...concerns the scientific and agricultural community has with the seed giant Monsanto. Not only has Monsanto abused its power as a big Ag corporation to advance its profits through unethical business practices, but also strengthen its stranglehold on farmers. Being a monopoly of the seed industry, Monsanto’s work in GMOs raises concerns as to the effects they have on land, animals, and humans. Monsanto is utilizing GMOs in an effort to stem the tide of world hunger, but because GMOs have only been implemented since the early 80’s their impact on human, animals, and the environment have yet to be determined. The long term effects caused by herbicides, pesticides, and hormones aren’t fully known by society yet. However, we use Monsanto’s roundup weed killer almost every day in America. This weed killer is what GMO seeds are modified to resist, giving them the ability to grow under such harsh conditions. Little is known about the effects of these roundup ready seeds, “The future of the company may lie in seeds, but the seeds of the company lie in chemicals” (Barlett and Steele). Monsanto’s roots were in chemicals far before they were planted in the agricultural industry. Those roots were planted in the early 1900’s by John Francis Queeny, who started Monsanto chemical works. Even though, Queeny founded Monsanto it was his son Edgar Queeny who brought Monsanto to power in the chemical industry. Through the years Monsanto would work with a wide range of chemicals goods. Products such as:...
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...Monsanto Paper By Raikirat Sohi MBA 505 Foundation of Management A. Hetro Jay S. Sidhu School of Business and Management November 18, 2014 COMPANY HISTORY AND PROFILE Monsanto is one of the Fortune 500 Company with its headquarters located in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. It employs 21183 employee globally providing 146 facilities in In USA alone, it employees 10277 employees distributing 404 facilities over 66 countries (Monsanto, 2014). It is an American multinational agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology corporation. It serves its customers with products ranging from agricultural and vegetable seeds, plant biotechnology traits to crop protection chemicals. In present times it is the leading manufacturer of genetically engineered seeds and herbicide glyphosate marketed under brand name round up (Monsanto, 2014). It was founded in 1901by John F. Queeny with his wife Olga Monsanto Queeny. The first produce that was manufactured by this company was saccharin (the artificial sweetener) that was sold to Coca-Cola Company. By 1905, Monsanto benefitted ad progressed through the sale of vanillin and caffeine. During the time of World war 2 Monsanto was unable to import chemicals that were needed by them from Europe so in order to compensate that it started producing chemicals on its own. Monsanto went public in Stock exchange in 1929. During this era of 1920’s Monsanto expanded in chemical industries producing sulphuric acid and PCB’s. Monsanto’s first PCB manufacturing...
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...Monsanto is one of the largest seed company in the United States and was found by John F. Queeny in 1901 in St. Louis, Missouri. The Monsanto company has created a variety of products to include the artificial sweetener saccharine used by Coca-Cola. Due to past major legal obstacles (Orange Agent) they shifted their efforts from the chemical realm to an organization focused on biotechnology. Their past history has generated a consensus on the possibility of how biotechnology might affect the environment and peoples’ health (Ferrell 302). In order to look at stakeholder’s interest we must look at whether Monsanto maintain an ethical culture that effectively responds to various stakeholders; we must compare the benefits of growing GM seeds for crops with the potential negative consequences of using them; and how should Monsanto manage the potential harm to plant and animal life from using products such as Roundup. Who are Monsanto Stakeholders? Monsanto Stakeholders are their employees, customers, suppliers, shareholders, communities and investors. These are the people that have an interest in the business success or how they get there. Of course the company is in business to profit, but in the process it needs to make sure it is doing everything in its power to satisfy the needs of our society and environment, in other words, sustainable development. History tells us that this company has been through a lot of financial devastation mostly due to its lack of environmental...
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...Monsanto a sustainable agriculture company. Monsanto Company is a publicly traded American multinational agricultural corporation headquartered in Creve Coeur, Missouri. Founded in 1901 by John Francis, by the 1940s it was a major producer of plastics, including polystyrene and synthetic fibers. Monsanto has become the world leader in genetically modified organisms. Present in 46 countries, leader in biotechnology produces 90% of GMOs grown worldwide (soybean, rapeseed, cotton, corn, etc..) and became one of redemption by the first seed of the planet that could ultimately control the entire food chain. Notable achievements by Monsanto and its scientists as a chemical company included breakthrough research on catalytic asymmetric hydrogenation and being the first company to mass-produce light emitting diodes (LEDs). The company also formerly manufactured controversial products such as the insecticide DDT, PCBs, Agent Orange, and recombinant bovine somatotropin. On their official website this company looks like a perfect and respectable agricultural society. Their principal slogan is “Monsanto a sustainable agriculture company”. The website also shows advertisement such as "Our innovations helps farmers produce more food using less natural ressources" , "Monsanto is playing a key role in helping farmers adress the challenge of water", "Monsanto company named one of CR' magazine's 100 best corporate citizens", or “learn how Monsanto is connecting the dots to a more sustainable...
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...Communications in Business Critical Essay Monsanto A Review of Performance of Monsanto On Genetic Modified Planets to Environment and Mankind Boyang Xu 16004593 Semester Two 2012 Bentley Campus Tutor: Wisdom Jo Tutorial Time: Thursday 14:00-16:00 Email: xby_remind@msn.cn The past century saw huge changes in the business world. The challenge of business is changing rapidly over time. Nowadays, companies are attaching greater importance to their Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR) instead of focusing on seeking greatest profits only. Customers are becoming more and more concerned with large multinational companies' performance in respective of their social responsible manner,especially those multinational companies such as Monsanto.The Monsanto Company is an American based multinational agricultural biotechnology corporation,the world's leading producer of the Genetically Modified seeds (Monsanto, 2012a) This paper will review the social performance of Monsanto's various products to mankind, and analyze the impact of these performances on two key stakeholders: the communities Monsanto conducting business operations in and shareholders of the company. An on-balance conclusion about the company's performance in society will be provided at last. With regard to its social performance, Monsanto has always been devoted to the sustainable development of human beings. People around the world rely heavily on agriculture and the farmers working hard to satisfy their...
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...Juan Colon GE217 Composition II Mr. Cardew Final Paper August 30, 2012 Monsanto and Genetically Modified Foods Monsanto is an agricultural biotech corporate giant that genetically modifies animals and crop seeds. On their website, they come across a deeply committed humanitarian organization that provides an ecologically sustainable answer to global hunger and malnutrition. The sad reality is that Monsanto is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, and perhaps one of the most unethical corporate giants in the world today. I will argue that Monsanto is on a power trip, and that they have a hidden agenda that has nothing to do with compassion, ecology or human hunger, and everything to do with greed. In the following paragraphs, I will provide a brief history of Monsanto. Then I will examine some of the promises made in their marketing propaganda, and provide evidence that these promises are little more than blatant lies. Monsanto started out in 1901 developing a highly controversial artificial sweetener called saccharine. Monsanto eventually shifted their focus to genetically modified plants and animals. They are still a major chemical production corporation, developing and marketing Roundup and several other herbicides, Bovine Growth Hormone, and genetically modified seeds. Among the most widely recognized of their genetically modified products include corn, soy and canola. These seeds have a gene inserted that makes them resistant to Monsanto's own herbicide called Roundup. These...
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...Lane, Henry ; Maznevski, Martha ; DiStefano, Joseph & Dietz, Joerg. (2009) International management behavior : leading with a global mindset. 6th ed. Hoboken, N.J. : Wiley. "Montsanto Europe (A)", pp. 119-133. CASE 1 Monsanto Europe (A)1 We should diligently explore the possibilities of non-chemical methods [of pest control] ....Until a large-scale conversion to these methods has been made, we shall have little relief from a situation that, by any common-sense standards, is intolerable.2 Erwironmentalist Rachel Carson, author of Silent Spring On November 5, 1996, the captain of Ideal Progress piloted the large freighter into the calm waters of Hamburg harbor. Suddenly the still autumn air was pierced by a shrill noise and large floodlights momentarily blinded the captain. The engines ground to a halt as some of the deck crew gathered around the bow to listen to the chants of their strange assailants. The captain was one of the few who understood what the commotion was about; a Greenpeace ship had come to protest the arrival of the first shipment of genetically modified soybeans from the United States. IVEY Richard lvey School of Business The University of Western Ontario � Northeastern � U N I V E R S I T Y David Wesley, Professors Francis Spital and Henry W. Lane prepared this case solely to provide material for class discussion. The authors do not intend to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a managerial situation. The authors...
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...When Monsanto decided to introduce its genetically modified soybeans to Europe, they were faced with numerous uncontrollable forces in which they had to contend. Monsanto had little opposition to the product in the US. Consumers were indifferent to the technology and for the most part, embraced it. With this success, they assumed that the sentiment would be shared internationally. After all, Monsanto had good intentions. They had aspirations to reduce pesticide use and subside world hunger. Despite these intentions, they failed to realize that foreign environments have differing values and can be difficult to assess especially regarding political, legal and cross-cultural differences. Ultimately the product was not accepted in Europe mostly out of concern for food safety. It is important to analyze and understand the forces they were faced with to have a sense of why Monsanto failed. Monsanto failed in Europe for two main reasons. The first (outside of Monsanto’s control) was the recent outbreak of Mad Cow disease linked to British Beef, yet downplayed by the government. This event just so happened to coincide with the introduction of the genetically modified soybeans. There had been a loss of trust in government and food safety. We can refer to uncertainty avoidance in Hofstede’s four dimensions model to understand this further. Many European countries rank high in uncertainty avoidance and are risk averse. Members of this type of society have high anxiety...
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...What is Monsanto International? Monsanto International Corporation is a multinational agricultural biotechnology company. Established in 1901 in St. Louis, Missouri by John Francis Queeny, Monsanto was originally founded in order to develop products for the food and pharmaceutical industries. The first product introduced by the company was none other than Saccharin, developed for and distributed to the Coca-Cola Company. Shortly after, Monsanto developed caffeine and vanillin, and introduced them to the then growing beverage company. The Monsanto Company became international in 1919 when it established a presence in Europe by partnering with a company based there to produce salicylic acid, aspirin, and eventually rubber with them. Starting in the 1920’s, Monsanto International began to produce and distribute basic industrial chemicals such as sulfuric acid, and by the time the 1940’s arrived, the company was the leading manufacturer of some chemical plastics and synthetic fibers. Since, Monsanto has maintained a position as one of the top 10 chemical companies in the United States. Other noteworthy products that have yielded from the Monsanto Corporation are the artificial sweetener aspartame (NutraSweet), the insecticide DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) which was later banned, the toxic chemical “Agent Orange” used in the Vietnam War, the controversial Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH), many Nuclear Weapons, and the pesticide “Roundup” also found to have toxic effects...
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...the states in terms of economic development and access to natural resources. The World According to Monsanto, a 2008 French documentary directed by Marie-Monique Robin, tells us the story of the world’s largest transnational biochemical concern Monsanto and its audacious practices to strengthen its universal power. Having investigated more than a hundred year history of the company the author exposes the crimes of this multibillion-dollar empire of GMO, or genetically modifided organisms, and biotechnology supporters. Beginning its history in the early 20th century as a chemical producer, Monsanto has become the leader in the world of fertilizers and genetic modification of food products. Due to its enormous financial opportunities, the company promotes its products in all regions of the planet. The company has been criticized for a long time by...
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...don't seem to coincide with those ideals. It is exactly what people hope to see when reading any company's code of ethics. Upon researching Monsanto and it's ethical issues, I have come to the conclusion that I do not believe them to be very ethical actors, or at the very least, they know how to operate in gray areas. While they do donate to charities, those donations seem to have motivation beyond altruism. To me, their donating seeds to third world nations is really only an attempt to get in to an untapped market that will eventually rely on them. The reason I believe this is because they have shown through past actions that their main goal is to control the majority of the world's GMO supply whether it is seeds or Prosilac, the hormone used to produce more milk in cows, or any other product they produce. They sued DuPont, a competitor, for trying to create their own seeds that could withstand Roundup (a Monsanto product that has all but completely saturated the marketplace). If DuPont didn't try to engineer seeds that could withstand Roundup, they literally wouldn't be able to compete as Roundup is so widely used. Their seeds would not produce crops and they wouldn't have customers. Also, the fact that their customers cannot reuse seeds from year to year shows profit motivation. Obviously, businesses rely on profit, but I feel like Monsanto has abused the power it has secured over the food supply. If their goals were simply to wipe out world...
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...Monsanto is a large publically traded multinational agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology corporation. Founded in 1901 with around 22,000 employees, there net income is over two billion dollars and total assets 20.6 billion dollars. Monsanto is known for their scientists in the chemical company due to their many breakthroughs. They are also known for their production of controversial products such as Agent Orange, DDT, PCBs and bovine growth hormone. Agent Orange was one of the herbicides used by the United States military as apart of the herbicidal warfare program, Operation Ranch Hand. Monsanto was contracted by the United States Department of Defense to produce a defoliant so the military would be able to better see the enemy...
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...The Monsanto Company is the world’s largest company that specializes in biotechnology and genetic manipulation of organisms. This worldwide company is well known by farmers because it helps them increase food production and revenues. Nowadays 90% of the world’s GM seeds are sold by Monsanto. The company's innovation can solve a huge world’s problems such as hunger, because of intensive growth of population and lack of food and resources. That would feed all people worldwide but only thought the use of biotechnology. During the long history of Monsanto, there were different ethical, health issue and problems in each period of time. According to the company in the period 1901, when company was founded, the production of the artificial sweetener saccharine that was sold to Coca cola, this time Monsanto was well known as a Chemical company. They supplied the U.S. Army (Agent orange) which military sprayed over Vietnam and then it lead to genetic mutations in Vietnam event after 40 years. In 1981, they determined that the biotechnology would be the company new strategic focus. Then in 1994, they introduced their first products, and then sold soybean, cotton, and canola seeds. So other herbicides killed good plants that consider as not ethical at all. After production of insecticide DDC make a debate about safety in food, that it can be cause of some dangerous illness. Ethical issue was that it could lead to changes in natural ecosystem and distorted natural balance, but also...
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...Francisco, CA 94107 tel: (415) 293-9900 fax: (415) 293-8394 info-ca@fwwatch.org www.foodandwaterwatch.org Copyright © 2013 by Food & Water Watch. All rights reserved. This report can be viewed or downloaded at www.foodandwaterwatch.org. A CORPORATE PROFILE Executive Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Company History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Modern-Day Monsanto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Monsanto’s Environmental Impact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Market Share . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Figure 1. TIMELINE: A Selected History of Monsanto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Influence on Government . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Figure 2. Monsanto’s Interlocking Board Members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Figure 3. Monsanto’s Revolving...
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...Monsanto is a company who is well known for their genetically modified and patented seeds. The seeds are modified to withstand the pesticide Roundup, which would lower the need of labor to manage extra weeding and plowing that non-GM seeds would normally require, and has the potential to lower the cost of labor for the farmers. The capitalistic ways that the successful company runs makes many targets placed on this profiting company. In “Monsanto’s Harvest of Fear” essay, by Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele, the authors clearly illustrate the impacts that major corporations can have on farms and other food producers. Many small communities and towns see Monsanto as a major threat to the livelihood of smaller producers, distributors, and manufacturers. There are clear and significant attempts of fear to allure customers to...
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