning.
Meiners, Roger E., Ringleb, Al H., and Edwards, Frances L. (2006). The Legal Environment of Business. Independence, KY: Cengage Learning.
Siegel, Larry J. (2011). Criminology. Independence, KY: Cengage Learning.
U.S. Department of Labor. (2009). The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Retrieved April 25, 2013, from http://www.dol.gov.
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (2010). Overview. Retrieved April 25, 2013, from http://www1.eeoc.gov.
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