In turbulent financial times like these, the quality of leadership in companies is of utmost importance. Leaders play a great role in determining the fate of companies. They are like captains steering their ships in the middle of a storm at sea. In the case of Monsanto, Hugh Grant has been that captain. He has managed to turn around a controversial company into one of the most respected agricultural biotechnology companies in the world. This term paper seeks to bisect and dissect his leadership style to understand the reasons behind the success of Monsanto. Monsanto is an agricultural biotechnology company based in Creve Coeur, Missouri. It is one of the pioneers in production of genetically engineered seed dating back to the early 1970s. It began operations in 1901 and its products were mainly basic industrial chemicals. In the 1940s, it became a leading producer of plastics and synthetic fertilizers. After the Second World War, Monsanto ventured into the manufacture of chemical pesticides for agricultural purposes (Richardson). It developed an agricultural division in 1960. Monsanto went on to develop Roundup, a very popular weed killer to date. Roundup positioned it as the largest herbicide producer in the world. Within a few years of its launch, farmers in 115 countries around the world were already using Roundup (Richardson). At the turn of the century, it merged with Pharmacia thus changing its name to Pharmacia. The agricultural wing became semi-independent and maintained the name Monsanto (Berry 45). Monsanto focused all its energies on biotechnology. The company developed seed varieties that were resistant to Roundup. This meant that farmers could spray Roundup while the crops were still growing without harming the crops... ... middle of paper ... ...ws. Monsantoco, 14 Feb. 2014. Web. 10 Mar. 2014. . Monsanto. "Leadership in Turbulent Times." Monsanto. Monsanto, 29 Oct. 2008. Web. 10 Mar. 2014. . Monsanto. "Who We Are." Monsanto. Monsanto, n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2014. . Mullins, John W., and Orville C. Walker. Marketing Management: A Strategic Decision-making Approach. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2013. Print. Richardson, Jill. "How Monsanto Went From Selling Aspirin to Controlling Our Food Supply." Truth Out. Truth Out, 21 Apr. 2013. Web. 10 Mar. 2014. .
Kotabe, M., & Helsen, K. (1998). Global marketing management. Temple University. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Kerin, Roger A., and Robert A. Peterson. Strategic marketing problems: cases and comments. 12th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 2010. Print.
Monsanto employs over 20,000 employees dispersed throughout their facilities within 69 countries. John F. Queeny, founder of Monsanto, started the company in 1901, which at first manufactured saccharine. Later, John son Edward directed the companies into the agriculture industry. The company is best known producing Round up, an herbicide, and for developing genetically modified (GM) through biotechnology. “Monsanto developed G.M. seeds that would resist its own herbicide, Roundup, offering farmers a convenient way to spray fields with weed killer without affecting crops” (Barlett, D. L. & Steele, J. B, 2008). Since the start up the company has encounter several lawsuits, patent issues and critics. The company also faces many concerns about the
Monsanto is the world 's leader on bio-technology and was found in St. Louis Missouri. Monsanto was not known as an agriculture company at first as it is now rather a chemical company of the 20th century. They are also responsible for growing 90 percent of the world 's GMO’s. On Monsanto’s website it states their goal is to help farmers around the world to produce healthier foods, conserving more, and better animal feeds while reducing impact on our environment. Monsanto 's GMO has been effecting our environment for years but have not yet brought to justice according to this video. The question is why? According to this documentary Monsanto created many hazardous chemicals for example PCBs, Agent Orange and recombinant
These are only few examples of the many lawsuits that have been filed against Monsanto since its creation in
For instance, the Cotton Farmers Union that essentially produced Indian cotton filed for bankruptcy because of poor market. The returns from farmers dwindled over time. Monsanto Company was instrumental in dismantling this union. First, Monsanto Company enticed Indian cotton farmers to shun the Indian cotton production because it was less productive as compared to their cotton variety. In return, farmers decided to try out this product and the yields were impressive to the farmers.
Monsanto is a multinational agricultural and agrochemical biotechnology corporation based in America and is the largest producer of genetically engineered seeds. Monsanto argues that using science and newfound research to create genetically modified food is necessary in order to save our world from starvation. Eduardo Blumwald, a professor of cell biology and employee for Monsanto, says that genetically modified food could be “the only viable solution we have for our future” (Ostrander 24) where it is predicted that the temperature and population will soar. Blumwald argues that without genetically engineering food to produce under high temperatures with little water, the world could potentially starve in this predicted future. Yet regardless of “biotech industry promises, none of the GMO traits currently on the market offer increased yield, drought tolerance, enhanced nutrition, or any other consumer benefit” (“GMO Facts”). Instead, Monsanto genetically modifies food to resist RoundUp, a pesticide the company has created to kill any plants or bugs other than the genetically engineered crop. According to the World Health Organization, this pesticide “is a probable human carcinogen” (“GMOs”) due to glyphosate, a
brought forth the large-scale injustices which occurred as a result of Monsanto patenting the soybean seed. Currently, Monsanto owns over 90% of the global soybean industry and therefore has a personal responsibility to remove any perceived threats to their multi-billion-dollar monopoly. If it’s soybean; it’s theirs! Monsanto is essentially the Big brother of the industry; carefully watching and listening to every soybean farmer to ensure nothing gets in the way of them and their fat wads of cash. The patents that Monsanto own, legally give them the “right” to sue farmers who refuse to purchase their seeds seasonally, or use a private seed bank. Essentially, Big Brother has moved on from watching people through Telescreens, and has now opted for a far more pleasurable method of manipulation: bank statements and receipts. Their aim is to “peacefully”, through manipulation and threats, force all soybean farmers to cease the practice of saving and replanting the seeds of successful crops- a once millennia old practice. But hey, it’s the twenty-first century, who hasn’t been forced to do something unsavoury by a totalitarian company corrupted by capitalism? Furthermore, you can be assured that the modified seeds have a terminating gene which renders their daughter seeds sterile and hence completely useless. Thus forcing the farmers to re-purchase seeds every season, so that Monsanto can continue growing their monopoly. I don’t know about you, but I think that this
...to be resistant to the company's own Roundup herbicide This means that farmers are utterly dependent on Monsanto; a situation similar as with the United States. The biggest adversaries of GM soybeans are environmentalist. For example, floods are happening because of soya farming in the region of Santa Fe and Chaco where the Salado River begins. The deforestation and the low permeability of the soil used in soya farming contributed to more channeling more water into the river. On the other side, people claim that GM crops are required to fight hunger in poor and developing countries. Evidence shows otherwise. GM crops have increased the use of pesticides while increasing poverty. Over 170,000 famers have had to quit on their lands because they couldn’t compete with big GM farmers, thus leading to more poverty. Also, herbicides have introduced new health problems.
Armstrong, Gary, and Philip Kotler. Marketing: an introduction. 11th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2013. Print.
Barlett and Steele’s “Monsanto’s Harvest of Fear” interpretation of Monsanto Company’s affect on the agricultural industry, its communities, and on consumers in the course of its aggressive expansion is both aggressive and unfair. Through the use of narratives and evidence, they reiterate and reinforce aliases composed by affected communities
Although Monsanto Company took some social implications like charitable programs, it failed to uphold ethical culture many times over the years. Some of unethical practices the company had done so far were bribery, anticompetitive activities and harassing behavior towards infringer of patent. Notably, during the Vietnam War, Monsanto had been strongly criticized by producing toxic chemical named Agent Orange which had detrimental effects on not only human-beings but also the environment. Nowadays, genetically modified (GM) seeds produced by Monsanto remain controversial. Because of GM seeds’ unknown influences, it is
"Monsanto uses patent law to control most of U.S. corn, soy seed market." Cleveland National News. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Dec. 2009. .
Kotler, P. & Keller, K.L., (2009), A Framework for Marketing Management. 4th edition, Pearson Prentice Hall: USA
Cravens, D. W., & Piercy, N. F. (2009). Strategic marketing (9th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.