Monsanto, Agent Of Change

In 1955, Monsanto took over the Lion Oil Company. One of the products Lion Oil produced was ammonia to manufacture ammonium nitrate fertilizer, one of the largest chemical fertilizer products in the United States. Soon after that in the 1960’s the company started producing a chemical called Agent Orange, which was used by the U.S. Military during the Vietnam invasion. The chemical Agent Orange was used to kill any living plant in its path in order to help clear open areas in the dense jungles of Vietnam. During this period of time Monsanto created its first Agriculture Division. The company introduced and commercialized its first herbicides Ramrod Herbicide and Lasso Herbicide. The introduction of these herbicides changed the agricultural community forever because farmers reduced their labor dramatically due to these chemicals.

Monsanto positions itself as a relatively new agricultural company having formed in 2002, and focused on supporting local farmers around the world. They also promote themselves as a guardian of the environment with a mission “to produce more food while conserving more” (Monsanto.com). Today’s Monsanto conglomerate also promotes itself as the “New Merchants,” a leading research company in the field of agriculture-crop production, as well as a strong supporter of public and private research through its grant, donations and University scholarship programs.

Monsanto is a known name in America correlated with the farming industry, but most people do not even scratch the surface in researching the company. The name appears in colleges and in many articles. Monsanto is an international corporation based out of the United States of America. They are accredited with most of the genetically modified crops in the country today. In 1996, Round Up Ready soybeans were introduced to the farming community. (Brown) This was main introduction of GMOs into agriculture. By 2003, Monsanto already

Monsanto is involved in a variety of ways,“The company produces the herbicide RoundUp, and also seeds whose genes have been engineered to survive RoundUp's active plant-killing ingredient. Now the vast majority of this country's soybeans, corn, sugar beets and canola possess those engineered genes,”(Boyle). Initially, this seems quite innocent, however, there’s no telling what kind of chemicals are being introduced into the food supply in order to allow these plants to survive. Also, sugar and corn are contained within almost every non organic product Americans consume, which means virtually everyone is ingesting these potentially harmful chemicals. Monsanto’s RoundUp resistant seeds should seem to be a farmer’s best friend, but it’s not always so simple, “As Rinehart would recall, the man began verbally attacking him, saying he had proof that Rinehart had planted Monsanto’s genetically modified (G.M.) soybeans in violation of the company’s patent. Better come clean and settle with Monsanto, Rinehart says the man told him—or face the consequences,”(Barlett). Simply dogmatic in his manner, the mysterious Monsanto man would not take no for an answer, even though later in the article Mr. Rinehart states that he isn’t a farmer and they have the wrong guy. Commonly referred to as seed police, even gestapo or mafia, this elite force of Monsanto maniacs are lifeless and drone-like in the sense that they will stop at nothing in order to obtain a profit, and if it’s the wrong person they’ll still use scare tactics to weasel cash out of innocent civilians. Saying that Monsanto is heavily involved in the production and distribution of genetically modified crops and seeds is a massive understatement, to demonstrate this,“In 1996 when Monsanto introduced RoundUp Ready Soybeans, the company controlled only 2% of the U.S. soybean market. Now, over 90% of

Monsanto has neglected to do their due diligence to protect the American people. Currently, they supply a weed killer called Roundup, that is poisoning both the environment and the American people. Monsanto is not required to disclose what ingredients are in Roundup, but one of the known ingredients is glyphosate, a possible carcinogen. While plants may be ready for this chemical introduction, humans are not. This chemical is potentially dangerous to people as it often ends up in our water sources, poisoning the fish in our food chain. While the potential dangers of Roundup are not known, that of previous Monsanto products are known. Monsanto helped to create the Atomic bomb that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. There are no other words to describe the outcome of that bomb but devastating.

Stakeholders are comprised of a multitude of people that have an interest in a company including employees, customers, special interest groups, board of directors, regulatory agencies, and investors (Ferrell, Fraedrich, Ferrell, 2015). Monsanto has an interesting history, and has impacted stakeholders in a negative manner throughout its beginnings in 1901. The current stakeholders that are impacted by Monsanto activities are all of the above listed. The company has had legal issues in the past with the widely known issue of the development of Agent Orange and the impact on our veterans. After settling for 180 million dollars, the company became a biotechnology company developing biotechnology products in the farming industry. Stakeholders on both sides of this issue have voiced positive and negative concerns. Positive

Monsanto’s was founded by John F. Queeny in 1901in St. Louis, MO. The first product for the company was artificial sweetener. This open the door for many years of success for the company. The most controversial product that the company produced was called Agent Orange. This product was used doing the Vietnam War. The purpose of the product was to clear some of the foliage in the jungles of Vietnam. The product contained dioxin which was harmful to the U.S. Military Personnel fighting the Vietnam War. Monsanto made a large class action settlement for harm done to the soldiers. That has been the ethical dilemma for Monsanto’s for a long time.

In a poll in 2014 measuring the reputation quotient of major companies, Monsanto ranked the third-lowest, above companies like BP, Bank of American and fell just behind Halliburton. For the better part of Monsanto's history, it has been a chemical company which produced compounds used in electrical equipment, adhesives, plastics, and paint. They also produced chemicals like DDT, Agent Orange, Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), Monsanto is best known for genetically modified organisms, or GMOs (Bennett, 2014).

Fun fact, chemical fertilizer is the largest industry in global agribusiness. It’s also destroying the environment, causing climate change while also damaging public health. Monsanto is a corporate business that uses biotechnology to change the DNA in plants to try to improve the tolerance and resistance to damaging weather conditions. It’s also used to speed up the plant development process. People often hear about biotechnology and assume it’s not damaging to the environment or to people eating the food. The ads don’t tell the readers about the dangers that come with it, only that its quick and

Monsanto is known for its dishonesty and transparency, on the safety and benefits of the ingredients used in genetically modified organisms. The USDA does not require long term studies about the safety of consuming genetically modified organisms. Thus causing independent studies to raise questions about health risks from consuming products that contain GMO products. Monsanto pioneered the biotechnology industry by applying its business model to agriculture. Early in 2013 the movement of “March against Monsanto” began to demonstrate in protest against GMOs. Monsanto claims, “that they are no dangers to consumption of GM-foods by people”(Micahael Wald “GMO-genetically modified organisms dangerous or necessary?" Health reference center

For those perhaps unaware, Monsanto was founded in 1901 and ever since has been taking the agricultural world by storm. Monsanto was one of the very first corporations to successfully incorporate biotechnology into their business model. It is believed that the root of their controversy is surrounded by the company’s changes in direction, which shifted from pharmaceutical chemicals to applying biotechnology to crops. Since the corporation became involved with agriculture, we have seen a shift

It doesn’t help that Monsanto also has power in politics, one of the Monsanto chiefs for food safety, Michael Taylor was actually appointed by Barrack Obama himself. Barrack Obama also appointed his Supreme Court judge: Elena Kagan, who happens to be the chief defender of Monsanto and GMO’s. Whether Republican or Democratic, Monsanto wields a strong power within politics that helps give them an edge in keeping their company going. (Obama). There are good aspects of Monsanto, like the efficiency of cheap seeds, and crops that can withstand the harsh behaviors of weathers, and the ability the crops have to survive a longer time. But not even the cheapest crops can cover up Monsanto’s long history of evil, from polluting the environment with PCB’s, the chemical Agent Orange, and the weed killer “Round-Up Ready”, to Monopolizing itself to being the owner of 90% of the seed industry and shutting down small

Like many other companies that manufacture chemicals, Monsanto has been under strict public scrutiny on its effect on the environment. The processes involved in the manufacture of some of its products pose potential harm to the world’s natural resources (Hocking, 2016). This has triggered demonstrations by environmental activists in various locations that Monsanto operates in. Such controversy is not favorable for the company’s public image. Since the manufacturer concentrates on agricultural products that directly affect human life, the company faces various moral challenges on the effects of its products on the society. There have been incidents in the past whereby toxic chemical traces have been found in genetically modified food that was

Monsanto, the sustainable agriculture company has undergone many changes since its beginning in 1901. According to the mission statement the company is currently “committed to supporting research with academic and USDA scientists who have complementary areas of expertise (Monsanto, 2014).” The company has evolved and diversified its product line from chemical products, such as sweeteners and plastics to petroleum, packaging, and other materials. A few years later, Monsanto developed an herbicide that would soon cause trouble for the company. Monsanto has faced many legal problems due to its produced chemicals. The majority of Monsanto’s existing revenue is drawn from biotechnology sales. The genetically modified (GM) plant seeds generate most of these sales. These seeds were developed with the ability to kill insects that could harm the plants, along with containing herbicides that rid the crops of weeds Although Monsanto believes these plant seeds to be the innovative answer to solve the problems faced by farmers, the company has endured a great deal of criticism from the public regarding negative health effects caused by genetically modified plants and food. Critics have also voiced a concern of potentially harmful environmental effects in relation to Monsanto’s herbicide. Because of various legal, bribery, and patent issues, the company’s ethics have been questioned (Ferrell, Fraedrich, & Ferrell, 2013, p. 313). In order to determine the efficacy of

Monsanto is a company that some people may not be explicitly familiar with on a first name basis. However, the work that the company has done over the last century, with a larger emphasis on its most recent ventures, have been deeply engrained in our lives, our food, and our economy. Monsanto has those who advocate on their behalf in addition to their naysayers. While Monsanto has made huge strides in terms of biotechnology over the last couple of decades, their accomplishments, and the relevant methods, have not been free of criticism and controversy. In order to analyze Monsanto’s corporate environment, it is important to first explore their Strengths, Weaknesses,