Business Ethics Case Study: Monsanto Attempts To Balance Stakeholders

Case Study: Monsanto Attempts to Balance Stakeholder Interests

1. Does Monsanto maintain an ethical culture that can effectively respond to various stakeholders?

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

unlikely to define Monsanto’s culture is ethical or not. If GMs seeds are harmless and therefore, become the primary sources for food demand all over the world, Monsanto has satisfied its stakeholders with its ethical business.
2.

Compare the benefits of growing GM seeds for crops with the potential negative consequences of using them.

GM seeds are considered revolution in the agriculture industry for some reasons. First and foremost, GM seeds can grow crops regardless of hostile conditions, which help farmers increase revenues. Besides, as a result of population growth across the global, the demand for food continuously increases. Biotech products provided by the Monsanto Company will be the best solution for this phenomenon. Especially in populous countries like India, biotech crops allow farmers both save lands and double their harvest.

Meanwhile, detrimental effects of GM seeds might outweigh their benefits. There is lack of researches that can gauge the long-term effects of GM seeds on humans and animals’ health. Critics blame glyphosate which is the main ingredient of Roundup herbicide for causing harm to farmers’ health and also the surroundings because of its lasting residues. In addition to the drawbacks of GM seeds, organic farmers stated that GM products will contaminate their conventional seeds and the combination between those seeds can create mutative one which poses a threat to the

environment.

3. How should Monsanto manage the potential harm to plant and animal life from using products such as roundup?
Overuse of Roundup products is believed to cause “super bugs” and “super weeds” which are immune to pesticides or herbicides. In order to prevent this incident, farmers who use GM products have been required to create “refuge” by the government. In order to apply this method, farmers have to mix their fields between GM seeds and traditional ones with the proportion of 80% and 20% respectively. Thanks to this measure, resistant bugs can mate with nonresistant ones and help reduce the appearance of super bugs.