Case Study

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Case Study #1 – Monsanto 1. Does Monsanto maintain an ethical culture that can effectively respond to various stakeholders? We can start by defining what ethical culture is. According to our book Business Ethics, it is the component of corporate culture that captures the values and norms that an organization defines as appropriate conduct (Ferrell, Fraedrich, Ferrell, 2008). By what we read, around 1960 Monsanto did not have any ethical culture. They were harming the environment consciously, but they did not do anything about it. How to influence others ethical behavior when the head of the company do not do the right things? It was not only environmental damage, it was also decaying people and animals’ health; but despite that, they still kept going. After lost lawsuits, the years went by and several management rotations occurred. Competition and learned lessons helped the enterprise to change its core values. Like all human endeavors, errors will always be present. We cannot judge a multinational company for the bribery issue in Indonesia which involved only few workers. One of the remaining ethical issues and the one that gives pause to stakeholders about the viability of GM products is the possible harm to human health. Since it is a new possibility, the attainable consequences are not yet to be seen. To prevent potential damaged, Hugh Grant –current CEO– focused Monsanto’s biotechnology in products that would not be served directly at the dinner plate. Several important decisions in the matter of ethics and health have been taken to provide security to stakeholders so they can believe Monsanto’s reliability. Also, many charitable actions show that what the company is looking for is a social commitment to improve live conditions and to give more opportunities to do well. 2. Compare the benefits of growing GM seeds for crops with the potential
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