The Importance of Understanding Basic Contract Terms for Business Success
Quoted Definition with Citation | Definition (in your own words) | Example | |
Offer | ‘One of the parties made a promise to do or refrain from doing some specified action in the future’ (Institute of Public Law, 2021) | An offer is a party’s obligation as it pertains to action or avoidance in the future. | Company A is obligated to supply vegetables and fruits to the Hilton Hotel for the next two months on a biweekly basis. |
Acceptance | ‘An acceptance is a final and unqualified expression of assent to the terms of an offer. Again, there must be an objective manifestation, by the recipient of the offer, of an intention to be bound by its terms. An offer must be accepted in accordance with its precise terms if it is to form an agreement. It must exactly match the offer, and ALL terms must be accepted’ (Allen & Overy, 2016). |
Acceptance of an offer is a demonstration by conduct or expressions that the other party in the contract displays, which acts as assent to the other party’s promise. For acceptance to qualify, the offer should be accepted in its current terms. | The Hilton Hotel orders the first batch of delivery, which is scheduled for the coming week and makes a deposit to Company A. |
Bilateral Contract | ‘An agreement formed by an exchange of a promise in which the promise of one party is consideration supporting the promise of the other party’ (Web Solutions LLC., 2021).
|
A bilateral contract involves a promisor and a promise. The promisor and the promisee make promises to each other, where one party’s promise acts as the consideration to the other. | John offers to pay $2000 to a salesperson for the title of a car. The salesperson agrees to deliver the vehicle to John for the $2000. |
Unilateral Contract | A unilateral contract is a contract created by an offer that can only be accepted by performance (Cornell Law School, n.d). | A unilateral contract entails an offer from the promisor, while the promisee accepts by conduct. Such a contract binds the promisor initially. | John promises to pay $30 each time Mercy drives him to work. Mercy is bound only when she drives John to work and receives the promised reward. |
Promissory Estoppel | ‘…promissory estoppel refers to the doctrine that a party may recover on the basis of a promise made when the party’s reliance on that promise was reasonable, and the party attempting to recover detrimentally relied on the promise’ (Cornell Law school, n.d). | When a party makes a promise to the other, they can be held liable if they fail to honor their promise, especially if the other party relied on the promise for a significant reason. | Company B promises to pay its employees for a month’s work and fails to honor this promise. |
References
Allen & Overy. (2016). Basic Principles of English Contract Law. Retrieved from http://www.a4id.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/A4ID-english-contract-law-at-a-glance.pdf
Cornell Law school. (n.d). Promissory estoppel. Retrieved from https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/promissory_estoppel
Cornell Law School. (n.d). Unilateral Contract. Retrieved from https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/unilateral_contract
Institute of Public Law. (2021). Elements of a Contract. Retrieved from Judicial Education Center: http://jec.unm.edu/education/online-training/contract-law-tutorial/contract-fundamentals-part-2
Web Solutions LLC. (2021). Bilateral Contract. Retrieved from https://law.jrank.org/pages/4745/Bilateral-Contract.html
ORDER A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER HERE
We’ll write everything from scratch
Question
Regardless of whether you own a business or are a stakeholder in a business, understanding basic contract terms is important. Businesses enter into contracts with many areas, from shipping to suppliers to customers.
As a business owner or manager, knowledge of these basic terms will assist you in the business’s day-to-day operations, regardless of the field.