Monsanto Essay

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1. Does Monsanto maintain an ethical culture that can effectively respond to various stakeholders? Monsanto was founded in 1901 and their first product was saccharine, an artificial sweetener, which was sold to Coca-Cola. The company started producing a multitude of products to include petroleum, fibers, and packaging. They also began specializing in plastics, industrial chemicals, and synthetic rubbers. In the late 1960’s, Monsanto created the first herbicide called Roundup. In 1970, Monsanto produced a chemical known as Agent Orange, an herbicide used during the Vietnam War to eliminate dense forests and any crops that were used to feed the troops. It was later determined that this chemical contained dioxin, which is highly carcinogenic and in 1979, Monsanto and several other companies that manufactured this chemical were charged with a lawsuit that would haunt this company for many years to come (History.com Staff, 2011). Monsanto does not maintain an ethical culture as they let down their stakeholders ethically with the production of Agent Orange. “Ethical culture is the component of corporate culture that captures the values and norms that an organization defines as appropriate conduct” (Ferrell, Fraedrich, & Ferrell, 2013, p. 16). In the early 1980’s, Monsanto began a new venture in biotechnology and in 1994 they introduced the first products of soybean, cotton, and canola seeds that were engineered to be resistant of the herbicide, Roundup. They called it Roundup Ready seeds. 2. Compare the benefits of growing genetically modified (GM) seeds for crops with the potential negative consequences of using them. The benefits of growing GM seeds for crops is the ability to grow more crops on less land and also apply the chemicals to the entire field where it kills the weeds but spares the crops. Other benefits of growing GM seeds is the ability to kill

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