Understanding Tangible Property
Team E
LAW531
February 07, 2012
Michelle Hamilton

Understanding Tangible Property
This week team discussion involves understanding the tangible property right of a business. The business rights depends in the field of industry that companies conducts its businesses in. Some tangible are similar while others pertain uniquely to its industry. Discussion amongst the team member lead to the decision to undertake the retail industry such as Wal-Mart, Target, Best Buy and other major retailer organization in the country. The paper will bring about an identification of its tangible assets and the company needs to consecutively protect and identify these properties.
Cheeseman stated that “Tangible properties have physical characteristics, such as building, goods, animals, and minerals” (Business Law, 2010, p. 739). Big retail stores like Wal-Mart, Best Buy, and Target suffers from theft and shoplifting on a daily basis in its daily operations. These thefts take in numerous forms, shoplifting of clothing from a department store, eating a grape from a grocery store, or purchasing stolen property is considered tangible. Theft of tangible property from any of these mentioned retailers is infringing on property rights. Retailers and grocery chains industries implement security measures to protect their profits and consumers, however; these measures cost the retailer industries millions of dollars in operation cost each year. Statistics figures from these companies states that “shoplifting occurs 330-440 million times per year at a loss of $10-13 billion dollars” (McGoey, 2011, p. 1). Additionally, retail giants like Wal-Mart, Target and Best Buy makes large investment to extend a comprehensive training of their managers and employees to protect its establishments from shoplifters and organize group that specializes in theft in big stores. These continuous training provides managers measures to stop these dilemmas so that it may subsequently protect the tangible properties of the organization. Management implements necessary standard operating procedures for its investigated team, security services, and theft prevention to reduce material loss to improve its measures. Other employers take additional precaution by hiring personnel solely to manage loss prevention in hopes to minimize theft. It even deploys plain-clothes security people to roam the store to deter theft and shoplifters in the company’s premises. Still retailers use a variety of other methods to control theft, such as installing video camera systems to monitor shoplifters, merchandise, and inventory audits to monitor inside employee fraud, and or theft. Overall these measures help deter offenders from conducting illegal acts.
In today’s modern age of technological advances protecting tangible assets is a challenge that goes on facing numerous well known companies. Deterrent devices to combat these illegal acts continue to improve, nevertheless the perpetrator of these crimes also go on improvising new technique to outsmart the preventive measures that companies put into operation. Whether tangible or intellectual property rights the challenges will go on each side attempting to outsmart the other. The impacts on the economies affect all consumers by raising cost of products and creating employee layoffs.
Though the cost of protecting its tangible assets right proves costly for retailers, companies must continue its effort to protect it. Managers’ responsibility to follow the company guidelines in confronting, apprehending, and arresting shoplifters and offenders must press on. Protecting tangible properties of the business is the responsibility of managers and employees. Though large organization such as Wal-Mart and Target attributes financial losses to shoplifting, building damages, and theft usage of electronic deterrents, awareness and commitment of every person within the organization is still the best option in protecting tangible properties.
In conclusion today’s business environment, companies takes extreme measures to protect its tangible assets. Without these tangible assets to generate income for the company these businesses are setup to fail (Raether, 2012). Though implementation of these measures are costly the benefits, however; can outweigh the negatives in the long run. In the United States, businesses that specialize in protecting company’s tangible and intellectual properties do very well because of the industries demand in protecting its assets.

References
Cheeseman, H. R. (2010). Business Law: Legal Environment, Online Commerce, Business Ethics and International Issues (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
McGoey, C. E. (2011). Shoplifting Facts, Retail Theft of Merchandise. Retrieved from http://www.crimedoctor.com/bio.htm
Raether, M. (2012). Tangible Personal Property. Retrieved from http://www.ehow.com/list_7293372_florida_requirements-tangible-personal-property.html